The Invitation

The invitation arrived weeks ago: We were requested by Her Majesty’s Secret Service to attend a special event. No, I wasn’t going to be made a Dame by the Queen, although I think that it is long overdue, we were invited by Champagne Bollinger and WeinArt to the premier of Spectre – the new James Bond film. If it hadn’t been such a wonderful evening, I wouldn’t be writing about it. However, anyone who goes to that much trouble to make sure that their guests have an unforgettable evening, deserves a mention.

The invitation was shrouded in secrecy. We didn’t know where we were going to or what to expect, but anything organised by Katherina Wolf, from WeinArt, is always very special. The invitation stated that the guests should wear "Black Tie", which means a dinner jacket (not smoking) for the men, and a long gown for the ladies. Two days before the event I took my evening gown, which I hardly ever wear, out of the wardrobe. To my horror, I found out that it was too tight and I couldn’t close the zip. How could it have shrunk? My husband and I tried everything to get the zip closed, even lying on the bed (come on ladies, many of us close our jeans that way) until it finally closed. The only problem was, I couldn’t breathe – and that was before eating anything!

I had to do something fast. I cycled to the Linzergasse, where I love shopping as there are many very good clothes shops, not many tourists and the street looks really great after it has had its "face-lift". The only problem is that cyclists don’t seem to care about the pedestrians. You often have to jump to the side to avoid being run over. Anyway, I went into the first clothes shop and immediately found a very elegant, velvet dress. It was rather figure-hugging, but fit and suited me rather well. It didn’t even need shortening.

The perfect evening, which in itself was