Afternoon Tea beckons this weekend. Ah, clotted cream and triangle shapes, slivers of delicacy and indulgent sugary puffs of loveliness. I can’t tell you how much I love Afternoon Tea. In one tiered blink of an eye, you are transported back to a bygone era of manners and time-keeping and ritual and idle gossip. I do love Afternoon Tea, but I love everything that goes with it by extension. My kitchen contains a gallery of cake-stands, mis-matched crockery and every conceivable variation on cupcake cookbooks. Not that I do much baking. Or hostessing for that matter. But, like a magpie, I am drawn to all things shiny and antiquated – every trip to a flea market and charity shop, every birthday and special occasion…all marked by a piece of chipped porcelain.
I understand that not everyone wants to stock their kitchen with antique serving platters and delicate, chintzy cups and saucers…but everyone likes to play with them right? Check out the Lonely Teacup in Kildare; a new business that hires out all the trappings of Afternoon Tea for whatever you deem fit. Bespoke cake-stands, antique tea-pots, candelabras, picnic hampers…a veritable Driving Miss Daisy Wonderland to kit out your party, anniversary, wedding etc etc. Genius.
So, now to the heart of the matter – what does one wear to Afternoon Tea? Can’t be showing any ankle or elbow, that’s for sure. Maybe a hint of the nape of the neck? Obviously adorned by some fabulous collar or statement pearls. Are petticoats a tad overkill? And I am delighted to be reinstating the use of my frilly Communion umbrella, as there be rain forecast on the horizon. A pair of lace gloves and a cloche hat tipped jauntily to one side should finish the job.
