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Prohibition in London

'It was my grandfather's, though I've had to replace a few of the buttons', remarks one punter of the crisp WW1 army uniform he's wearing.

Girls sweep around in headbands and deep red lippy, some done up with tightly curled bobs that look far too pristine to be real. Blokes sport waistcoats, bow ties and a smattering of moustaches and hats. Itchy can't decide whether folk generally look better in 1920s clothing, or whether the building is simply full of enormously attractive people. Perhaps it's a little of both.

We're at London's Prohibition, a 1920s-themed party set in the deliciously opulent environment of 33 Portland Place, a private Georgian mansion a few minutes from Oxford Circus. Usually when a place is billed as 'opulent' or, God forbid, 'decadent', it just means they've got the lighting quite low and someone's hung up a bit of red curtaining.

Not so here. The six-floor former embassy, now the property of the entrepreneur Edward Davenport, is just astounding, with its vaulted ceilings, gleaming marble tables, wide fireplaces and the odd slightly dilapidated room with bare walls and peeling paint. You sort of feel like you might be getting battered in a National Trust property.

And there's plenty to keep you occupied. In one room people play cards and watch Buster Keaton films to a live piano accompaniment. Elsewhere there's a red room with loud jazz, where the boys take off their jackets and twirl their girls. We spot a land girl dancing on a chair, while what appears to be a wedding cake on one of the tables turns out to be someone's hat.

Out in the hallway people crowd round a roulette wheel, sipping gin fizz from china teacups and beer from bottles marked 'juice' or 'milk'.

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Everyone's made the effort, and there's no half-arsed plastic trilbies, but all the same Prohibition comes with none of the fashionable pretension we've run into at other high end costume parties. No-one seems to take themselves too seriously. The night's run by the people behind Bourne and Hollingsworth on Rathbone Place, and it has the same feeling of easy make-believe.

Also, pleasingly, all that glitters is not gold. When we went it was 15 quid in, and beers were about £3.50. Which for London on a Saturday night is pretty smart.

Prohibition's about to go monthly, so to find out about future events keep an eye on www.prohibition1920s.com or ask behind the bar at Bourne and Hollingsworth.

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