... Dear Cecil Beaton Please stop being pre-lab. (it s too small and constricting for today's Londoner.) Suggest you: (i) Buy yourself a Donovan cap and a crochet wool tie. (2) Buy yourself the new Paxton LP. (3) Realize that hunt ball is currently pronounced diskotek party. Now look at your feet. If they are still held firmly in a glutinous mixture of earth and water: (1) Buy yourself a 1932 ...

... (Jne mgnt last week I saw two perfectly groomed City gentlemen near Paddington Station they had bowlers, striped trousers, briefcases, brollies. The only thing was, they both had the tails of their shirts hanging out, and, what's more, gave them an occasional tug as if to make sure they stayed out. Is this just a new twist on the I'll be wearing a red carnation device for meeting strangers, ...

... In this world of public re lations, widespread advertis ing, and image-projection, one is apt to overlook the funda mental basis of individual personality. Having been all my working life of many years selling men's wear, nothing has been more apparent than this essential basis. Ideas may be necessary, but what can be more important than people? After all what can be n ore uncomfortable than ...

... One of the sad things about this country is the feeling of envy and spite displayed by a large section of the community towards those who have achieved great success in their careers, particularly as so many of today's tycoons started from very humble be ginnings. If one cannot keep up with the Joneses, then come hell or high water one must have them brought down to one's level. However un ...

... Do you think that London Life could conceivably help all sane men rise up and overthrow the boutique fetish? Every time one blinks, another tatty little shop seems to open, usually under the grossly in ept management of some soi- disant actress, model or pop star, and calling itself some body's boutique in some areas of London it is becom ing impossible to find a shop where the stock is simply ...

... London Life is the perfect magazine at last! Factual, in timate, interesting and up to date. But I think that the Editor could choose better- tempered letters. It is time everyone stopped expecting everything to happen as scheduled. If it did, we would be livine in a Fascist Statp Gillian Hoee. Hamilton Terrace, NW8 ...

... As so many professionals seem to be writing to you, it prompted me to answer our lovely Harry Secombe's plea Where has all the crispy bacon gone? Well, it's not the pigs' fault. No, love, the crispy bacon is on the Brighton Belle. I travel up and down on it each day, and, in spite of all that food I have to eat on stage in Hello, Dolly! (turkey, rolls, potatoes, melon, beetroot and candy ...

... I am not a resident of I an- don, but nevertheless I ind London Life a very entert fil ing, amusing and informa ive magazine. Whenever I i isit London for the occasic nal weekend, I find the entert lin- ment section of your m; ga- zine invaluable. And I tl ink your advice on enjoy: ble nights out, as well as your ips on the best clubs, discothec ues and restaurants invaluabl i. Mick Fov ler, ...

... Heard on the top deck of a London Bus, American mother to fidgety son Sit still, or you'll tip the bus over. Father: Yeah, they tip over real easy all the time. Fidgety son: Yaawow!And he dashed for the stairs, trip ping over and cutting his knee, as the coloured Stirling Moss in the driver's seat careered round another bend. Mother: Gee, I'm glad we don't have these tall buses back ...

... 1^-- i so gooa to see tnat tne greate: t singer of our age, and I do mean Frank Sinatra, is back i i the top 10 best-sellers' lis.s again. But why should th s record far, far from his best have made it, where far superior lyrics and arrange ments have failed? Admitted that the B side, My Kihd of Town is a real swinger, but Strangers in the Night is so ordinary. Maybe the publicity that the ...

... Most ot us nave put up witn negative and off-hand atti tudes and even rudeness, from shop assistants, group attend ants, bus conductors, taxi drivers. Like they were doing us a big favour, helping us out of trouble, causing them a lot of bother and then tak ing our money! I call upon you all to make scenes and stand firm. Demand to see managers and owners. When we all start acting like human ...

... as a j_,onaoner now living abroad, I feel I must answer Arthur Lomax's recent letter. My country of residence is West Germany and I am now centred in Dusseldorf, the so- called Paris of Germany, the centre of the arts, culture and German haute couture. My visits to this country are a blessed relief from the Ger man formality of fashion. True the German dresses smartly, but there is no real ...