Dates for the diary: March 2012

Despite your very best New Year's resolutions and Lent intentions, it's very easy to get stuck in a rut. Same old routine, same old places and activities. With that in mind, here's our run-down on some up and coming West London events to keep your diaries full, your social lives interesting and best of all to support local independent businesses.



Mania Mia Spring Designer Event - 11th March, 9am - 5pm
Ushering in the Spring/Summer season of 2012, the Mania Mia ladies Katya and Anoosh are hosting an exclusive event with several independent designers in store, along with a tea reception, cupcakes and an arts and crafts workshop for the little ones. From leather jewellery to eco homeware products and vintage clothing, Mania Mia looks to have next season all wrapped up. So shop guilt free - after all you are supporting the local economy and the kids are with safe hands.
For more details of the event, see Mania Mia's Facebook page here
Mania Mia, 307 New Kings Road, Fulham SW6 4RF.



Redistributing Fashion Spring Charity Pop Up Sale, 16th March, 10am - 8pm
There seems to be loads on locally for the budding fashionista at the moment. Next Friday's event on Westbourne Grove offers guilt free bargains as all profits are in aid of The Rugby Portobello Trust, a youth education and development charity based in Notting Hill. Local fashion, jewellery and lifestyle brands will be selling pieces at discounted prices and best of all, there is a huge selection of pre-loved designer pieces (including some donated by celebrities such as Poppy Delevigne and Princess Marie-Chantal amongst others) available via Chic & Seek. Founded in 2009, Chic & Seek offers a carefully selected range of pre-owned women's accessories with brands including Chanel, Burberry, Alexander McQueen and many others, all on sale with 50-80% off the retail price.
For more details see here.
Redistributing Fashion, 20th Century Theatre, Westbourne Grove, London W11 2QA

Kristyna Myles at the Regal Room, 22nd March, 7:30pm
If you're a music buff and are interested in discovering the next big thing on the scene, a trip to the Regal Room in Hammersmith is a must. Kristyna played The Regal Room when she was first starting out, and now returns for a gig ahead of the release of her debut album 'Pinch Me Quick', produced by Ken Nelson (also responsible for the success of Coldplay and Paolo Nutini - not bad!). Kristyna has already shared the stage with musical giants such as Chris de Burgh and Mick Hucknall so is surely one to watch ahead of her album release - after all, it's always nice to smugly tell your friends you saw an artist play before they hit the big time! Kristyna will also be sharing the stage with local artists Raphaella and Stewart Mac, the latter of which is fresh from supporting Bon Jovi on tour.
The Regal Room, 64 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith W6 9PH



supperclub presents Aldo Zilli, 23rd March, evening
Many of you may already have heard of supperclub. Now a bit of institution, an evening supper offers fine dining, plenty of drinking, dancing and general debauchery. Yet, the supperclub event in a few weekends time is that extra little bit special, as top Italian chef Aldo Zilli will be hitting the kitchens. 4 courses of the best Italian cooking, plus a long night's partying in a stunning venue will set you back £59 and diners can expect dancers, singers, musicans and acrobats before the legendary Simon Dunmore of Defected Records hits the decks until the small hours.
You'll need to reserve your 'bed' by emailing london@supperclub.com. For a mouth-watering intro to the cooking of Aldo Zilli check out his website here.

Ad Hoc Fashion Show with DV8 Fulham at Miss Qs

Ad Hoc is a bit of an institution around these parts. It's a fun, bold and brassy store in the midst of the King Road's usual fare of polished, designer and pared down boutiques. It sells everything from kooky fashion, to bright nail polishes, costume jewellery and a whole range of quirky gifts and accessories and it's been a real hive of activity ever since I can remember. So, although a lot of the clothes aren't exactly wardrobe staples of mine, the style has a distinctive attitude, and bags of it. I knew that the event with DV8 Fulham (a great new local magazine focusing on young Fulham) would be LOTS of fun.

I hadn't been to Miss Qs previously, and the venue is definitely a good one. Although the dance floor is TEENY TINY, there is a chilled out vibe, as the club boasts loads of seating areas based around all sorts of nooks and crannys and some pool tables which definitely change the feeling of the place. DV8 had arranged some great goody bags for us including nail polish and vouchers for Hari's Salon, and for drinks we sipped upon the specially-created Tanquer-8 cocktail: a delicious mix of Gin and Lychee.

The fashion show was a great success. The models looked like they were having loads of fun, and really pulled off the bold outfits. The girls sported huge fake eyelashes, and high ponytails with the ends dip-dyed in neon colours - a look I can only dream of emulating without looking like a total tit but looked brilliant. The male models wore a small repertoire of clothes - tighter than tight jeans in neon yellow or pink with a navy wife-beater with a Britannia theme, but somehow they managed to strut the catwalk and pull the look off with cheeky swagger. The girls showed off a mix of sequins, hot pants, neon tutus and lots of sheer layering. There were some leather fringed shorts in particular that I will be buying next time I hit the Kings Road, and some great sheer shirts that will probably find themselves worked into some (slightly more conservative) ensembles in my own wardrobe.

Pootling around SW6 this April...

I CANNOT believe April is almost upon us, and SW6 certainly has felt very springlike recently - balmy Sunday strolls down the Kings Road, and the bliss of longer, milder evenings now the clocks have gone forwards (even if  that early alarm clock was jarring).

Spring-time is infectious, and we're full of plans for extended Sunday drinking sessions and BBQ's at The Ship, more barbecue action at the White Horse, followed by lazy afternoons sunbathing on Parsons Green. The sunny weather will lead to inevitable terrace-wars (the relative merits of the private beer garden at Aragon House versus the Sloaney Pony's P.Green-facing patio has been a perennial summer debate for the past several years of my life) and the opportunity to explore some of SW6's outdoor treasures.

But it's tempted to get carried away and ahead of ourselves, it is only April for goodness sake, what have we got on our to-do lists for the month ahead...

I've been missing the back-to-back style coverage of London Fashion Week, and so we'll be heading to the V&A for our cultural fix to check out the Yohji Yamamoto exhibition.

We're really excited about the launch of The Jam Tree (I think it opened today!) on the Kings Road. It provides us with yet another rival beer-garden (and it's lookin' pretty good) and we love the idea of a Colonial-inspired menu. Let's hope it lives up to the hype.

Having picked up (and very much enjoyed) our first issue of Matchbox magazine we loved the idea of First Wednesdays: a host of cultural collaborations and late openings in West London (particularly Notting Hill) on the first Wednesday of each month.

Given that my Tastecard is about to run out (and I haven't used it enough to warrant paying for a new one) we're going to have to max it out in all our local participating restaurants during April. A place that comes highly recommended is Out of the Blue Bar and Kitchen in Clapham Junction, offering 50% off main courses with a tastecard: and if you get there before 7:30 you can hit up happy hour too - perfect!

Another local magazine doing a great collaboration is DV8 who will be hooking up with Ad Hoc (you know, that AMAZING quirky-kitsch shop on the Kings Road) to host a fashion show on April 7th at the fab Earls Court club Miss Qs.