Weekend Conversation Starters

[Messy Nessy Chic]   Grab a plate! We’ve got a real Smörgåsbord journey of little-known history for you this week. First stop: the cabarets of the Weimar Republic to [meet the woman who was too scandalous even for 1920s Berlin](. Next, start tapping your feet for the first popular music craze in American history – before jazz, before R&B or rock & roll, before all of that – [Ragtime gave us America’s First Music Stars](. Back on French soil, we’re [searching for Georges Méliès in Paris](, finding the birthplace of cinema and revisiting the world’s first film studio inside a greenhouse along the way. Turning back the dial on our time machine another hundred years, we’ll land in the aftermath of the French Revolution and discover [an 18th century proto punk movement]( and see fashion emerge even more decadently from the guillotine. Stay curious, [Nessy]   [She was Too Scandalous, Even for 1920s Berlin](  [Anita Berber, 1925]( Berlin is a city of ghosts and one of the most alluring phantoms is Anita Berber, the high priestess of debauchery; she of the kohl black eyes and flaming red hair and vermillion lips. Immortalised by Otto Dix’s paintbrush, this Weimar cabaret goddess challenged all the taboos with her performances and broke boundaries that would…  [Continue Reading](   [How French Fashion Emerged even More Decadently from the Guillotine](  [1799-Cruikshank-Paris-ladies-full-winter-dress-caricature]( Those of us who paid any attention in history class can probably recount a few key details and players of the French Revolution – there was Marie Antoinette, her Sun King and their posse at Versailles who were eating too much cake; the revolutionaries who kicked things off by storming the Bastille prison; and an…  [Continue Reading](   [Before Jazz, Ragtime gave us America’s First Music Stars](  [192301]( You know the sound of ragtime even if you don’t think you do. “The Entertainer“, a classic piano rag, is one of the most recognisable melodies of the 20th century (go on, have a quick listen). But it was written by America’s greatest musician that we’re betting you’ve never heard of – an African American composer…  [Continue Reading](   [Searching for Georges Méliès in Paris](  [scorceseparis1]( Georges Méliès was an illusionist, in every sense of the word; a man who revolutionised cinema forever. He played an indispensable role with his innovations, creating the world’s first film studio, the first fictional film and when it comes to the invention of special effects in cinema, he’s the guy to thank. Yet, unlike other…  [Continue Reading](   [13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DLXXXVI)](  [271808829_10226716427274761_7306214243304386238_n](  [Continue Reading](  Interested in Becoming a MessyNessy Keyholder? [Apply now to unlock the Vault!](    [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [Blog]( [To read more from MessyNessyChic visit the Blog]( and make sure you keep getting these email by adding contact@messynessychic.com to your address book or whitelist us. Our postal address: In a Café, Paris 75001 Want out of the loop? [Unsubscribe](.