I was surprised when I attended a wine tasting evening in Simon’s Town two weeks ago to find the theme was Gatsby. The men and women had gone all out — sequins, suspenders, feathered headbands, and champagne glasses that caught the light like crystal fire. It was a jovial night, the kind you wish would go on longer. Now, I see that rising Gen Z star Carmen Jooste is staging a full-blown Gatsby extravaganza at the Cirk Theatre in Cresta, Johannesburg — proof that the Great Gatsby is truly back in fashion.
The sudden interest in the Gatsby theme in South Africa in 2025 goes deeper than the glitz and flapper dresses. It’s rooted in something quite local — the Gatsby sandwich, that legendary Cape Town creation named after Jay Gatsby himself. Born in the 1970s during apartheid, the sandwich became a symbol of abundance, community, and joy in tough times. It was meant to be shared, and that spirit — extravagant and inclusive — still runs through South African culture today.
That sense of shared pleasure seems to have met the allure of the 1920s’ roaring glamour — the jazz, the pearls, the sense that anything was possible. With Heritage Day celebrations keeping local traditions alive, and with fashion houses and event planners embracing retro opulence, the Gatsby revival was almost inevitable.
Why South Africa’s Gatsby Moment Makes Sense
• Cultural roots: The Gatsby sandwich remains a proud part of Cape Town’s heritage, symbolising local creativity and togetherness.
• Timeless style: The roaring twenties’ aesthetic — all sequins, champagne, and saxophones — fits perfectly with South Africans’ love for stylish celebration.
• Modern revival: From matric dances to themed parties and theatre productions, the Gatsby mood has found a new generation of fans.
This trend also owes something to Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby (2013), whose vivid, larger-than-life interpretation of the 1920s still echoes across global fashion and party culture. In South Africa, it’s found fertile ground — where heritage meets high style.
It’s strange, isn’t it? We are now in the early ’20s of this new century, echoing those “roaring twenties” of the last. Back then it was jazz, Al Jolson, and the birth of the talkies — The Jazz Singer, that groundbreaking film. A century later, with the world recovering from its own upheavals, perhaps people crave the same thing: joy, glamour, and the thrill of getting dressed up for a night of music and laughter.
I saw that spirit alive in the Simon’s Town Town Hall that night — a saxophonist playing old jazz tunes, couples crowding onto the dance floor, and laughter spilling like bubbles. After all these years, Gatsby’s dream — the idea of living brightly, even for a moment — seems to have found a new home here at the southern tip of Africa.
