09/24/12 - 0 Comments
This Week: Things To Do
This week, we thought we’d relax a little in London with some chill music, a cozy place to crash, an intellectual evening and a new pre-dinner bar with all-you-can eat aperitivo mini-plates. Nothing too chaotic or demanding, and absolutely no stress. Leave the wild weekend stints for another day and schedule that me-time we know you deserve.
What to Read: The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis
There really isn’t a better way to begin your me-time than with a good book that keeps you turning pages, and The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis is exactly that. Set at the end of the 15th century, The Malice of Fortune follows Damita, a Vatican courtesan, Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci on their quest to uncover the man behind the murder of Juan Borgia. Personally, we love the book already for its expert mix of Sherlock Holmes-esque mystery, Da Vinci Code-style puzzles and a scandal right from the pages of Showtime’s The Borgias. Yes, this story about blood, lust and political intrigue is perfect excuse to dine alone at your favorite coffee shop.
Where to Eat: Il Tempo
An all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant? Count us in. Yep, you read that correctly: Il Tempo is serving complementary mini-plates and aperitifs at its recently opened Covent Garden location. And we do mean recent—Il Tempo just opened last Friday, and they’ve yet to create a website—but be sure to check out their twitter page! The catch (if you can call it a catch at all) is that you do have to pay for drinks. But with a wide variety of Italian wines, this really shouldn’t be a problem. Good italian food does, after all, absolutely require wine. And what better way to initiate a chill girl’s night than by grabbing some good friends and going out for munchies and drinks?
A Bit of Music: Let It Be at the Prince of Wales Theater
In October 1962, The Beatles released their first album, Love Me Do. As you know, that album was just the beginning of The Beatles’ meteoric career, one that culminated in the band becoming the best-selling rock group in history—impressive, especially since Auto-Tune didn’t come around until the late ’90s, meaning The Beatles’ music was 100% their own. Now, fifty years later, the Prince of Wales Theater is celebrating The Beatles’ success with Let It Be (September 24 to January 19). Part musical, part biography, Let It Be promises to be one of this years most epic concert performances. “We’re trying to recreate the concert that no one ever saw,” said Jamie Hendry of Jamie Hendry Productions, one of the producers of the show. Naturally, we already have our tickets secured.
Where to Stay: Dorset Square Hotel
If you’re looking for a quiet place to stay, the newly renovated Dorset Square Hotel is the perfect spot to lay your head down for the night. With only 38 rooms, each individually decorated to provide a unique personality, the Dorset Square Hotel offers a relaxed brand of luxury that is difficult to find at many larger hotels. Just don’t expect any of the country decor that previously dominated this cozy sleeping space. Instead, the new management chose to go a different route, selecting contemporary furnishings and modern amenities (i.e., iPhone docks). No worries, though—the serene view of the garden square is still available.
A Evening of Culture: Forming Fashion: Displaying Fashion at the V&A
This Wednesday, September 26 at 1pm, the Victoria and Albert Museum is offering guests a sneak peek at what goes into creating the museum’s stunning fashion exhibits (showings like Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950, on display until January 6, 2013). This lunchtime discussion with Sarah Glenn, the Textile Conservator at the V&A, holds all the juicy but incredibly technical details about installing the designer masterpieces for each exhibition—pieces like Princess Diana’s “Elvis Dress,” designed by Catherine Walker, as well as works by Alexander McQueen, Norman Hartnell and Victor Stiebel. It turns out that wearing each dress was the easy part. Keeping each dress looking that never-before-worn sort of perfection, however, is another story—one that we can’t wait to hear.
Where to Shop: Burberry World Live at Burberry’s London Flagship Store
These days, high-tech shopping means so much more than buying clothes on the internet. Now, Burberry’s flagship store in London has recently opened a digital showroom. Okay, so what exactly does that mean? Actually, the concept’s really cool and includes 500 speakers and 100 mirrors that also double as digital screens. Altogether, the project took over two years to pull together.
Now, when you walk up to a mirror, you’re not just looking at a piece of clothing. Instead, the new RFID chips in select garments trigger a form of digital magic that plays catwalk videos as well as suggests other bits of clothing that would complement your selection right on the mirror. Let us assure you that yes, this really is as impressive as it sounds, especially when this new technology’s paired with the 192-year-old building’s elegance.
Photo credit: IndieBound, Dorset Square Hotel, Wallpaper*, London Theatre, Victoria and Albert Museum, Vimeo
