Tag Archive for: london

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New York Times: Want a Great Gift? Put Their Initials on It.

LONDON — In certain social circles, Anne Singer is something of a monogramming legend.

The French-born Ms. Singer, whose husband’s great-grandfather Isaac Singer invented the sewing machine, established the Monogrammed Linen Shop four decades ago on Walton Street, an enclave in the Chelsea/Kensington area that’s lined with upscale shops. For everyone from Hollywood celebrities and European royalty to expatriates and the posh British set, her sweetly designed and monogrammed baby pillows, personalized linens and home accessories became gift-list perennials. Read more

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New York Times: Putting the Dress in Dress Rehearsals

LONDON — On a recent spring morning, the Royal Opera House’s revival workroom, which is part of the costume department, was a hive of activity. Amedine Bello, one of the revival workroom technicians, was hand-sewing gold thread onto a burgundy and pink chorus costume for the opera “Faust,” opening this week, because part of it had worn away. Read more

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New York Times: Centuries of Hats

LONDON — The back room on the ground floor of Lock & Co. Hatters is something of a tiny museum of the company’s 340-year history. In a glass case is a large ledger listing orders from customers like Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill, who wore a Lock silk top hat for his wedding in 1908. Read more

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People Magazine: London Shops Hope for Boom As Second Royal Birth Nears

Kate Middleton wearing pink walking for cameras

LONDON–It was a quiet Sunday outside the Lindo Wing entrance of St. Mary’s Hospital in London: The press pens were empty and there was no sign of royal watchers, ready to cheer on an impending royal birth. Read more

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WSJ Expat: The Myth of the Impossible British Driving Exam

LONDON–I am going to bust open a London urban legend: Americans don’t automatically fail their driving exam the first time they take it.

I will admit this was a scaremongering myth even I perpetuated before I took my exam, as I had heard from American friends and colleagues countless horror stories of examiners failing people because they hesitated when backing around a corner (which feels so illegal for American drivers who had it beaten into us during driver’s ed courses to never ever do that), or because they hadn’t checked their mirrors every 45 seconds in a counterclockwise manner. Read more

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