The 1920s: Fashion and Nightlife

In this episode, fashion historian Amber Butchart discusses the fashion movements of the 1920s, from rising hemlines to ready-to-wear fashion. Then we tell the story of Kate Meyrick, the Soho Nightclub Queen. Meyrick’s popular clubs were frequently raided, and the records of those raids reveal a lot about what a night out in London was like 100 years ago.


Download the full episode transcript here.

To tie-in with the release of the 1921 Census of England and Wales in January 2022, our 20sPeople programme explores and shares stories connecting the people of the 1920s with us in the 2020s. This exciting programme includes our new 1920s-themed exhibition in Kew.

Documents from The National Archives used in this episode: MEPO 2/4481, HO 144/17667.

If you’re interested in finding out more about records covered in this episode, take a look at our research guides to Intellectual property: registered designs 1839-1991 and London Metropolitan Police. For help navigating our catalogue, you can watch our top level tips on using Discovery.

Listeners, we need your help to make this podcast better! We need to know a bit more about you and what themes you’re interested in. You can share this information with us by visiting smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ontherecord/.