Masks obligatory, clothes optional, Hendrick's essential

Burlesque, bondage, feathers, cross-dressing, glory holes, taxidermy, cucumbers and cheeseboards - words not commonly associated with a Saturday night in the Square Mile.  Thankfully the only cucumbers were in our Hendrick's and tonics, but the rest were in abundance, as was the gin, at the Hendrick's September Masked Ball at Stonehorse Paper Cow.

Thrown by The Last Tuesday Society, which is headed up by the mysterious masters of the ball Viktor Wynd and Suzette Field, we partied alongside a curious demographic of bemasked Londoners from the sublime to the ridiculous.  Flapper girls and tweed-suited horses, 7-foot-tall ladies and semi-naked gentlemen alike made their way to the Bishopsgate venue to show off their skills, mask-making or otherwise.

The Ladies took it all in their stride - debauchery is a theme not uncommon in our world.  Nonetheless, ladies we are, so we stuck to the G&Ts, set about demolishing the cheeseboard in earnest, and at the end of the night walked (ok, maybe staggered a little) away with our dignity and clothing intact.  Although, a vague memory lingers of a potentially embarassing mise en scene involving a stuffed cheetah, an Italian male model and a bunch of grapes that we'd really rather forget.  Good job we purchased the jpegs, huh?