So as weeks of preparation reached critical late night hammering (sorry, hotel across the road), furniture shifting and fanatical tidying (I give you Mr Timothy Balmain-to-Bedlam-Oval-Area-Manager-Chapman, the man who put the anal into fanatical) (is that too rude??) (the "ass" into "fastidious" perhaps? No? Worse, right) - most of which I hope has been recorded pictorially on Facebook, which you must forgive if that forum is not to your taste but there are only so many so' med' hours left to live - with whole days to go we sent out the invitations to our opening party:
You will note the high honour we were paid by a brace of very British companies renowned as foremost in their field. Firstly, Fentimans plied us with their deliciously nostalgic pop. Tonic, Dandelion & Burdock, Victorian and Rose Lemonade were all consumed with gusto but it was their Ginger Beer that put the fiery fizz into the proceedings. We consider ourselves red-headed connoisseurs of this tincture at Bedlam and burpily hail theirs supreme. Thank you Tiffany.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifWfXyf2qfY
Next, lovely Lauren at Penhaligons sent over the scents to perfume our revels - delicate "Bluebell" for the ladies and, pour les messieurs, "Douru". The latter was created in 1911 for Sir Percy Croft of the Croft Port dynasty. It sets out to seduce one's innocent head with a fresh lime zing but before a gal can call for her chaperone the leathery musk base note is addressing her further down:
http://www.penhaligons.com/shop/home.html?currency_code=GBP
As if the ladies weren't vulnerable enough, already, Chase delivered cases of their award winning vodka, a distillation so devilishly pure that Mr Vincent berated Miss Carr (as if!) for not making Moscow Mules of sufficient, er, stiffness, and self-served further slugs. The photos that follow will testify to his subsequent sloshiness. He will swear on oath, however, that he woke with no hangover. We owe thanks to Ms. Clarke at Chase for organising that contribution:
http://www.chasedistillery.co.uk/Home.htm
Our own cup ranneth over when Norton motorcycles also agreed to lend their name to the evening. We are indebted to Kay for that. Mr Nick Ashley, a man of sterling biking pedigree, was particularly impressed and asked how we managed to wrangle such a class coup:
http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/
Well perhaps our sincerely avowed ambition to one day be as highly regarded as these British manufacturers won their indulgence and we hope to build our association with all of them. Last but not least, but too late for the invitations, Universal Records biked over swag galore (as we liked to call it in the music biz) - including the new PJ Harvey album "Let England Shake" - because that's the sort of top mate we have in Chris Dwyer. Our fave caff in all London Town, the Wolseley topped up the going home bags with a sexy spark for one's cigar.
A couple of friends penned messages of good will, none more treasured than my beloved Emiliana who came to visit a few days prior, bringing with her the reason we must launch Baby Bedlam soon:
Emiliana would be deep in deepest Wales writing her next album come Party Night so she wrote something lyrical in the Visitors' Book:
Crucially, she also brought along Ali Mapletoft whose "Age of Reason" silk and safety pin scarves and snides (the rocker's snood, a word we agreed was abused) Earl of Bedlam is now proud to stock. Ali came back to London again to help get the store ready and set up the display. She has blogged with delightful enthusiasm about her first visit to Bedlam and the party:
http://mysilkyscarf.blogspot.com/2011/05/earl-of-bedlam.html
http://mysilkyscarf.blogspot.com/2011/05/earl-of-bedlam-launches-in-style.html
Before turning her artistry to scarves, Ali did the animation for Emiliana's video "Sunny Road" which won best vid at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2006:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyuL1z2tejs
Their peach skin silk cajoles you into caressing them. As Ali pointed out, however, they are deliciously soft yet strong enough to restrain. Ahem. Well, here's the Bondage Baboushka in lush detail:
For the party we redressed the pinstripe with Ali's punk pug stock (below). Unfolded Magazine, that attended the party and recorded it with many great photos, broke the story of our collaboration:
http://unfoldedmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/05/age-of-reason-scarves-launch-in-london.html
You will note the high honour we were paid by a brace of very British companies renowned as foremost in their field. Firstly, Fentimans plied us with their deliciously nostalgic pop. Tonic, Dandelion & Burdock, Victorian and Rose Lemonade were all consumed with gusto but it was their Ginger Beer that put the fiery fizz into the proceedings. We consider ourselves red-headed connoisseurs of this tincture at Bedlam and burpily hail theirs supreme. Thank you Tiffany.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifWfXyf2qfY
Next, lovely Lauren at Penhaligons sent over the scents to perfume our revels - delicate "Bluebell" for the ladies and, pour les messieurs, "Douru". The latter was created in 1911 for Sir Percy Croft of the Croft Port dynasty. It sets out to seduce one's innocent head with a fresh lime zing but before a gal can call for her chaperone the leathery musk base note is addressing her further down:
http://www.penhaligons.com/shop/home.html?currency_code=GBP
As if the ladies weren't vulnerable enough, already, Chase delivered cases of their award winning vodka, a distillation so devilishly pure that Mr Vincent berated Miss Carr (as if!) for not making Moscow Mules of sufficient, er, stiffness, and self-served further slugs. The photos that follow will testify to his subsequent sloshiness. He will swear on oath, however, that he woke with no hangover. We owe thanks to Ms. Clarke at Chase for organising that contribution:
http://www.chasedistillery.co.uk/Home.htm
Our own cup ranneth over when Norton motorcycles also agreed to lend their name to the evening. We are indebted to Kay for that. Mr Nick Ashley, a man of sterling biking pedigree, was particularly impressed and asked how we managed to wrangle such a class coup:
http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/
Well perhaps our sincerely avowed ambition to one day be as highly regarded as these British manufacturers won their indulgence and we hope to build our association with all of them. Last but not least, but too late for the invitations, Universal Records biked over swag galore (as we liked to call it in the music biz) - including the new PJ Harvey album "Let England Shake" - because that's the sort of top mate we have in Chris Dwyer. Our fave caff in all London Town, the Wolseley topped up the going home bags with a sexy spark for one's cigar.
A couple of friends penned messages of good will, none more treasured than my beloved Emiliana who came to visit a few days prior, bringing with her the reason we must launch Baby Bedlam soon:
 |
| Ali Mapletoft (Age of Reason) with Emiliana Torrini and her baby son |
Crucially, she also brought along Ali Mapletoft whose "Age of Reason" silk and safety pin scarves and snides (the rocker's snood, a word we agreed was abused) Earl of Bedlam is now proud to stock. Ali came back to London again to help get the store ready and set up the display. She has blogged with delightful enthusiasm about her first visit to Bedlam and the party:
http://mysilkyscarf.blogspot.com/2011/05/earl-of-bedlam.html
http://mysilkyscarf.blogspot.com/2011/05/earl-of-bedlam-launches-in-style.html
Before turning her artistry to scarves, Ali did the animation for Emiliana's video "Sunny Road" which won best vid at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2006:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyuL1z2tejs
Their peach skin silk cajoles you into caressing them. As Ali pointed out, however, they are deliciously soft yet strong enough to restrain. Ahem. Well, here's the Bondage Baboushka in lush detail:
 |
| Ali unfurls the Union |
For the party we redressed the pinstripe with Ali's punk pug stock (below). Unfolded Magazine, that attended the party and recorded it with many great photos, broke the story of our collaboration:
http://unfoldedmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/05/age-of-reason-scarves-launch-in-london.html
 |
| Much beauty did abound at the party - Ali "Age of Reason" with Jana Hopley |
Another lady who regretted she was unable to attend, Mrs Anne Johnson, one of our first bespoke customers, penned this verse in tribute to our launch:
Girls with pearls
And Earls with curls
Are known to be well-suited
When asked where did
they buy their clothes
"At BEDLAM", they all hooted.
And with that curtain raiser I am going to close my shutters for the night and continue with the tale of what was an epic night tomorrow.
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