I had a lovely day out with my Mum and sister recently. We had booked tickets to the V and A ballgown exhibition, a fabulous display of beautiful gowns since the 1950s. It is worth a visit if you like dresses, there are some stunning dresses in the exhibition, and also some dresses more suited to the catwalk! I’m not sure I could see myself in Gareth Pugh’s silver leather dress but I would quite like to zip back a few decades, there were some gorgeous 50s and 60s dresses that I would have just loved to try on! I also loved the exhibition outside of this one where they were displaying historical dresses, they were fascinating.

After a bit of a wander around the jewellery exhibition where there are some seriously sparkly rings, we took trip to Sketch on Conduit Street, just near Regent Street. I didn’t know about this part of the day, it was planned by Mum and Rose so it was a lovely surprise, it is a fantastic place. The whole place has a magical feel and the decor is amazing. We sat in the Parlour a gorgeous room with a wonderful collection of chairs! It is also home to some interesting art work on the walls. The menu in the Parlour is lovely and for a menu is very pretty. I opted for a Mango Tea (which smelt delightful!) and a Strawberry Hill (my first choice was a Royal Rose but unfortunately they didn’t have this). A Strawberry Hill is a sable biscuit with, almond cream, kiwi compote, lime mousse and strawberries. My Mum went for a Provence which is Almond mousse, apricot compote, almond sponge cake and crunchy praline and my chocolate loving sister chose the Chocolate Tartlet which is sweet pastry dough with Macae chocolate ganache, chocolate jelly and dark chocolate. They were delicious and were all so pretty! Almost too pretty to eat, they were lovely and delicate cakes. There was also the option of choosing an Olympic themed cake which was 5 profiteroles in the shape and colours of the Olympic rings. If you are looking for somewhere a little bit different to go for some tea and cake or afternoon tea then I can recommend Sketch, we had a lovely time. We had a little bit of a wander around too and I have looked on the website, there are some lovely rooms. I quite fancy the Gallery, which is a gastro-brasserie. I love the design of the room and the random mix of furniture.  All in all it was a lovely day and I look forward to returning to Sketch in the future, I would recommend it!

This trip was at the same time as when the Olympic torch had made it back to London and as we stepped out onto Regent Street and saw the crowds we realised the torch was just about to come past. Perfect timing. We got a great spot and realised that was actually where the torch was going to change hands, perfect!

The only thing I wasn’t so sure about was this staircase that looked like it was covered in blood!

Have you been to Sketch? Let me know what you thought in a comment below!

Lottie xx

@lotts_louise

Tags: ballgowns, cake, Olympic torch, Sketch London, Tea, V & A