Well it’s All Hallow’s Eve and what are you up to? Are you being spooky or ignoring the whole thing. I’m off to the Day of the Dead celebrations and procession down Columbia Rd, London starting at 12 pm.
Let me introduce you to Aless Bester - who incidentally is one of the finalists in our Style Queen category in our AofA Awards on Nov 20th at Hoxton Hall in Hackney - who also is the Queen of Halloween. She’s also a maker so she creates spidery face decorations and all of her outfits. She can be seen often on the Colour Walks at Spitalfields. And I’m pretty sure she’ll be at the Day of the Dead celebrations this Saturday down Columbia Rd. All hail Alexandra and her creations.
2. Some of us AofAer’s are going down to London’s Day of the Dead. Info above.
I’ll be there from 12. And was excited to find out that another of our finalists will be there. In this case, Yuli who runs Bellacouche.com and is a finalist in the Grooviest End of Life Organisation is running a stall in the mercado so I will definitely be popping in there.
3. We have to have a few heartening bits of news amongst the rest. And I think this is old news but it’s brilliant news nevertheless. And one of the members of AofA added that he has since given away the money raised by guitars that have been sold. Good old Dave Gilmour.
Petula Clark was on Woman’s Hour this week on Oct 27th. At 92, she’s exuding pizzazz. She has a memoir out called Is That You, Petula? I remember my dad singing Downtown and having a bit of a thing about Petula. I think that was a common occurrence among the dads.
We were sad to hear that Prunella Scales had died at 93 but glad to hear that she died a comfortable, peaceful death surrounded by her loved ones. She had dementia and her family found a way to keep her at home for these days. Apparently she was watching episodes of Fawlty Towers in her last few days.
We love the idea of a Flaneurs’ Walk. Not to mention the Flaneuses as well. It’s on Nov 23rd in London. ‘Great claims are often made by the regular participants of the Grand Flaneur Walk - which always takes place during the early Summer - along the lines of “Oh, this is nothing. You should see my Winter wardrobe. That’s when the true colours of my dandyism shine forth to dazzle the passers-by.”
This year such claims will be put to the test, for the very first Grand Flaneur Winter Walk will take place on Sunday 23rd November 2025, starting at the same meeting point as ever: beside the statue of Beau Brummell on Jermyn Street, London W1 at midday.
This time, where there is normally a sea of Panama hats, straw boaters, ladies’ parasols and linen, there will have to be sturdier clothing. Nobody likes a wet dandy, and so suitable protection will have to be carried (as long as it does not interfere with one’s elegant silhouette) against unpredictable elements.
Chill factor, too, will be a force conspiring against comfortable walking. We expect an array of greatcoats, overcoats, fur and suitable headwear to guard our sensitive strollers from the cold. Several racoon-based ‘Teddy Bear’ coats have been promised, along with boots made for far tougher climates than a soggy November day in London.’