How to throw a 1920s cocktail party The entrance to the party should be very humble to the point of being hard to find. The speakeasies of New York legend were hidden behind toy stores, or entered through fake phone booths. Guests should have to search hard to find the party - the less glamorous, the better. There should be no obvious sign that there are hinky things goings on. If you have a back door or side entrance use it. To identify your joint, use a building number or a green flag or one broken bulb. This one detail will need to be included in the invitation. You could have a bouncer on the door. An absolute must is a special knock, a password from popular 1920"s slang, or an object to be handed in at the door (a popular item was a library book - if a raid occurred they claimed to be reading clubs). Again, this must be mentioned on the invitation. Decor To create the intimate, secretive vibe of a speakeasy, decorate your room with dark, rich fabrics, faux furs and velvet, for a lavish touch. Provide small, round tables with chairs and cover the tables in heavy tablecloths. The lighting should be subdued - pop a few low-level lamps or small candle holders on the tables - empty liquor bottles fashioned into candelabras are another fun touch. If you have bartenders, they should be in some sort of uniform. Provide drinks in crystal glasses or use innocent little teacups and saucers for your cocktails - this was the traditional way to serve alcohol at a speakeasy back in the Roaring Twenties. Serve your canapés from silver platters and glass plates, with shiny red or black tableware. Create a background with props, including violin cases (notoriously used to hide Tommy guns), dusty antiquebooks, art deco paintings, flapper prints or vintage-style alcohol adverts, photographs of Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, or any other famous gangster of that time period. Print out tabloid newspapers and leave them around the place. Promote the retro bar ambience by purchasing old-looking bottles from secondhand stores and online. If you are having the party at your house or somewhere that has a bath, fill the tub with water and ice to keep your drinks cold - you can call it "bathtub gin." Use your television to play old silent films in the background. Play music, but hide your modern system with antique linen or a tablecloth. The 1920s saw the height of New Orleans and Chicago styles of jazz, sandwiched between the Dixieland soundof the 1900s and the Swing era of the 1930s. Fill your playlist with authentic 1920"s sounds: pianist and bandleader Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, pianist Earl Hines, pianist James P. Johnson, and saxophonist-clarinetist Sidney Bechet. If you have the budget, the sound of a live upbeat jazz band will add a wonderful energy to your evening! A pianist, with a singing Sheba, is also rather swanky. Invitations Send out Art Deco-style black and white invitations. These days you have the choice of sending online or mailed invitations, but using the old-fashioned postal way will add to the intrigue. Whichever way you choose, make sure that you grab your guest's attention and be sure to mention what attire you would like them to wear. ..."Come drink & dance the night away at our Roaring "20s Speakeasy Party...." ..."Dress as a gangster or silent screen star... ..."Come as a flapper or come as you are..." What to wear Ladies In the 1920s, a new woman was born: she smoked, drank, danced, and voted; she cut her hair, wore heavy make-up; she was giddy and took risks. She was a Flapper. The typical flapper look comprised a short, finger-waved bob with a feathered headband, a drop-waisted, fringed or heavily beaded cocktail dress, over-the-knee stockings and a sexy pair of round-toed heels. Accessorise this look with a long cigarette holder, a long string of pearls, and a feather boa. Flappers often finished the ensemble with a felt, bell-shaped hat called a cloche. Also, as a speakeasy was the only place to get a decent drink, so no respectable flapper would be seen without her personal hipflask neatly tied to her leg. Chaps Some speakeasies were used as homes and offices by gangsters, who adopted an extravagant lifestyle. Successful gangsters could be identified by their fashionable silk suits, expensive jewellery, and guns. Men - you can't put on any old rags. Emulate the style of Al Capone - think pin-striped suits with fedora hats. Black or white ties on a black shirt, spats (white canvas or vinyl shoe covers). Don't be a "gooseberry lay" - check out the internet's supply of men's gangster costumes, you can find a great deal! If you want to do something a little different, wear a Henley shirt with long baggy trousers and braces. Top it off with a hat and you will have a genuine twenties look. Learn to dance the Charleston together! The Charleston was a popular dance that originated inthe 1920s during the flapper period. Flappers would dance it at the speakeasies, alone or together, as a way of mocking the "drys," or those who supported Prohibition, as the dance was considered quite immoral and provocative. In fact,it was banned in dancehalls of the day for being too wild. There are variations and extra steps, but the basic dance is easy to learn. For tips and videos, or tutorials visit Charleston Dance Why not have a Charleston contest for your guests andaward a prize to the winner. Food and drink Any cocktail you choose will probably be fitting as the majority of today's cocktails were created in the 1920s to mask the strength and bad taste of bathtub liquors and moonshines. Recipes for drinks popular in the Roaring Twenties include some full of innuendo, like Between the Sheets, or favorites like the Mint Julep or the Old Fashioned. Champagne cocktails were also a big hit. I recommend serving canapés and drinks only. You will most likely want this party to occur in the evening, so people will probably already have had dinner. You can always serve filled bagels as the night wears on, as people need something to soak up the moonshine. 1920s recipes Bresaola and parmesan crostini recipe Queen of Sheba cocktail recipe Chocolate and hazelnut strawberries recipe 'Style Me Vintage: Tea Parties' is available from Pavilion, £9.99