Saturday, February 19, 2011

Vogue Adventures

It's A Balls Up

It's A Balls Up

Guess who? A breathtaking magenta Roksanda Ilincic dress, this season's must-have cuissardes... It can only be our favourite hostess Jonny Woo, at Bistroteque's Annual Drag Ball (BAD Ball 3), at the Royal Opera House, on Sunday night. The evening included performance categories such as International Diva in a Leading Role (throwing a strop), London Fashionista at the Opera and Pushy Mother with Kids at a Ballet Audition. The handbags and the gladrags were watched over by Rick Owens and his kittenish wife Michele Lamy, Roland Mouret, Louise Gray, Gareth Pugh, and the elegant judges Louise Wilson OBE and the beslippered Henry Holland - "well it is Sunday," he quipped. Roksanda, in one of her own designs, was wearing a Chanel Matryoshka cuff (a thoughtful present from her husband - and the most stylish worry doll we've seen!).

Photo: Frederic Aranda

Vogue Adventures

Potter's Bar

Potter's Bar

Whiling away a few days in Cornwall, we stopped off at Chris Prindl's pottery studio (anyone else think he looks like Philippe Starck?). Chris's work is as influenced by Japanese as it is his Cornish heritage (he teaches Japanese classes on a Wednesday), but his chief concern is that his pieces "are nice to hold". We love that idea - we apply it to our handbags all the time. Check his creations for yourself at www.prindlpottery.co.uk.

Vogue Adventures

Spaghetti Western Heaven

Spaghetti Western Heaven

Although we are a bit sad to be back from our lovely summer holidays, we're consoling ourselves by planning our next trip to an easy-to-reach Euro-zone slice of heaven ­which will stay nice and hot until November.

Forty minutes from Almería airport (just under three hours from London), and only two miles from the nearest beach, Cortijo Los Malenos is a beautifully converted farmhouse, right in the middle of Spain's Cabo de Gata-Níjar natural park (an incredible volcanic UNESCO reserve, which borders the Sierra Nevada, where all our favourite Spaghetti Westerns were shot).

A typical day at Los Malenos: waking up to the view of the sun rising over the desert, the breakfast table heaving with figs and prickly pears grown in the garden and all manner of home-made bread, cheese and tortilla; then off to explore the many deserted beaches along the Cabo de Gata-Níjar shoreline (we especially loved Agua Amarga). Back in time for a massage from the wonderful Carmen, a dip in the natural spring-water pool and an aperitif in the Rose Patio (our new favourite drink: Tinto de Verano­ red wine and soda water, served over ice, with a slice of lemon), before a delicious dinner under the stars.

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