Vintage London: Eating, drinking & dress up

Oh hi! How are you? You're looking fabulous. It must be because the sun's out in the UK and everyone looks so much sexier all of a sudden.

I still have lots of things to tell you about that I've already done but before I do, I have two awesome things to tell you about that are coming up.

First off, it's that time again... The Vintage Mafia's Ric Rac Club is back with a big (top) bang. Here's the info in full (I wrote this, so copy-pasting it is not cheating, OK?)

Roll up, roll up and join London's most notorious retro party girls The Vintage Mafia for The Ric Rac Club Circus Workers party on May 11th 2013.  

Held at The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker in Islington, the event promises to be a splendid social occasion - more of a house party in a pub than a serious 'vintage' club night. 

Throughout the evening, guests can practice their party tricks and dance to toe-tapping tunes from the 1920s to the 1960s, played by the VM girls and one of the finest DJs in the land – the eccentric and fabulous Auntie Maureen. There will be a performance from the amazing Stefanie Valentine, a fresh-faced but already acclaimed contortion artist, who will be debuting a new act. 

At midnight, as at every Ric Rac Club, there will be the (almost) famous Ric Rac Raffle, featuring an assortment of useless useful knick-knacks, as well as some real prizes of booze and literature. Luckily for hungry punters, the Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker is a fine establishment selling delicious food from its bespoke deli counter, mainly in the form of pies, homemade scotch eggs and sausage rolls (so Proper Food) as well as even more delicious drinks. Four rotating ales, fine whisky and artisan British gins and an admirable spirits selection plus well-crafted cocktails, mixed by talented bartenders. The team are creating a special circus-themed cocktail guaranteed to improve balance and coordination. General fun and silly games will take place throughout the evening. 

The dress code (encouraged but not enforced) is 'showgirls and ringmasters'.

I actually need some help from you guys on what to wear though. I think I might bust out this star-printed playsuit from days of yore and accessorise with a big flowery headdress and heels. What do you reckon?

Pic by Tobias Key from about FIVE YEARS?!?! ago. Jeez.

Thoughts?

Do come and party and hang out with us. We're only charging £6 to get in and it will be loads of fun.

The next thing is something I am pretty excited about. You may or may not know I work part time on the PR for Bourne & Hollingsworth (of big London vintage party fame - Blitz Party and Prohibition, as well as the Chap Olympiad of course). They also have some delightful cocktail bars (the eponymous Bourne and Hollingsworth and Reverend JW Simpson - both good places for vintage-lovers to drink). But they are opening a huge new venture in Clerkenwell which is going to be truly awesome.

Kitchen Party, as it's called, is three storeys of food and drink-lovers' heaven. There will be three-to-four different pop-up food offerings inside, all running for no more than a month or two, ranging from fancy-pants molecular gastronomy and experimental stuff, to Proper Food (see above).

The first run, which starts this Thursday, has Blanch and Shock doing a four-course feast of seasonal British food-  foraged greens, dry-aged meats, edible flowers, homemade bread and so on. It has Rack & Ruin, which is essentially Game of Thrones style eating - hunks of meat brine-soaked, marinated and then barbequed medieval style (as opposed to American style) over an open fire, served on bread trenchers with giant bowls of wild vegetables and salad. Taking vintage to a whole new level, eh? It also has the Robin Collective doing weird and wonderful things like edible terrariums and the Bizarrarita (a colour-changing cocktail) as well as an 'Extreme Garnishing' workshop in the basement... Bourne and Hollingsworth will be doing cocktails from their Fourth Wall wandering bar, which is kind of like a film set of a bar - bare wood outside and a faithful recreation of the B&H cocktail bar in Fitzrovia inside - in all its vintage living room glory!

I just hope I will get to go along myself and actually try out all these amazing things, because writing about them is a bit like torture. Check out the Kitchen Party website if you want to beat me to it. It's open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from this week but I think it will be pretty hard to get into once the word gets out!

Oh, and if anyone has heard of any amazing new food places in London that you think I should check out then please let me know. I'm always looking for delicious new things to eat!

Fleur xx
DiaryofaVintageGirl.com