Young Ladies About Town

We Young Ladies about Town like nothing more than a bit of good old-fashioned socialising. For every modern show, modish party or restaurant opening, there is always scope for harking back to the glory days of good times past.

The Langham is doing just this with the opening of the Sipsmith Gin Palace. The opulent surroundings and tasty tipples are reminiscent of the original gin palaces of the mid 1800s, when the doors to this luxurious hotel first opened.

Sitting in plush seats, enjoying the rousing repertoire of the live band, the cocktails are the cherry on top of this sensory overload. We sampled Gineveristic – a blend of gin, lime juice and champagne (amongst other things) elegantly served in a china teacup.

The Sipsmith distillery is the first to open in London for 200 years, and the quality of the gin is evident in every concoction. While Gineversitic was sweet and decadent, the Ginger & Lilly was a refreshing combination of Sipsmith gin and ginger and lilly cordial. It was served equally creatively in a long-stemmed glass. My guests and I marvelled at the oversized, circular ice-cube bearing the Langham logo in tiny bubbles (this attention to detail is very impressive at the best of times, not least when you’re two cocktails down).

Spanish chef, Omar Allibhoy has worked with Olives from Spain to develop a range of delicious, juicy and effortlessly stylish olive marinades that can be mixed up in no time at all. And to see how effortless they were, we went along to enjoy a night of Spanish cuisine at the Food at 52 cookery school.

We learnt how to make an olive marinade and three other dishes, including chocolate olive truffles, sea bass with peppers and capper berries and chicken with a spicy potato salad in a green olive sauce. And yes I did say chocolate olive truffles- you would not think the two would work, but they were delcious. So delicious that I nabbed the last one!

Bourne and Hollingsworth are renowned for hosting fabulous vintage themed parties in London and their debut at this year's London Fashion Week did not disappoint.

The idea behind their unique show (held at the rather beautiful Bloomsbury Ballroom, Fashion Retrospective), is that fashion is cyclical- what was in vogue in 1901 still influences fashion runways the world over today- albeit in a new way. The first ever vintage fashion show to hit the runway at LFW was also a celebration of London's thriving vintage scene.

Last night (on the oh so exciting eve of London Fashion Week) yummy mummy-to-be Fearne Cotton presented her Very.co.uk S/S ’13 collection at Claridges ballroom.

And while the clothes in the range - her tenth collection with the fashion house - were right on trend, baby Cotton-Wood stole the show when Fearne spoke of 'just about squeezing' herself and her bump into her dress.

With London Fashion week upon us, every young lady about town will have heels and handbags on the brain. But in a world where pets are sometimes thought of as an accessory, is it time that London Fashion Week started to cater for four-legged fashionistas?

Rosie Fortescue (Made in Chelsea) wears Karl by Karl Lagerfeld shirt and skirt, ACNE biker jacket, Valentino gloves and Isabel Marant shoes, Dog Models: Noodle (her dachshund) wears Kate Maconie collar and lead from www.PetsPyjamas.com

Clearly PetsPyjamas.com had the same idea. Hence their debut at this year's fashion week with beautiful outfits and accessories for owner and dog alike.

Well that certainly isn't a problem for "The Memory Man". Italy's latest export, Gianni Golfera, has made a name for himself using his exceptional memory. But Golfera isn't just good at remembering where his keys are - he is capable of recalling Latin texts and exceptionally long numbers.

Sadly I have trouble remembering my own phone number sometimes, but luckily for me Golfera was on hand to tell me a bit more about his method and give me his top tips.

Giani Golfera

Aged 8 my ambition was to ride for Great Britain at the Olympics, clearing the last fence with seconds to go and bringing home gold to the screaming crowd. It never quite happened, but when I received tickets for the Cross Country at the London Olympics it was like Christmas had come again.

I decided that if I wasn’t in the GB team with Zara, William, Pippa, Mary and Tina then I would do the next best thing to support them – I would go to the X Country in full riding gear. Genius and hilarious at the same I time I thought. Surely many others will be doing the same? As it turned out, apparently not.

So to hear that an exclusive new range of beautiful arm candy has been launched today at Debenhams was good news for me, but bad news for my purse!

Sacha London's new exclusive collection at Debenhams features rich textures and colours, with a classic styling perfect for all young ladies about town this autumn/winter season. There are a range of designs including mega totes, purses and mini across-the-body-styles.

A research carried out by Sure Maximum Protection deodorant has found only 15% of the statues listed in the UK are women.

The same survey also found that 89% of Brits - both men and women - would like to see more women celebrated with statues. Sure Maximum Protection has polled responses to uncover the top ten influential and strong British women that the nation would like to see celebrated for their lifetime achievements. And the results...

1. Dame Kelly Holmes (24 per cent)

Earlier this year, we Young Ladies were treated to a private tour of the apiary on top of the Melvita store in Covent Garden. Donning the oh-so-stylish white suits to get up close, we spent a fascinating afternoon chatting to Camilla Goddard and learning about the art of beekeeping.

Our little visit filled us with affection for our honey-making friends and we have been following their news ever since. This week we were fascinated to hear that the Melvita colony have welcomed a further 50,000 bees from Greenwich Park, who require temporary home during this busy sporting summer.