As National Afternoon Tea Week gets underway, Rebecca Buchanan pulls up a chair at The Kensington Hotel’s Town House to sample ‘Fashion Becomes Tea’ — a surrealist-inspired spread dreamt up in homage to the V&A’s sold-out Schiaparelli blockbuster…“Eating is not merely a material pleasure,”said fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, “Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. Town House is the light and airy restaurant belonging to The Kensington Hotel, just an elegant strut from the world-renowned museums of South Kensington, including the fashionista’s paradise that is the V&A, which inspires their seasonal afternoon tea menu. The latest limited afternoon tea experience is the ‘Fashion Becomes Tea’ homage to the current ‘Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art’ exhibition (running until 8th November), which grants an immersive glimpse into one of the 20th century’s most extraordinary fashion designers, who dressed everyone from Hollywood stars like Mae West to Wallis Simpson, whose romance with King Edward VIII prompted him to give up his throne to marry her. The ‘Le Petite Bisou’ cocktail (non-alcoholic option available), specially created for the afternoon tea by The Kensington’s bartenders, is guaranteed to make your time at Town House go with a swing, marrying Sauvelle Vodka, Amaro Santoni, lychee juice and almond and hibiscus cordial, topped with Champagne — the perfect exotically-flavoured libation to accompany the ‘Fashion Becomes Tea’ experience. ‘Fashion Becomes’ Tea Afternoon Tea at Town House at The Kensington, 109-113 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington, London.