Last weekend was incredibly busy but lots of fun. We went to stay with our daughters in London and they had planned lots of things for us. I went down on Thursday as I wanted to visit the Ideal Homes Exhibition which was on at Earls Court. Its a long time since I visited and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. There didn't seem to be as many home related stands as I remember, and in fact, if it hadn't been for the large fashion and beauty section (yep, I don't know how that fits in either!) it would have seemed quite empty. Still I had a most enjoyable time with daughter two and we still managed to buy things.
Friday evening was a joy. We had tickets for the Mary Quant talk at the V&A. Sorry about the grainy photo, it was taken on my iPhone from quite a way back, but I wanted to have something to show. She was truly a visionary. It seems a bit cliched to say she revolutionised fashion but she truly did. The clothes she designed were so different to anything that had proceeded them, both in terms of style and fabrics. She was very keen on using different fabrics together, for example, tweed with soft silks. She also developed a way of bonding silk crepe to give it structure and make it easier to work with. She was also the first person to use plastics for fashion clothes. And of course there was no way a woman could wear the stockings and suspenders that were worn then with the mini skirt! She told us how she used to get tights from theatrical shops for her models to wear, until the hosiery companies caught on.
She has written her autobiography and I look forward to reading it because apart from the iconic clothes she designed she was also a part of the whole 60's scene that saw in change in almost every area of life and had a profound impact on womens lives.
As if that wasn't enough, on Saturday we had the most amazing afternoon tea at the Sandersons Hotel which was based on The Mad Hatters Tea Party!
Rainbow sandwiches, little bottles of fruit puree with drink me on and lollies that taste both hot and cold in your mouth. Yummy cakes and some of the best scones I have tasted, rounded off with a glass of champagne (or an amazing cocktail) and tea, all served in the conservatory. I can definitely recommend it. And if you do visit go into the lift - its interesting to say the least. The bar is also quite cool.
Now, still keeping up? We finished off our Saturday by seeing the wonderful Phantom of The Opera. Its an amazing production and Sofia Escobar, who played Christine has the most beautiful voice. Its been running for 25 years this year but still seems fresh.
I hope your weekend was as much fun as ours. Now its back to work and a different type of fun.
