All about Tea
The artist's favourite era of tea and tea drinking is the Edwardian era. And here's a few reasons why...
Tea drinking was a very formal affair for the middle and upper classes, who took tea at regular intervals throughout the day. Afternoon tea, in particular, was a delight of tea and scones, cakes on elaborate cake stands, sandwiches of all kinds... Helaina believes this should still be the case today!
Edwardian ladies dressed for the tea drinking occasion every day, having beautiful gowns made specially... what a wonderful idea?!
The china cups and elegant silverware of the day which adorned their tea tables were delicate and fancy, yet were there to be used and seen... again, this would be lovely if this still happened.
Ladies gathered at afternoon tea to converse, and often there were strict rules regarding what could and could not be talked about. Including boasting which was seen as a vulgarity and 'one's maladies' - i.e if one is in pain or discomfort, keep it to yourself! .... this precendent should have been kept up! Imagine a lovely afternoon, drinking tea, eating jam and scones, not talking about tedious subjects such as one's headache.... fabulous!
There are too many reasons to list I'm afraid, once Helaina starts talking about tea, she's unlikely to stop, but do keep looking back at the website for the next tea talking point!