In breathless anticipation of Baz Luhrmann’s newest creation, a film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s roaring classic The Great Gatsby, the world is ready to don it’s drop waist dresses and dive into swimming pools of gin. Ready to light the way is Alison Maloney and her storehouse of Jazz Age wisdom with her new book Bright Young Things: A Modern Guide to the Roaring Twenties.

Although improbable and not what you expected on a Monday, you have been sucked into the 1920s through some rift in time. You look so silly in your skinny jeans there. You probably looked silly in your skinny jeans here too, but triple that in your new time. You need to find some new clothes ASAP and Maloney’s got your back. “Choose a simple slip dress or one with a drop waist for optimal movement,” she says, “adorn yourself with feathers, faux fur, or lace to add a hint of extravagance”. Gentlemen, a little something for you too: Never leave your house without a hat. You can never have too many ties, bow ties, or ascots. And you aren’t allowed to wear skinny jeans either. Put on your wide, pleated trousers (“Oxford bags”)  and remember: hat. Put on your hat.

When you’re properly dressed you can party– and trust me, there will be plenty of shenanigans to get into. Just to be sure you get into more than your fair share, Maloney provides drink recipes from the era. Let me just say, it’s gin, gin, and more gin. You’ll also be given a list of slang terms so that you can flummox your chaperone, hints for which famous faces to look out for, and a pile of music to put on your playlist- er, I mean record player.

If it’s naughty to rouge your lips,

shake your shoulders and shake your hips,

then the answer is, I wanna be bad!

–Buddy DeSylva, “I Want to be Bad”

This book is such a fun refresher on the wild, carefree, booze filled days of the Jazz Age. Split into delightful little chapters that chronicle all facets of the time period, this book is less of a bland history project, more of a historically correct party-planning guide perfect for your kitchen, living room, or bedside table. And gosh, such great illustrations too.

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