London Adventures: The Third Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball & More!

My trip to London was really wonderful, with the highlight being the Chap Ball in Camden Town Hall.  I wore a long dark red dress with a little black and white cape, black shoes and clutch bag, plus a big deco-style sunburst hair slide and an original deco pin on my dress.  I felt more like Babooshka on the way there, wrapped up against the very cold evening, but once unwrapped and the flats swapped for heels, I did feel quite elegant.

My own photos are pretty terrible.  Other people's are much nicer.  There are photo albums of the ball here:
http://www.philrussellphotos.co.uk/ClientGallery11/Client_gallery_11.html

And here:
http://thechap.net/content/section_news/?p=879

By the end of the evening I wasn't looking so ladylike - the cape was off, a gin cocktail spilt down the front (the perils of drinking next to energetic jive dancers), the skirt was hitched up, the curls had mostly dropped out and were plastered to my face with sweat as I danced like a complete loon for hours on end.  I had a bag of haribo stashed in my clutch to keep the energy levels up, and I only had a few drinks as I was more interested in dancing and exploring than getting drunk.  It was the best night out I've had in a very, very long time.

Lots of faces from the vintage blogging scene were there - Fleur, Yesterday Girl, Gemma to name but a few - but I was far too shy to go and say hello to any of them, particularly in my sweaty state when they were all looking so composed!!

My favourite bit was the speakeasy bar - a little hatch that opened when the bell was rung to reveal white-gloved hands handing you a card telling you to put the money on the counter and keep your mouth shut!  A gin cocktail in a teacup appeared and the hatch slammed shut afterwards.

On Sunday, I headed to the What Katie Did boutique for their 'Glamour and Seduction' workshop, which was a lot of fun.  I got some great tips from Amanda from Lipstick & Curls (did you know if you're short of time you can just use 6 or so hot sticks in big sections of your hair rather than using the whole lot??), and then met the lovely Polly Rae, who gave us all a reminder on posture, faking confidence, and giving ourselves a bit more attention.  Lovely cocktails in teacups again (the theme of the weekend I think!) and the most amazing little chocolate cupcakes.

The goodybag was a treat too - I now have a set of all 6 Besame reds to try out at home!  I can't wait to wear one of them tonight, as I'm off to see the Puppini Sisters.  It's definitely the party season!

Miss P xx