This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

Wowza what a week, now let's all shout...

...because it's finally the weekend! Another five days have sped by in the blink of an eye and we now have a blissful couple days dedicated to fun!

At London Towers we're in serious holiday countdown mode, so our weekend is all about outfit building, last minute sit-ups and a beauty shopping spree to get us prepared on all fronts!

When we haven't been imagining ourselves sinking into a plush sun lounger placed around a sparkling azure pool, a cocktail in hand with the sun rays warming our skin, this week the Mice have mostly been...

Checking out our new local Dolls House Islington! We mentioned it a few weeks ago in our 2015 hotlist and the opening night finally arrived last Friday!

It was everything we wished and hoped for...and more!!

The venue...a great space set over three floors: a cocktail bar and DJ on the ground floor, two rooms for private hire, the Library and the Drawing Room, on the second floor (but still open to the public if not) and finally the Ballroom, AKA   restaurant, on the third floor.

House of Wolf who previously occupied this space had a pretty cool interior, however, a few walls have been knocked through here and a glitter disco ball's been added there and Bob's your uncle...one super cool hangout that Islington badly needed!

Adam and Katy are the married couple behind this amazing brand and have literally put every waking hour into getting this project ready. Long nights with sledge hammers, marker pens and cocktail sampling have taken place and I can 100% vouch that every minute spent was definitely worth it!

Of course, there are dead dolls house trademarks everywhere - each walls is adorned with Katy's beautiful marker pen illustrations (if you frequented the Hoxton bar you'll instantly recognise these), they have transported all the china dogs from Hoxton (the previous membership policy requested a bottle of spirit, a bunch of flowers or a china dog as a gift for a members card) and they now sit pride of place in a vintage cabinet on the second floor corridor and there is of course, one almighty disco ball chandelier that the 80s would be proud of!

The drinks...you're in for a serious treat let me tell you! They've bagged ex Honey and Milk cocktail king Dominic B, who ensured we were as far away from dehydrated as humanly possible! There's a short but well rounded cocktail list (they do a mean Pisco Sour) but I'd strongly advise handing all control over to the bar, they know exactly what they're doing. We advised gin was our favourite spirit and got hooked on The Clover Club cocktails - fresh raspberries, gin, a dash of sugar, lemon and egg whites - D.E.L.I.S.H - not be missed!!!

We got so carried away supping our Clover Clubs that we totally forgot to check out the dedicated espresso martini bar! A huge error as word is, it serves up nine varieties of our favourite tipple...a clear reason to return immediately!

The food...we decided food was a must if our last visits have been anything to go by, so we trotted up to the third floor to bag a table. The Ballroom is a beautiful space - high ceilings, huge windows letting the light stream in, stripped wooden floor boards, exposed brick, vintage-esque mirrored walls, brushed gold tables set off vibrantly by the turquoise and textured dogstooth seating and of course home to the almighty disco ball!

The menu is short and sweet and does exactly what's required! Simple British food cooked well and the Instagram pictures I've spied of the Sunday roast look pretty delicious as well! I had the steak which had a great chargrilled smokey flavour with pretty awesome duck fat chips - perfectly crisp with fluffy middles! (Make sure you go rare on the steak as the char grilling means it's more on the cooked side!)

Come 11 / 11:30pm the tables are cleared and the room is transformed into a members only attic. The music's cranked up and the craziness begins!! Oh and the best bit..they've bagged a late licence so you can party away until 4am!

The music...I can't say I can pin point one song from that evening but I can tell you it was fun, fun, fun and that there was lots of dancing and many cases of 'ahhh I love this song' - always a great sign!

All in all, an opening that had huge expectations from us and didn't disappoint! A buzzy yet laid back vibe clearly instilled by the amazing team and practically vertical Adam - who by the way is one super cool host, his main aim : to make sure everyone is having a fabulous time! It's one of those rare places that you'll walk in, instantly see a friendly face and be laughing within seconds with a drink in hand! 

Beware...you will NEVER leave sober!!!

Keep your eyes peeled as word is another two venues are in the works and will be opening their doors within the year, first up Peckham in April...eeeeeeee!!!

Giggling away typical girl style to the much hyped 50 Shades of Grey!

So, critics may have pitched the sex scenes as suitable for Harry Potter fans and criticised the leads for zero chemistry but I beg to differ...we had a great time!

Middle Mouse and I gathered a couple of our girls and headed down to The Electric in Shoreditch for a spot of Malbec, Christian Grey and salted caramel chocolate - literally LOVE this cinema!

Let's be honest, it was never going to win any oscars, but Jamie Dornan plays the role of uber-rich, tortured Grey believably and lets not forget how incredible hot is he...every girl was swooning! Dakota Johnson was likewise perfectly cast for the innocent, eyes as big as saucers Anastasia Steele...and to say there was zero chemistry...?! No, it's not porn and the most cringeworthy parts were excluded but who wants to go sit in a public cinema and have to watch through your hands?!

If you and the girls are after a fun film with some laugh out loud moments (if you've seen it already I'm talking the toast biting scene!) and some steamy action from one HOT man then it's worth a watch! 

Right Peace out my friends and have a fabulously fun weekend!

The Mice x

3BM Style Crush : Carmen Hamilton

Previously we've bought you a few of our blogosphere style crushes, from Chiara Ferragni to Tasha Oakley. Essentially beautiful people, with next to no body fat, that we turn to on a daily basis for style inspiration. Just to warn you nine times out of ten they won't make you feel good about yourself but instead make you long for a quick-fix lottery win, better genes and an all-year round tan! #justsaying 

Well, on this fine hump day, I bring you another one of our go-to style queens ... Aussie gal about town, Carmen Hamilton AKA Mary Poppins because she's practically perfect in everyway!!! 

She's the brains and beauty behind the successful blog, The Chronicles of Her and sickeningly she's also the Associate Producer for Vogue.com.au - could she BE anymore fabulous?! Born and breed in Queensland but now living in Sydney she spends her days writing (sometimes from bed - bliss), quaffing coffee, attending super glam parties, holidaying in far away heavenly places or poppin' champagne left, right and centre. Sounds pretty grim right?!

When it comes to fashion her style is very much minimal, no fuss, gorgeously elegant and uber-chic. She's blazer crazy, has a great love for flat shoes and aspires to the style of French women! Check out a small selection of her Insta posts below to understand why we heart her and her way of life so much...

 Welcome to the stalker side Micettes! 

The Oscars 2015: Beading, Backs & Bottoms

As the sun rises on the morning after Hollywood's biggest night of the year, a handful of the film industry's bright and brilliant will be cracking open an eyelid to find the dawn rays glinting off a 13 and a half inch, 24-karat gold-plated statuette. Sadly, for the rest of Tinseltown, the only glimmer that'll be waking anyone, will be the light bouncing off the heap of last night's discarded, besequinned gown and perhaps a bit of bling from the pile of soon-to-be-returned jewels. 

When it comes down to it though, whether last night saw you become a winner or a loser, whether you were one of the Z-lister hangers-on trying to crash the post-awards parties, or just someone sitting halfway around the world watching the TV-coverage in your pyjamas, the morning after yesterday's glamourthon will see us all poring over the papers lapping up the all the juicy showbiz gossip with a nice side of fashion coverage. 

Who made the best-dressed lists and who are the style pundits sniggering over? What were the key trends of the night and who did them best? Whose earrings were the sparkliest? Whose shoes were the toppliest? Whose stylists messed-up and dressed two A-listers in embarrassingly identical looks? 

It's not high brow, it's not world-altering, it's not even vaguely important in the scheme of all the other things filling the papers' pages, but that's sort of why we love it so much. 

So, for what it's worth, here's the take of three pyjama-wearing girls, who weren't even within shimmering distance of a sequin last night, on who wore the most delectable dresses of the Oscars 2015... 

Our Top Five


Hannah Bagshawe in Alexander McQueen
He may have been the man of the night, but our eyes were firmly swivelled in the direction of Best Actor, Eddie Redmayne's wife. We love the simple silhouette lifted to stellar style proportions by that waist-whittling heavy belt and that wispy, feathery peplum. 

We also sort of love that our best-dressed of the evening wasn't a nominee, a performer or even an actress. That's right, the girl that stole the Red Carpet was just a normal, non-showbiz girl like the rest of us. Well, one that's married to a Burberry model, Oscar-winner who Sarah Burton is clamouring to dress but otherwise, someone just like us.

Emma Stone in Elie Saab

Stone in a shimmery Saab Showstopper equals the stuff fashion dreams are made of. At first glance we weren't sold on the chartreuse, but the more we pore over the pictures, the more we see that this is actually the perfect offbeat choice for Emma's alabaster skin and tumble of russet waves.

Lupita Nyong'o in Calvin Klein Collection

This girl rarely puts a sartorial foot wrong and last night was no exception. Lupita's Calvin Klein although heavily-beaded and pearl-encrusted, managed to remain simple and elegant. A lesson in understated va-va-voom.

Sienna Miller is Oscar de la Renta

Hot off the New York runways, this navy and black ODLR required a closer look to get the full pow of the intricate sequinned macrame and pretty velvet detailing. We usually expect boho-glam from Sienna, so loved this more-polished, elfin version of the British actress.

Rosamund Pike in Givenchy
Rosamund's had a rough awards season with a distinct lack of wins and disappointing dress after disappointing dress landing her on the worst-dressed lists. Although last night still saw her lose out on the best actress award, this Givenchy number saw her rocket up the fashion barometer. Loving the soft, simple hair, make-up and styling that totally let the red-hot, slashed-to the thigh gown do the talking.

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Our Best Dressed of the After Parties

Julianne Hough in Naeem Khan

Over at Elton John's Viewing Party, we couldn't help drooling over this floaty, ethereal loveliness from someone we'd never exepected to soar so high up our best-dressed list. Bonus points for the gorgeous, glowy skin.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Alexandre Vauthier

All the Academy Awards Attendees limousined it over to the Vanity Fair Party post-ceremony, but through the throng of A-listers and gold statuettes were a couple of stand-out stylistas. First up, Smouldering Huntington Whiteley in a slick of mermaidy sequins. 

  

Diane Kruger in Donna Karan Atelier

And, last but not least Diane Kruger, added some serious punch to the proceedings in fiery red. In fact, we'd go so far as to call this scarlet jumpsuit as our second favourite look of the night and our all-time favourite Kruger style move. 

Just in case you weren't bowled away by her already, take a moment to swoon over that that swooshy, cape-tastic back...

...and talking about backs, it soon became clear that we were only getting half the picture when we were looking at the ladies above face-on. A jaw-dropping back was a definite trend of the evening. From bustles to bubble silhouettes, these girls were all giving great back.

L to R: Lupita Nyong'o; Marion Cotillard; Emma Stone; Karolina Kurkova & Naomi Watts

Over at the Vanity Fair Party meanwhile, the theme appeared to be the good, the bad and the basically naked, with all bases covered from chaste to cheeky...      

Things started off positively saintly with Natalie Portman in an angelic full length Dior tunic.

Which Beyonce then took and shrunk down to a form-fitting, yet still very modest Stella McCartney look.

And to which Knowles-minor then added a little sparkle and racheted-up the glam with a red lip.

Christina Aguilera may have kept it all-white and full-length, but amped up the peek-a-boo factor in a custom-made Marc Bouwer.

While Jennifer Anniston flashed some flesh and took things sheer in her beaded, caramel Versace. 

Taking it to knicker-dropping levels of sheer, Heidi Klum took a sharp leap away from the saintly in a little more Versace, this time of the silver-sequinned vareity.

Then in stormed with J-Lo in Zuhair Murad with a just few strategically placed beads and a fur wrap to cover her modesty.

Never one to play nice, Lady Gaga tipped the carpet over onto the dark side in semi-sheer, scoop-backed black complete with a deep berry pout and a witchy train.

Then wild card, Jemima Khan, proved all the posh girl stereotypes very wrong in a cobweb-fine lacy number sexed-up to the max with a neckline plunging to her navel.   

Which paled into insignificance next to Lily Collins' knicker-bearingly sheer Zuhair Murad number.

Continuing along the fifty shades of naughty theme, Gigi Hadid, slunk in with a few swirls of black fabric masquerading as a dress. 

Triggering Irina Shayk to call it double or quits in a sheer Versace body stocking with just a couple of opaque panels leaving very little to the imagination.

Which all left Rita Ora with very little to play with in order to show who was boss. We think this shockingly sheer Donna Karan may just be the raciest look we've ever seen on a red carpet but with a bod like Ora's it's pretty much impossible to hit a bum note.

And that's very sadly your lot from La La Land for the next twelve months, until next awards season fashion fans...

x

The Pyjama-Clad Mice