The Return of the 20s

Gunsmith Durango
Guest Contributor

he year is 2016. While this does not seem to be very

important to most, this year is only four short years away
from the twenties. For a short recap, let’s rewind the clock
about a hundred years. At this point in 1916, World War I
was in the midst of rolling through Europe, while organized
crime in parts of the world that were not taking part were
developing standards of dress and behaviour which would be
remembered for many years to come.

The 1920s saw the entry of suit wearing mobsters driving
fancy vehicles, and having battles with other suit wearing
mobsters using tommy guns. While advocating for the
return of senseless violence is not the intent, advocating

for the return of targeted violence between criminal groups
while removing innocent bystanders from the equation is an
admirable target. The last time the 20s were here, jazz and
swing music were both popular, and were played live in bars,
pubs, and concert halls on a nightly basis. Dancing at the
time was very popular, but was much more involved than the
drunken flailing and groaning that is called dancing today.

To help prepare for the return of the twenties, a good
recommendation would be for everyone to learn some
swing dancing moves. All that is needed to start is to find
someone that knows the steps and has a collection of

the Future 5

swing music to practice to. The rest, as they say, is history.
Along with the ability to swing dance will also come the
necessity of people again wearing pinstripe suits for day to
day attire. From a realistic point of view, while these days
thugs and the uneducated seem to believe dressing in overly
large pants with a crotch that hangs down to the knees
makes one look tough or imposing, I guarantee that a well
tailored suit does a much better job, while also passing on

a look suggesting that the wearer is in control of their life,
and has the skills necessary to accomplish their goals.

Even if this is a complete fabrication, the first step to
making a change in one’s life is to dress in a way that seems
closer to a goal, then continue working hard towards that
goal. Since moving back a hundred or so years to clubs
playing live music from an ensemble consisting of a stand
up bass, a saxophone, a drum set and a vocalist is unlikely
to happen, we are fortunate enough right now that the
electro-swing genre is alive and well. As an example of
how we should be preparing to dress and dance, one could
look up the “Parov Stelar - Cat groove (TSC - Forsythe)”
video on YouTube to see how a choreographed professional
dancer would look. Most of the moves this master performs
will take a significant input of time to master, which

makes this opportune, in that there is nearly four years

before these changes will need to be implemented.

In the 1920s, wearing a suit was not enough to complete the
fashion ensemble that gave mobsters the notoriety they
have today. To complete any fashion package, a suitable hat
must also be worn. Hats that would suffice would include
bowler hats, or even a fedora if no other suitable head piece
could be found. While wearing the fashionable hat and
pinstripe suit combo, practitioners of the new twenties
regime will need to remember to be polite to everyone,
regardless of how badly you want to put some people in their
place, and always remember to use manners at all times.

A proper variety of speech will also need to be adopted
to replace the broken English that widespread use of

the internet has caused us to adopt. Usage of “lol” and
other internet short form in everyday speech will need
to be curbed and stopped completely by 2020 to pave the
way for the future-past that is quickly approaching.

These guidelines mostly tend to be for the men so neglecting
to mention the women would seem sexist. As such, women
can return to wearing the long slit sided gowns and

dresses that used to be common, or they could also wear
pinstripe suits. After all, equality empowers everyone!