extravagance

The Occasion: Last time I went to England, I didn’t have tea at the Ritz. Now, you’ll see in lots of the upscale touristy books that “tea at the Ritz is a simply a must;” what they neglect to mention is that “must” is nearly 100 dollars a head for the same high tea offered throughout London. So last time an emphasis on practicality, frugality, and poor planning prevented my dining in style. This time around, with most of the other big tourist attractions behind me, I decided to budget and see what the hubbub was about. For our group of five, I booked in September for an early December tea slot around noon. At the time, I didn’t account for the Christmas fever that would be spreading, but what a catching epidemic! Everything looked very snappy.

The Tea: I must declare everything was simply topping. Between the seven types of sandwiches, the luxurious ambiance, the smart tidbits of conversation, and the cake man bringing more delicious options to choose from, the Ritz was lovely! But to be honest, I think part of the reason I enjoyed it was because of the mounting anticipation and the planning and waiting that went into it. There’s a sense that if you’re going to spend every dime on the tea, it better be worth it, so you might try a bit harder at witty conversation, I picked a dress that I thought had a twenties vibe, and then I went all out with my fancy daycoat. If you are looking to just get high tea in London, don’t come to the Ritz, but if you want to feel like a million dollar trooper drinking the same tea, you’ve found your outlet (but book now).

The Outfit:

Tips his hat just like an English chappie…

And for a bit of last minute tree-decorating inspiration, I’d recommend Mr. Astaire singing this little ditty.

Last year Jacqueline Durran stunned the world with Kiera Knightley’s exquisite costumes in Joe Wright’s rendition of Anna Karenina. However, while absorbing the lush extravagance that was this fallen woman’s wardrobe, I was forced to ask myself: How many people actually still wear fur hats?

We should examine this fur-ther.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know this is Russia we were talking about. But, for real, how many people are out and about in fur hats? Have we as a society accepted use fur as inhumane more overall? Has global warming alleviated the need for these (the answer to that is NO in northern Indiana). Is fur just something few people can afford/ aren’t inclined to spend on? Does a fur hat just remind everyone of Julie Christie in Dr. Zhivago?

Be sure to let me know your thoughts. Personally, I say the fur hat is alive and well, especially since I wore one to my last class this morning. I was pretty excited about it and so in a fit of procrastination, I made an homage to our tragic Russian aristocrat.

WAITING FOR VRONSKY
(or failure… an ambition only slightly better than Godot)

For the occasion, I wore my mink hat, a black silk shirt, and a velvet jacket (that is probably my mother’s for nice occasions. Devon cream and a raison scone also went into the making of this photo set.)

Pictures brought to you by photobooth (yes I’m sorry, but the only other option was iphone selfies. Scylla and Charybdes, I know.)

This hat is mostly feathers.. but why stop good procrastination? Scone down.

And this one I call Bridget Jones at Thanksgiving. Leave it to our girl to wear the turkey on her head.

I realize this photo set was mostly me looking sad (I will spare you a lengthy justification on why this would fit Anna’s character and the ~~spoilers~~ that I would be sure to provide.), but I hope you got a bit of a kick out of it, and let me know if you have any in-fur-mation on Winter hats today.

Fancy: 10

Function: 6 (they keep Russian heads really warm)

Funky: 5

Fashion: ?

The Clothesline

Style for people blowing in the wind

Puttin’ on the Ritz

Fur Better or Fur Worse?