High Tea Society

I love decadence and glamour so there's no suprise that I love the traditional old school way of taking tea, scones and other assorted pastry marvels, pretty cupcakes and fine finger sandwiches often involved in the art of afternoon tea.

Women of all ages (and the Bombshell men who naturally admires the finer things in life) are decking themselves out in their finery and enjoying a taste of the prettier things in life.

At The Ritz in London, men are turned away from afternoon tea if they are not wearing a suitable tie and jacket.  It offers well made pots of tea, finely cut sandwiches, freshly baked scones with fruit-filled jam and fresh clotted cream and pretty, delicate pastries. It's an event. The room is beautiful, as it should be. Chandeliers drop pretty light onto well dressed tables, featuring fine china and linen.

But be warned, not all high teas are like The Ritz. Just yesterday, I met Laura, a Bombshell girlfriend of mine for a traditional high tea at the top of the British Museum and although we has a great catch-up, we were subjected to an extremely unsatisfactory version of a traditional High Tea. Even more dissappointing is the realisation that the Biritsh are famous for putting on the best high tea's in the world. The real deal is a study in decadence, refined and delightful. It goes to show that the pretenders don't do so well on the high side of things, cutting corners and failing to finish presentation standards in the manner that we expect.

Another thing to love about high tea is it gives us the opportunity to wear our most beautiful dresses and special occasion handbags. As to where to go for high tea in your own town, most good hotels will pride themselves on offering a good High Tea. I love Fortnum and Masons. It's worth an investigation into where to find the best traditional high tea in your city.