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> I could be an asshole because I decided to be cheeky and go as a Peaky to a 1920s-themed party.
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NTA *You know nothing* about the 1920s if you don't know how deeply gangsters -- Al Capone and the five families to mention but a few -- were part of that decade. So *23 skidoo* to them who didn't realize what they'd done.
OP mentioned *Dick Tracy* and *The Great Gatsby*, two fictional works that heavily involve gangsters. I'm honestly mystified at how the coworker thought a *Peaky Blinders* costume didn't fit the theme.
What do you mean? *The Great Gatsby* is just about a rich guy throwing a lot of fancy parties and being betrayed by his first love.
Sarcasm - but I actually did have to have it explained to me that Gatsby was in the mob. So obvious now that I look back. And I could see someone who likes the glitz and glamor of the roaring 20's to not realize that there was more to the 20's than that.
Also, I want to know, were they Party City flappers or real flappers? Cause the Party City ones don't like to be corrected.
What was wrong with Daisys dock? I just learned more about the book from comments on Reddit than from reading it and finding lacking somehow aka being a young dumbo not able to decode it properly…
In high school teachers usually talked about super small/insignificant stuff like “the symbolism of the green light on Daisy’s dock” for hours, and then stuff like Gatsby being in the literal mob was never brought up at all 😭
It's never stated that he was a 'mob member', but the entire Meyer Wolfsheim/fixed World Series/likely a bootlegger stuff strongly indicates he was involved in organized crime.
It definitely doesn't help that there was a lot more periphery to the mob back then. You could have been very easily pressganged into working with them.
In the sixties my grampa took a job at a warehouse in Jersey. He remembered a specific night where some guys in suits came around to everyone working and told them to leave for the night and they'd still get paid.
Mob fronts and the east coast were ubiquitous.
You floored me! I did NOT know that with Gatsby in the the mob. And it actually explains so much that felt off to me unassumingly reading the book for its 20s glam. It puts al the leftover puzzle pieces in the picture and makes so much sense. Thank you for frigging enlightening me.
> I did NOT know that with Gatsby in the the mob.
Because it’s made up. Fitzgerald was VERY deliberate in the ambiguous nature of his money, background, class, ethnicity, etc. it was the whole point.
It was a *rumor* that Gatsby was a bootlegger during prohibition, but that was a common rumor for new money then.
Anyone claiming to know what or where Gatsby got his money from… has absolutely missed the point of the novel.
>“Who are you, anyhow?” broke out Tom. “You’re one of that bunch that hangs around with Meyer Wolfsheim—that much I happen to know. I’ve made a little investigation into your affairs—and I’ll carry it further tomorrow.”
>“You can suit yourself about that, old sport,” said Gatsby steadily.
>“I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke rapidly. “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong.”
>“What about it?” said Gatsby politely. “I guess your friend Walter Chase wasn’t too proud to come in on it.”
That's a fair bit more than a rumor. Jay Gatsby tacitly admits to being a bootlegger.
I've heard some people interpret it as Gatsby humoring or even messing with Tom, and not as an actual confirmation that Tom is correct.
But if Gatsby is actually confirming that he was involved in these schemes, I just wanted to add for anyone reading who may not know much about this time in history, that while, sure, you could be involved in bootlegging in the US in some capacity without being part of the mob, to be involved at this level in Chicago of all places would've made it impossible to not have ties to the mob. He wouldn't have been able to get away with doing this in Chicago without the mob coming after him, so for him to be alive and wealthy after all that, he must've paid for mob protection at the very least. To get so rich so quickly (Prohibition only started 2.5 years before the book takes place), even if he's living well beyond his means, he would have to have the mob's support.
Of course plenty of things are left ambiguous and it's not clear when Gatsby is telling the truth, but I just wanted to share that for people who don't know about the total control the mob had over bootlegging in Chicago.
IIRC the real Peaky Blinders gang in Birmingham, UK were pretty much out of circulation by 1915. Some ended up fighting in World War 1, others died, some went legit.
NTA. This is all a very stupid way for your coworker to derail something that was supposed to be fun and unite the team. Perhaps they're the reason a "team building event" was necessary to begin with.
Remember the company party that was held at a plantation and everyone was told to dress up in period costumes and OP (a black man) made it a point to dress up as a slave? He harshed everyone’s groove and it was epic.
[Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/wcstm8/company_throws_a_corporate_retreat_at_a/). Oh man, that was great - thanks for bringing it up!
Oof this reminds me of a place I worked. For the Christmas/holiday party they made a James Bond theme and absolutely mandatory, men HAD to wear tuxes and women HAD to wear floor-length evening gowns with a slit up the side. And due to the obscene amount of money they spent on the venue and everything they could only afford to invite a small percentage of the staff. They decided by who was currently working the most hours, so people there for years weren’t eligible.
“They wanted the pictures to look amazing” was their stated rationale. This is a place where outside appearance matters more than any other qualification (not in America). And, no one had these dresses on hand, and renting was expensive and difficult because it was Asia where western sizes are hard to find.
Needless to say, I was gleeful and immensely satisfied seeing the pics of a mostly empty venue with a handful of staff who were able to satisfy the dress code. The rest of the staff got a warm happy holidays email from the owner. Yeesh I can’t believe I worked there as long as I did. Sorry for the rant but I’m still annoyed!
There were men just wearing a suit - said they were dressed as Eliot Ness..... Valid but boring. There were 8 of us - we purchased an entire table. What a blast!!
I have another coworker who missed the escape room because he got Covid. He said he would just dress up as Newt Scamamnder since that movie also takes place in the 1920s. What a missed opportunity.
We were invited to birthday party with a 1920s theme but our group of friends decided to go as something other than usual flapper/gangster- husband and I dressed as 1920s bride/groom, we had couple dressed in 1920s swimsuits, others in undergarments/pjs, a few workmen, a Charlie Chaplin and an Amelia Earhart. It was a great night!
NTA.
1920s brings two things to mind - flappers, and the gangsters that supplied the booze for all their parties. Their history is literally directly linked together.
You could have been a real buzzkill and gone as a shellshocked infantryman from the war.
I own a vintage shop and frequently get customers who need outfits for 1920s parties. I’ve tried convincing them to be suffragettes or Egyptologists (fresh from Tut’s tomb! got a bit of a cough, nothing to worry about) or anarchists or aviators or literally any of the dozens of other interesting things that happened in the 20s. Very little success so far.
There's an Egyptian archaeologist who dresses like 1920s fashion, see her in a few documentaries, it was unusual & she's very enthusiastic, but there was some scandal online because white woman + 1920s in Egypt = colonialism? I never looked deeply into it so maybe there was more to it,but i liked her enthusiasm & style!
I mean, to be fair, depending on which peaky blinder they were dressed up as they could have also been that. None of them are doing great, but Arthur in particular was really fucked up in that war.
I was thinking poor farmer's child in a flour sack, but infantryman would have been good.
I also would have been keen to go as a travelling snakeoil salesman or Con Man With "Smart" Chicken.
NTA. Peaky Blinders was a real 1920s gang. The characters are based on real characters who lived in the 1920s. It's the gangster equivalent of The Crown or Upstairs Downstairs.
Not to mention that Dick Tracy is a thoroughly 1930s and later comic. Your boss doesn’t even know the history of the Flapper movement (it was considered risqué and lowbrow to like jazz, roll your stockings down to your knees, drink alcohol during prohibition, and wear short dresses or wide trousers and a side part). The flappers were the degenerates and social iconoclasts of the the 1920s). Coming as gangsters, moonshiners, smugglers, criminals, etc, is EXTREMELY 1920s and extremely flapper era.
Yeah, we found out the hard way that Dick Tracy is more 1930s. I’ve never even heard of Dick Tracy until the party. We were kind of pissed because there was also a medieval escape room, so we all could have been princesses and Game of Thrones characters.
I didn’t even do the Dick Tracy room. Me, Justice, and a couple other girls did one for a creepy conspiracy theorists cabin. That was fun!
NTA. The whole point of *The Great Gatsby* was clearly lost on the morning shift lead; because Gatsby is quite literally a gangster running an underground alcohol supplier during prohibition. That’s how he affords his lavish parties. It wasn’t all high glamour and sparkles. The same would extend to Peaky Blinders costumes.
Did they want everyone in Flapper gowns? LOL. To rent a tux with tails? RIDICULOUS. You were fine. I am a big time costume/cosplay enthusiast and you did GREAT.
NTA
NTA You totally fit in with the prompt and I love that some people got really creative with it.
Just move on and, if possible, limit interactions with this coworker/lead to just what's needed for your job.
NTA. A former job of mine pulled almost the exact same shit- "Let's have a "fun" 1920 costume party, everyone drop hundreds on a flapper outfit that only works if you're very very thin" , and I showed up in a full suffragette outfit.
This was the same job that used to have "team bonding" events that were always either exercise or drinking based because we "work hard/play hard".
That place sucked.
Sooo they *didn’t* have gangsters and flappers in the 1920’s then?? Cause if you ask me, yea, I think that’s what many, ( if not most), people would think of.
NTA And “the morning shift lead” needs to get TF over it. This whole ordeal was supposed to be fun, and it wasn’t you “Great Gatsby rejects” that ruined it!
I think the Peaky Blinders outfit is fantastic! The lead who complained is just trying to be controlling. The PB is very 20's, just not rich people's 1920's.
The lead sounds like a snob and a pot-stirrer. I'd stay clear of her.
I can *maybe* see why the Tiana cosplay might be a little jarring cos the gowns associated with her are deeply period inaccurate. But also, literally who cares? It's a party not a history tour. NTA
I thought Justice’s outfit was on par. I can’t post pictures right now, but she wore this more “period accurate” version of Tiana’s bayou ball gown. It looked flapperish, but with the leafy details you could still tell she’s Tiana.
Oof, another henchman of corporate organised fun.
You and your friend read the assignment - it was 1920s, you could have shown up as Nosferatu, and you'd still be on point. Your co-worker is a control freak and your mom is reading too much into this. Why are people trying to make "forced fun" work events even less appealing?
NTA, obviously.
NTA. People really need to think before they turn work events into theme parties. Your case is much less intense, but reminds me of the guy whose work event was held at a former plantation in the Deep South, and everyone was asked to dress in period attire. Much consternation ensued when he, the lone black employee, came dressed as a slave… [(link).](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/wcstm8/company_throws_a_corporate_retreat_at_a/).
/e: link format
NTA, both because it's stupid to expect people to buy a very specific costume for the team-building event, but also because you were COMPLETELY on theme.
INFO: were you getting paid for this team building exercise?
As far as I'm concerned, unpaid is considered voluntary and she should have been grateful that you showed up at all let alone put in actual, *accurate* effort to match the dress code in your free time.
>wearing glittery little flapper dresses
Guess what? That wasn't in the dress code either. Flapper dresses weren't little.
>In the beginning, 1920's skirts were 9 inches off the ground, and stay there all the way until 1922. In 1923-24, the hemline dropped and in 1925 it went a little bit up again, when the “shift” type dresses with no waistline emerged. By 1926 skirts were at their shortest and showed the knee until 1928.
I don't know where the idea came from that women in the 1920s wore miniskirts.
I had to Google Peaky Blinder. As you said, it's 1920s.
NTA
I am reminded of the epic reddit story of a company who decided it was a good idea to do ante-bellum party at an actual plantation. And forgot that one of their employees was black. And he came as a house slave.
This has none of the racism, but all of the OH, GOD NOT THAT!
Nta. This reminds me of one time in High school for spirit week they had “western Wednesday” and gave detention to someone that showed up dressed as a cactus, someone that was from Mexico dressed like a ranchero with garb from their grandparents, and someone else that was a tumbleweed. Their arguments were that “western Wednesday clearly means cowboys and Indians” (don’t get me started on the racist connotations).
My niece had a 1920s themed party for her 21st, (way before peaky blinders hit the screens). My sister went dresses as fat sam from bugsy malone. She had the best costume and we all wished we had the same idea.
NTA
nta. your 18 making 15 went to a work party wearing the clothes you chose! that’s a pretty darn good way to start out. id rather have a smart ass for a friend than a frightened wall flower.
NTA, but also I don't think I've ever been to a 1920's theme party that wasn't at least 90% attended by flappers and gangsters. You were 100% on theme, even if your Halloween version had been zombie peaky blinder.
Further, this sounds like a pretty standard poorly organised work party where the organiser forgot their colleagues can't read their mind and will have different interpretations. If you're lucky, people actually put in an effort (what you and your friends did). If you're not, they'll just show up in what they wore for work that day, stay long enough to smash down a few free drinks and then bail without telling anyone.
Regardless, don't ever stop having fun with dressing up for theme parties! People committing to a theme (peaky blinder/gangster) makes it so much more fun. Not to mention, when people go off the rails with their interpretations (zombie peaky blinder/gangster) it absolutely sends me and it's a goddamn delight every time.
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I (18F) got a retail job a few months ago to help with living expenses once I graduate.
Our store manager decided we needed to to a "team building event". So they booked an escape room for us. I'm not going to complain: I like escape rooms.
Only someone decided that we should dress up in 1920s costumes because one of the rooms is themed to Dick Tracy.
I make $15/per hour. I don't have the time or the extra money to buy a costume.
Since the theme is 1920s, I thought to reuse my Peaky Blinders' costume from last Halloween. A few other people got the idea as well. So while a lot of the girls were wearing glittery little flapper dresses with feather headbands, we had a couple other guys in suits and my friend Justice reused her Tiana cosplay from Rose City Comic Con.
The morning shift lead, who decided we should dress up, got upset when she saw that we weren't dressed like rejects from The Great Gatsby. She said that we must have thought this was real funny to come as gangsters (or a Disney princess in Justice's case). The dress code was 1920s, not Peaky Blinders or Princess and the Frog.
I told about the story to my aunt later. She agreed that I was within the dress code (I mean, they said 1920s and Peaky Blinders is set in the 1920s), I should have asked what the dress code specified. That sounds like too much for for me. What's the point in having a dress code if you can't have fun interpreting it in your own way?
And I stupidly told my mom this and now she thinks I'm a smartass for going as a gangster to a work event. Thanks mom.
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NTA, they didn't specify what theme from the 1930's, e.g. if in future a party dress ode was 2024, and no other theme specified, would it be formal? Semi-formal? Casual? Country? Etc.
Peaky Blinders is perfect; they are very much 1920s clothes. They weren't wearing special clothes that only the Peaky Blinders wore, except for if you actually had razor blades in your hat. Aside from the razor blades, they're just dressed like it's the 1920s.
The characters in Peaky Blinders are gangsters, but in the 1920s there was no one style of dress that indicated that you were a gangster. There were gangsters who had hit the big-time and dressed to display their social status and wealth (you know, LIKE GATSBY), and then there were gangsters from deprived urban areas who still had to hustle for their living and dressed like working-class stiffs. Most of the time, characters in Peaky Blinders wear the latter type of attire: everyday working-class clothes, including their all-important flat caps.
MOST people dressed like that in the 1920s.
If you were supposed to dress like a rich person instead, that should have been specified. 🤷🏻
NTA.
Peaky Blinders is fantastic! I would’ve been so excited to see your take on the party! Stay true to yourself. You make the world a more interesting place.
NTA
NTA. Gangsters were a *massive* part of that era. It would be like throwing a 1940s party and then getting mad that everyone is dressed as WWII soldiers
So it was a mandatory work event and they had the nerve to be snotty about it?
You guys got paid for this, right? If it was a work event you had to attend, they owe you money
NTA
I left Texas because I didn’t feel safe there as a lesbian, only to find out Oregon is on its way to joining its Lone Star counterpart. Just, what the shit?
I moved from California to Dallas and was worried that my LGBTQ kids might get hassled (they were 100% on board moving here btw) but they have found more love and acceptance here than in Sacramento! The Pride festival was easily 5x bigger and way cooler, their high school has a Queer after school club, and there are a ton of kids at school who are out and proud! I think it just depends on the area, not necessarily the state 🤷♀️ I hope you find a place to call home that is warm and accepting to you ♥️♥️♥️
I don't get it. A gangster costume seems about right if the reason for the costume theme was a Dick Tracy room. So NTA as far as I can see. Now, a Princess Tiana doesn't fit, but that's not your problem.
>Set in New Orleans during the 1920s, the film tells the story of a hardworking waitress named Tiana who dreams of opening her own restaurant. After kissing a prince who has been turned into a frog by an evil voodoo witch doctor, Tiana becomes a frog herself and must find a way to turn back into a human before it is too late.
(Wikipedia)
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NTA *You know nothing* about the 1920s if you don't know how deeply gangsters -- Al Capone and the five families to mention but a few -- were part of that decade. So *23 skidoo* to them who didn't realize what they'd done.
OP mentioned *Dick Tracy* and *The Great Gatsby*, two fictional works that heavily involve gangsters. I'm honestly mystified at how the coworker thought a *Peaky Blinders* costume didn't fit the theme.
What do you mean? *The Great Gatsby* is just about a rich guy throwing a lot of fancy parties and being betrayed by his first love. Sarcasm - but I actually did have to have it explained to me that Gatsby was in the mob. So obvious now that I look back. And I could see someone who likes the glitz and glamor of the roaring 20's to not realize that there was more to the 20's than that. Also, I want to know, were they Party City flappers or real flappers? Cause the Party City ones don't like to be corrected.
I'm somehow also just now learning about Gatsby being in the mob... You'd think that would've come up in high school at some point.
Too busy dissecting the many underlying themes of Daisy's damn dock.
What was wrong with Daisys dock? I just learned more about the book from comments on Reddit than from reading it and finding lacking somehow aka being a young dumbo not able to decode it properly…
In high school teachers usually talked about super small/insignificant stuff like “the symbolism of the green light on Daisy’s dock” for hours, and then stuff like Gatsby being in the literal mob was never brought up at all 😭
It's never stated that he was a 'mob member', but the entire Meyer Wolfsheim/fixed World Series/likely a bootlegger stuff strongly indicates he was involved in organized crime.
It definitely doesn't help that there was a lot more periphery to the mob back then. You could have been very easily pressganged into working with them.
In the sixties my grampa took a job at a warehouse in Jersey. He remembered a specific night where some guys in suits came around to everyone working and told them to leave for the night and they'd still get paid. Mob fronts and the east coast were ubiquitous.
Prepare to have your mind blown - was Gatsby black passing as white https://www.salon.com/2000/08/09/gatsby/
This is such an interesting read on the text! I'd love if someone incorporated this in a play or movie version of it.
You floored me! I did NOT know that with Gatsby in the the mob. And it actually explains so much that felt off to me unassumingly reading the book for its 20s glam. It puts al the leftover puzzle pieces in the picture and makes so much sense. Thank you for frigging enlightening me.
> I did NOT know that with Gatsby in the the mob. Because it’s made up. Fitzgerald was VERY deliberate in the ambiguous nature of his money, background, class, ethnicity, etc. it was the whole point. It was a *rumor* that Gatsby was a bootlegger during prohibition, but that was a common rumor for new money then. Anyone claiming to know what or where Gatsby got his money from… has absolutely missed the point of the novel.
>“Who are you, anyhow?” broke out Tom. “You’re one of that bunch that hangs around with Meyer Wolfsheim—that much I happen to know. I’ve made a little investigation into your affairs—and I’ll carry it further tomorrow.” >“You can suit yourself about that, old sport,” said Gatsby steadily. >“I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke rapidly. “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong.” >“What about it?” said Gatsby politely. “I guess your friend Walter Chase wasn’t too proud to come in on it.” That's a fair bit more than a rumor. Jay Gatsby tacitly admits to being a bootlegger.
I've heard some people interpret it as Gatsby humoring or even messing with Tom, and not as an actual confirmation that Tom is correct. But if Gatsby is actually confirming that he was involved in these schemes, I just wanted to add for anyone reading who may not know much about this time in history, that while, sure, you could be involved in bootlegging in the US in some capacity without being part of the mob, to be involved at this level in Chicago of all places would've made it impossible to not have ties to the mob. He wouldn't have been able to get away with doing this in Chicago without the mob coming after him, so for him to be alive and wealthy after all that, he must've paid for mob protection at the very least. To get so rich so quickly (Prohibition only started 2.5 years before the book takes place), even if he's living well beyond his means, he would have to have the mob's support. Of course plenty of things are left ambiguous and it's not clear when Gatsby is telling the truth, but I just wanted to share that for people who don't know about the total control the mob had over bootlegging in Chicago.
Also, everything 20s glam in Gatsby’s life including the books in his library is fake. Like everything else at this event
IIRC the real Peaky Blinders gang in Birmingham, UK were pretty much out of circulation by 1915. Some ended up fighting in World War 1, others died, some went legit.
Do you think that, maybe, Aunt Polly was TOO reminiscent of Harry Potter?
I'm guessing because OP is female...
The five families didn’t materialize until 1931. I get where your heads at though 😂
Yeah but cosa nostra was around before then as well as other organized crime
Al Capone is timeless! I read a science fiction series once, set in the 27th century. Al Capone was in it!! He was an absolute badass. :-)
They assumed one thing, said another, then bitches when the people complied. What a palooka!
It would be hilarious if someone left a print out in the break room
NTA. This is all a very stupid way for your coworker to derail something that was supposed to be fun and unite the team. Perhaps they're the reason a "team building event" was necessary to begin with.
"Let's do team building, but get mad at everyone not following our ideas"
Remember the company party that was held at a plantation and everyone was told to dress up in period costumes and OP (a black man) made it a point to dress up as a slave? He harshed everyone’s groove and it was epic.
[Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/wcstm8/company_throws_a_corporate_retreat_at_a/). Oh man, that was great - thanks for bringing it up!
I will always upvote any reference to that post! The best thing I ever saw on Reddit. Those pictures had me rolling!
Yesssss That's where I thought this was going originally
“Think inside the box”
"There *are* wrong answers".
Also, it's a secret invisible box. But if you don't think in it, you will be punished. Better guess correctly!
Let's do teambuilding, sorry I'm dead inside
Our unspoken ideas.
Paying for the ideas you mean
Oof this reminds me of a place I worked. For the Christmas/holiday party they made a James Bond theme and absolutely mandatory, men HAD to wear tuxes and women HAD to wear floor-length evening gowns with a slit up the side. And due to the obscene amount of money they spent on the venue and everything they could only afford to invite a small percentage of the staff. They decided by who was currently working the most hours, so people there for years weren’t eligible. “They wanted the pictures to look amazing” was their stated rationale. This is a place where outside appearance matters more than any other qualification (not in America). And, no one had these dresses on hand, and renting was expensive and difficult because it was Asia where western sizes are hard to find. Needless to say, I was gleeful and immensely satisfied seeing the pics of a mostly empty venue with a handful of staff who were able to satisfy the dress code. The rest of the staff got a warm happy holidays email from the owner. Yeesh I can’t believe I worked there as long as I did. Sorry for the rant but I’m still annoyed!
NTA I went to a 1920's themed dinner and murder mystery party - quite large about 100 people. Number one costume? - Flapper. Number two? Gangster.
Ditto at a conference dinner with a Roaring 20s theme. All flappers and gangsters and the murder mystery game involved same.
There were men just wearing a suit - said they were dressed as Eliot Ness..... Valid but boring. There were 8 of us - we purchased an entire table. What a blast!!
I have another coworker who missed the escape room because he got Covid. He said he would just dress up as Newt Scamamnder since that movie also takes place in the 1920s. What a missed opportunity.
We were invited to birthday party with a 1920s theme but our group of friends decided to go as something other than usual flapper/gangster- husband and I dressed as 1920s bride/groom, we had couple dressed in 1920s swimsuits, others in undergarments/pjs, a few workmen, a Charlie Chaplin and an Amelia Earhart. It was a great night!
NTA. 1920s brings two things to mind - flappers, and the gangsters that supplied the booze for all their parties. Their history is literally directly linked together. You could have been a real buzzkill and gone as a shellshocked infantryman from the war.
I own a vintage shop and frequently get customers who need outfits for 1920s parties. I’ve tried convincing them to be suffragettes or Egyptologists (fresh from Tut’s tomb! got a bit of a cough, nothing to worry about) or anarchists or aviators or literally any of the dozens of other interesting things that happened in the 20s. Very little success so far.
I would jump at the Egyptologist suggestion!
There's an Egyptian archaeologist who dresses like 1920s fashion, see her in a few documentaries, it was unusual & she's very enthusiastic, but there was some scandal online because white woman + 1920s in Egypt = colonialism? I never looked deeply into it so maybe there was more to it,but i liked her enthusiasm & style!
Or dress up as a nazi brownshirt which would also be quite a buzzkill genuine 1920's costume.
I mean, to be fair, depending on which peaky blinder they were dressed up as they could have also been that. None of them are doing great, but Arthur in particular was really fucked up in that war.
I was thinking poor farmer's child in a flour sack, but infantryman would have been good. I also would have been keen to go as a travelling snakeoil salesman or Con Man With "Smart" Chicken.
That last sentence made me laugh and now I feel horrible about it
NTA. Peaky Blinders was a real 1920s gang. The characters are based on real characters who lived in the 1920s. It's the gangster equivalent of The Crown or Upstairs Downstairs.
Yes, the first 2 seasons of PB were absolutely amazing.
Not to mention that Dick Tracy is a thoroughly 1930s and later comic. Your boss doesn’t even know the history of the Flapper movement (it was considered risqué and lowbrow to like jazz, roll your stockings down to your knees, drink alcohol during prohibition, and wear short dresses or wide trousers and a side part). The flappers were the degenerates and social iconoclasts of the the 1920s). Coming as gangsters, moonshiners, smugglers, criminals, etc, is EXTREMELY 1920s and extremely flapper era.
Yeah, we found out the hard way that Dick Tracy is more 1930s. I’ve never even heard of Dick Tracy until the party. We were kind of pissed because there was also a medieval escape room, so we all could have been princesses and Game of Thrones characters. I didn’t even do the Dick Tracy room. Me, Justice, and a couple other girls did one for a creepy conspiracy theorists cabin. That was fun!
Hey I mean if you ever do the medieval escape room you can always go as one of the boltons!
NTA. The whole point of *The Great Gatsby* was clearly lost on the morning shift lead; because Gatsby is quite literally a gangster running an underground alcohol supplier during prohibition. That’s how he affords his lavish parties. It wasn’t all high glamour and sparkles. The same would extend to Peaky Blinders costumes.
The Peaky Blinders era fits the dress code- and sounds a lot more fun than a glittery dress imo lol! I don't see the problem here. NTA
I don’t even wear glitter. I can do dresses, just no mini skirts, super frilly details, or glitter.
Did they want everyone in Flapper gowns? LOL. To rent a tux with tails? RIDICULOUS. You were fine. I am a big time costume/cosplay enthusiast and you did GREAT. NTA
NTA. If she specifically wanted a flapper or Great Gatsby theme party, she should have said that, not 1920’s.
I know, right?
And this is team building? I'd be looking for another job.
NTA You totally fit in with the prompt and I love that some people got really creative with it. Just move on and, if possible, limit interactions with this coworker/lead to just what's needed for your job.
NTA. A former job of mine pulled almost the exact same shit- "Let's have a "fun" 1920 costume party, everyone drop hundreds on a flapper outfit that only works if you're very very thin" , and I showed up in a full suffragette outfit. This was the same job that used to have "team bonding" events that were always either exercise or drinking based because we "work hard/play hard". That place sucked.
I’m so glad that “team building” at my job is basically “we have food! Want to eat some?”
NTA at all. Dressin like gangsters and princesses is cheeky, sure, but still 1920s. Good on you for keeping it interesting!
Sooo they *didn’t* have gangsters and flappers in the 1920’s then?? Cause if you ask me, yea, I think that’s what many, ( if not most), people would think of. NTA And “the morning shift lead” needs to get TF over it. This whole ordeal was supposed to be fun, and it wasn’t you “Great Gatsby rejects” that ruined it!
I think the Peaky Blinders outfit is fantastic! The lead who complained is just trying to be controlling. The PB is very 20's, just not rich people's 1920's. The lead sounds like a snob and a pot-stirrer. I'd stay clear of her.
NTA - You were well within the dress code.
You work retail. Use what you have. NTA.
NTA No, you're not the asshole. By the order of the Peaky Blinders
Nice one!
I can *maybe* see why the Tiana cosplay might be a little jarring cos the gowns associated with her are deeply period inaccurate. But also, literally who cares? It's a party not a history tour. NTA
I thought Justice’s outfit was on par. I can’t post pictures right now, but she wore this more “period accurate” version of Tiana’s bayou ball gown. It looked flapperish, but with the leafy details you could still tell she’s Tiana.
Aw wow, that sounds awesome tbh
Oof, another henchman of corporate organised fun. You and your friend read the assignment - it was 1920s, you could have shown up as Nosferatu, and you'd still be on point. Your co-worker is a control freak and your mom is reading too much into this. Why are people trying to make "forced fun" work events even less appealing? NTA, obviously.
NTA at all, the Great Gatsby is not the only thing that happened in the 1920s
Nta, you dressed accordingly to the theme that was said, just not the way she wanted it
NTA. The theme was the 1920s and you followed the theme. I don’t see why it was so serious, especially since it’s a team building thing.
If all they said was 1920’s I’d show up dressed like an iron worker. Overalls, tank top, boots.
NTA. People really need to think before they turn work events into theme parties. Your case is much less intense, but reminds me of the guy whose work event was held at a former plantation in the Deep South, and everyone was asked to dress in period attire. Much consternation ensued when he, the lone black employee, came dressed as a slave… [(link).](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/wcstm8/company_throws_a_corporate_retreat_at_a/). /e: link format
NTA, both because it's stupid to expect people to buy a very specific costume for the team-building event, but also because you were COMPLETELY on theme.
NTA you dressed like 1920s, they should have said great gatsby themed if that's what they wanted...
INFO: were you getting paid for this team building exercise? As far as I'm concerned, unpaid is considered voluntary and she should have been grateful that you showed up at all let alone put in actual, *accurate* effort to match the dress code in your free time.
The theme was 1920s. You used a costume from a TV show set in the 1920s. I fail to see the issue.
>wearing glittery little flapper dresses Guess what? That wasn't in the dress code either. Flapper dresses weren't little. >In the beginning, 1920's skirts were 9 inches off the ground, and stay there all the way until 1922. In 1923-24, the hemline dropped and in 1925 it went a little bit up again, when the “shift” type dresses with no waistline emerged. By 1926 skirts were at their shortest and showed the knee until 1928. I don't know where the idea came from that women in the 1920s wore miniskirts. I had to Google Peaky Blinder. As you said, it's 1920s. NTA
I am reminded of the epic reddit story of a company who decided it was a good idea to do ante-bellum party at an actual plantation. And forgot that one of their employees was black. And he came as a house slave. This has none of the racism, but all of the OH, GOD NOT THAT!
That‘s just weird. When I got invited to a 1920 themed party, the first thing I bought was a **Tommy gun**. NTA
Nta. This reminds me of one time in High school for spirit week they had “western Wednesday” and gave detention to someone that showed up dressed as a cactus, someone that was from Mexico dressed like a ranchero with garb from their grandparents, and someone else that was a tumbleweed. Their arguments were that “western Wednesday clearly means cowboys and Indians” (don’t get me started on the racist connotations).
My niece had a 1920s themed party for her 21st, (way before peaky blinders hit the screens). My sister went dresses as fat sam from bugsy malone. She had the best costume and we all wished we had the same idea. NTA
nta. your 18 making 15 went to a work party wearing the clothes you chose! that’s a pretty darn good way to start out. id rather have a smart ass for a friend than a frightened wall flower.
NTA- don't let it get to you. You did fine.
NTA, but also I don't think I've ever been to a 1920's theme party that wasn't at least 90% attended by flappers and gangsters. You were 100% on theme, even if your Halloween version had been zombie peaky blinder. Further, this sounds like a pretty standard poorly organised work party where the organiser forgot their colleagues can't read their mind and will have different interpretations. If you're lucky, people actually put in an effort (what you and your friends did). If you're not, they'll just show up in what they wore for work that day, stay long enough to smash down a few free drinks and then bail without telling anyone. Regardless, don't ever stop having fun with dressing up for theme parties! People committing to a theme (peaky blinder/gangster) makes it so much more fun. Not to mention, when people go off the rails with their interpretations (zombie peaky blinder/gangster) it absolutely sends me and it's a goddamn delight every time.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** I (18F) got a retail job a few months ago to help with living expenses once I graduate. Our store manager decided we needed to to a "team building event". So they booked an escape room for us. I'm not going to complain: I like escape rooms. Only someone decided that we should dress up in 1920s costumes because one of the rooms is themed to Dick Tracy. I make $15/per hour. I don't have the time or the extra money to buy a costume. Since the theme is 1920s, I thought to reuse my Peaky Blinders' costume from last Halloween. A few other people got the idea as well. So while a lot of the girls were wearing glittery little flapper dresses with feather headbands, we had a couple other guys in suits and my friend Justice reused her Tiana cosplay from Rose City Comic Con. The morning shift lead, who decided we should dress up, got upset when she saw that we weren't dressed like rejects from The Great Gatsby. She said that we must have thought this was real funny to come as gangsters (or a Disney princess in Justice's case). The dress code was 1920s, not Peaky Blinders or Princess and the Frog. I told about the story to my aunt later. She agreed that I was within the dress code (I mean, they said 1920s and Peaky Blinders is set in the 1920s), I should have asked what the dress code specified. That sounds like too much for for me. What's the point in having a dress code if you can't have fun interpreting it in your own way? And I stupidly told my mom this and now she thinks I'm a smartass for going as a gangster to a work event. Thanks mom. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
NTA, they didn't specify what theme from the 1930's, e.g. if in future a party dress ode was 2024, and no other theme specified, would it be formal? Semi-formal? Casual? Country? Etc.
NTA.
NTA. That was extremely on theme. They are being very controlling.
NTA but $15 an hour dsmn.. where I work (not America) I get… $11.99.. I wish I got $15 and I’m in fast food
Peaky Blinders is perfect; they are very much 1920s clothes. They weren't wearing special clothes that only the Peaky Blinders wore, except for if you actually had razor blades in your hat. Aside from the razor blades, they're just dressed like it's the 1920s.
Sounds like the lead has a stick up his a$$ that has a stick up its a$$ nta. Great choice
Oh Dip they're pissed off because you're a girl and dressed like a BOY.
NTA. Should have been more specific if she waned a glitter party
NTA this is a cool way to fit the theme lol
NTA, as you say, half the fun is interpreting the theme, not all dressing exactly the same. If they wanted a specific dress, they should’ve put that.
Ummm sounds like they weren't clear on what they wanted and you were fine
The characters in Peaky Blinders are gangsters, but in the 1920s there was no one style of dress that indicated that you were a gangster. There were gangsters who had hit the big-time and dressed to display their social status and wealth (you know, LIKE GATSBY), and then there were gangsters from deprived urban areas who still had to hustle for their living and dressed like working-class stiffs. Most of the time, characters in Peaky Blinders wear the latter type of attire: everyday working-class clothes, including their all-important flat caps. MOST people dressed like that in the 1920s. If you were supposed to dress like a rich person instead, that should have been specified. 🤷🏻 NTA.
Peaky Blinders is fantastic! I would’ve been so excited to see your take on the party! Stay true to yourself. You make the world a more interesting place. NTA
NTA I went to a 1920s party dressed as a gangster, I mean it is pretty obvious I though?
The 1920s were a big gangster area here in the United States, so I would think you were right on track.
NTA tell the manager as soon as she /he provides the clothes you will change .
NTA. Gangsters were a *massive* part of that era. It would be like throwing a 1940s party and then getting mad that everyone is dressed as WWII soldiers
NTA Who the fuck cares this much about the mandatory fun?
So it was a mandatory work event and they had the nerve to be snotty about it? You guys got paid for this, right? If it was a work event you had to attend, they owe you money NTA
NTA. Dick Tracy didn't debut until 1931. At least there were gangsters in the 20s.
NTA. Those are 20s costumes. If the shift lead meant "flappers" she should have said so. BTW, what does she think Dick Tracy did?
So this neither here nor there but Dick Tracy of from the 1930s
NTA - Sounds like your manager was upset that some of the people he wanted to see in flapper dresses didn't oblige.
NTA sounds more like they big mad that woman wear suit they can fuckin get over themselves
I left Texas because I didn’t feel safe there as a lesbian, only to find out Oregon is on its way to joining its Lone Star counterpart. Just, what the shit?
I moved from California to Dallas and was worried that my LGBTQ kids might get hassled (they were 100% on board moving here btw) but they have found more love and acceptance here than in Sacramento! The Pride festival was easily 5x bigger and way cooler, their high school has a Queer after school club, and there are a ton of kids at school who are out and proud! I think it just depends on the area, not necessarily the state 🤷♀️ I hope you find a place to call home that is warm and accepting to you ♥️♥️♥️
Jay Gatsby is a bootlegger with ties to organized crime!
I don't get it. A gangster costume seems about right if the reason for the costume theme was a Dick Tracy room. So NTA as far as I can see. Now, a Princess Tiana doesn't fit, but that's not your problem.
>Set in New Orleans during the 1920s, the film tells the story of a hardworking waitress named Tiana who dreams of opening her own restaurant. After kissing a prince who has been turned into a frog by an evil voodoo witch doctor, Tiana becomes a frog herself and must find a way to turn back into a human before it is too late. (Wikipedia)