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Not happy with the usual festive fare of grotty grottos, pitiful pantos and a glass of tepid mulled wine? Then read on. Team ELLE agree that your Christmas should be enjoyed stylishly. So whether you see yourself urban foxing at underground clubs, hitting the countryside in your Radcliffe for Hunter parka, or artfully mooching at the hippest stores, ELLE's guide will help you have a truly cool Christmas and new year and will even make staying in a stylish event.
With the help of DJs Dan Lywood and Ben Bridgewater, who have provided the music for Givenchy and Vivienne Westwood’s catwalk shows, get the ultimate Christmas party mash-up. Hand over your iPod and they do the rest - then just plug it in and get shaking. You can of course make requests for your tastes and party mood. Just remember, when everyone complements your party music to make like it’s your cool choice. Go to www.playlister.fm or call 020 7229 5898
Recycling has never been hipper, and that applies to your Christmas tree, too. We don’t mean dragging last year's brown relic in from the garden, but taking inspiration from contemporary artists Bob and Roberta Smith who have used recycled timber, bicycles and lamps to make a very modern artistic festive statement. See their effort at Tate Britain then troop home to get busy with your milk cartons and baubles.
Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG. Until 4 January 2009. Free.
The Scots stylistas will be celebrating their New Year's EveiIn the company of electro pop dance gurus Hot Chip at one of the Edinburgh’s hippest clubs, that’s where. Hot Chip's Joe Goddard will be setting up one of the edgiest new year bashes at the cavern-like club as the official Hogmanay Street Party After Party.HOGMANAY STREET PARTY OFFICIAL AFTERSHOW! Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Wed 31 Dec (www.thecabaretvoltaire.com)
How the heart warms to the clarion call of a camp panto, and none promises high camp and gothic baroque more than Sinderella at the Southbank. Created by the award winning cult London trio behind Shockheaded Peter, and one half of revered drag act Kiki & Herb, you have to see The Tiger Lillies and Justin Bond’s smutty version of the classic fairy tale to believe it. Cabaret and bizarre beauty mingle for a wickedly dark treat for grown-ups.Sinderella, The Tiger Lillies & Justin Bond, Queen Elizabeth Hall, The SouthBank Centre, London, SE1 (0871 663 2500/www.southbankcentre.co.uk) Thursday 18 Dec 2008 - Saturday 20 Dec 2008
Skiing - ah, the Eighties rave-feel day-glo ski suits, moon boots, oversized sunglasses (sorry goggles), posing, Gluhwein - love everything about it except the actual skiing? So you can’t ski, and Elton and David have only gone and invited you to their new alpine ski lodge! Realli-Ski is a souped-up ski simulator where you can literally learn until your legs give out, and they reckon you’re up to speed 15 times faster than you would be on a dry slope, and no messing with ski lifts or fake snow. Learn to ski in your lunchtime and you're ready to hit St More Glitzs (aka St Moritzs) slopes like by the eve. Sort of.
Realli-Ski, Watford and Canterbury (0845 838 2811/www.realli-ski.com) Winter: Mon-Fri 10am-10pm, Sat, Sun 8am-8pm
Already had one too many mince pies and simply can't move? Then settle down with Fashion Victims: The Catty Catalogue of Stylish Casualties, From A-Z.by Michael Roberts. A gift book you’ll refuse to hand over, it is a witty, tongue-in-cheek send-up of the fashion world that only the style savvy will truly get. With poetry alongside graphic art and stunning collage work from the fashion insiders it takes on everything from Heels, to the In-Crowd, Models, and, er, Fashion Editors.
Fashion Victims: The Catty Catalogue of Stylish Casualties, From A-Z, by Michael Roberts, published by Collins Design, RRP £10.99, available from Waterstones www.waterstones.com
Chocolate waxIf there was ever a time to have a chocolate wax, it’s right now, especially if you are on a strict cayenne pepper only diet ahead of New Year’s Eve, but still need a choc fix. You will never forget the experience of a therapist smearing you with chocolate hazelnut wax while you watch TV in a treatment room. Treat yourself to some lingerie in the attached boutique, too, once you’re done.
Strip Chelsea, 102 Fulham Rd., SW3 6HS (020 7590 0050) Mon-Fri, 10 am-8 pm; Sat, 10 am-6 pm; Sun, noon-6 pm.
When it comes to celebrating Christmas in Bristol (the city that brought us Banksy) they do it with graffiti. Almost seventy contemporary artists will be crammed together under one roof for 12 festive-fuelled days to show off and sell their craziest work and even create new pieces on the walls. And all in Bristol’s former central police station - ooh, you could spray paint the irony.15-19 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS1 3PY (www.12daysofxmas.co.uk)Fri 12 Dec 7pm-10pm, then 12pm-7pm from Saturday 13 - 23 December 2008. Free
The boys from Bistroteque who brought us their first pop-up eatery, Reindeer, in 2006, have this year created a room within a room, an installation within an exhibition, all hosted at the Royal Academy of Arts. Only open for another month, if you’ve not booked, hurry to feast on seared foie gras, duck confit, or pop down for afternoon cream tea. All the while you'll be part of an ultra-hip art happening.GSK Contemporary Season, The Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, London, W1S 3EX, (+44 (0)20 8880 6111/http://bookflashnow.com)
If, when it comes to the festive season, your mind is darker than Tim Burton’s 'The Nightmare Before Christmas’, then head over to Anti-Xmas Festive Freak-out at London’s Dover Street Market. Set Designer Gary Cord has created a brilliantly disturbing dystopian nightmare of a grotto. Made by a self-confessed Christmas hater, this is the most darkly amusing a take on Santa’s cave we’ve seen. Don’t expect a present. Or to sit on his knee. Santa is made of masking tape.Dover Street Market, 17-18 Dover St, W1 (020 7518 0680/www.dover streetmarket.com) Open Mon-Sat 11am-6pm, Thur until 7pm. Free
Dinner party gastronomes take their tips from elBulli, the world’s finest restaurant and home of molecular gastronomy (Heston Blumenthal trained here). Think wildly adventurous food as art - crab foam, spherical asparagus egg or tea ravioli - and now you can get in on the action. Buy one of their kits or jump on the website for recipe inspiration from the latest cookbook, Natura.The El Bulli kits are available from www.infusions4chefs.co.uk, or go to www.elbulli.com to buy books and view recipes.
With hours to dedicate to back to back festive video-athons swap passé Star Wars trilogies, or old-hat Indiana Jones box sets for something way chicer; Neighbours, The Iconic Episodes Volume One. No really. Boasting 23 episodes of pure nostalgia, sit back and remember Bouncer's Dream, Mrs Mangel’s painting, Scott and Charlene’s wedding, plus see where Alan Dale - yes he of The O.C, Ugly Betty and Entourage, cut his acting teeth. Neighbours, The Iconic Episodes Volume One, Freemantle Home Entertainment, 19.99 www.amazon.co.uk
Steal some pics of your friends and load up to this gem of a site, yearbookyourself. You place your mate’s faces in the all American style yearbook heads, with hilarious results. We suggest printing them off and giving them as Xmas cards.http://www.yearbookyourself.com
Sometimes you just want to be alone. Over at London’s modern Andaz hotel a quiet revolution is taking place. Here the audience wear personal headphones to watch film screenings. You can eat at your seat and have a specially blended cocktail, too. We advise catching the fang-tastic vampire flick Twilight. Directed by indie film maker Catherine Hardwicke. Star Robert Pattinson is our new pale-faced crush and a sure-fire fashion icon in the making.Andaz Hotel, 40 Liverpool Street, EC2M 7QN. For tickets, e-mail fiona.pouchard@andaz.com or call 08444 77 10 00/www.silent-cinema.co.uk. Next screening 14 Dec 2008. Twilight on general release 19 Dec 2008.
White Witch's Palace, and Prince Caspian's Pop Palace are just some of the themed rooms at Popstarz presents New Years Eve in Narnia. Six areas have been specially created for fashionistas to frolic from rock vibes to electro beats to disco to trash, all the while in a frosty forest surrounded by performance artists making like satyrs, lions and ice queens. The perfect do to show-off your latest white goth party look.Popstarz presets New Year's Eve in Narnia, SIN, 144 Charing Cross Rd, London, WC2H 0LB, Wed Dec 31 2008, 9pm-5am
DIY has never been so chic and is ultra now for Recessionistas, so try mixing your own cocktails this year. Pick up, It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere: The Global Guide to Fabulous Cocktails. With 60 cocktail recipes and suggested tunes to play while mixing you’ll feel like you’re back on the Baccarats in that Parisian post-fashion party bar in no time.It's 5 O'clock Somewhere: The Global Guide to Fabulous Cocktails' by Colleen Mullaney, published by Sixth and Spring Books, RRP 10.99, www.waterstones.co.uk
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