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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
inter including Special Exhibitions
fashion industry as we know it today. You’ll see London’s
Haute Couture hot spots of the past and present before we
stop for lunch on The Kings Road. Still effortlessly
fashionable you can retreat to a pub, café or restaurant for
lunch and still have time to dip into the shopping heaven
that is Chelsea.
We spend an enjoyable afternoon at The Victoria & Albert
Museum to visit
Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950
.
Since the mid-20th century, the occasions for wearing
formal attire have evolved from the private event to the
public parade. In the 1950s the London season was still
organised around established events such as the Royal
Academy Summer Exhibition and Queen Charlotte’s
Birthday Ball. Towards the end of the century, as these
traditions became less important, events such as the charity
ball provided a new arena for displaying extravagant
evening wear. Today it is the red carpet and celebrity gala
that showcase the gowns of glamorous women.
The ballgowns featured are mostly couture pieces,
handmade for a particular client by designers including
Norman Hartnell (1953 beaded silk satin gown above) and
Catherine Walker’s 1989 Elvis dress for Princess Diana.
The day finishes at the V&A where you can buy
refreshments before heading home at 4.45pm.
Available daily from 1 October 2012 to 4 January 2013
Adults: £19.95 Seniors: £16.95
Shakespeare’s London
Shakespeare: staging the world at The British Museum
Weekdays 10 September until 23 November 2012
This exhibition staged in the old British Library Reading
Room at the British Museum will reflect on how the
world came to Shakespeare’s London, and how London
perceived the rest of the world. There was tremendous
interest in every new discovery, and theatre reflected this
excitement, not least in Shakespeare’s plays which
featured foreign countries and exotic characters like
Othello and Caliban. Plays were not just entertaining,
but also informative, and playhouses opened a window
onto the wider world.
The exhibition will include a range of objects including
paintings, manuscripts and jewels, including items like
the Lyte Jewel, presented to Thomas Lyte in 1610 in
recognition of his work tracing James I’s genealogy back
to Banquo, as featured by Shakespeare in
Macbeth
.
This glorious jewel includes diamonds set in gold
surrounding a miniature portrait of the King painted by
Thomas Hilliard (above).
Enjoy an afternoon at the exhibition and a morning
walking tour exploring Shakespeare’s Bankside - the
Soho of Elizabethan London starting at 10.30am to buy
morning refreshments at London’s last remaining
galleried inn. The day runs from 10.30am until 4.45pm.
We stop for lunch outside Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
where there is a good choice of cafés and restaurants.
Adults & Seniors: £21.00
The walking tour isn’t miles long but it isn't suitable for
anyone who really struggles to walk.