Cocktails and couture at Claridge's

Though my girlfriends and I flirt with other bars, in the end, we always come back to The Fumoir at Claridge’s. It’s not cheap – hence our regular indiscretions with less expensive establishments – but it’s just so cosy and glamorous, it’s worth the outlay.

So if we had a spare £650 we’d definitely be signing up for the hotel’s new ‘Vogue100 with Claridge’s’ package which includes two tickets to the new Vogue100: A Century of Style exhibition, which opens at the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday. Vogue and Claridge’s are natural partners. The art-deco Mayfair hotel has always been a fashionista: not only does it have a series of suites designed by legendary designer Diane Von Furstenberg, but its artist-in-residence is celebrated fashion illustrator David Downton and every year the hotel’s Christmas tree is decorated by a top designer (Burberry’s Christopher Bailey did it in 2015). In 2011, Marc Jacobs even designed a Claridge’s-inspired collection for Louis Vuitton. The exhibition, meanwhile, is part of Vogue’s centenary celebrations, showcasing more than 280 photographs commissioned by the fashion magazine since its launch in 1906. Cecil Beaton, Lee Miller, Irving Penn, David Bailey, Patrick Demarchelier, Mario Testino, Herb Ritts, Corinne Day – they’re all here, as are the fashion designers who defined the century, from Dior to Alexander McQueen.

The Claridge’s package includes a one night’s b&b for two, two manicures at the hotel’s Health Club & Spa, two tickets to Vogue100: A Century of Style, and copy of the Vogue100exhibition catalogue signed by the curator and British Vogue’s Contributing Editor Robin Muir.

On the other hand, If £650 seems a little steep, you can always visit the exhibition under your own steam, and drop into Claridge’s for a cocktail afterwards. See you there.

Vogue100: A Century of Style is at the National Portrait Gallery, February 11-May 22 2016.

BY MAGGIE O’SULLIVAN