Statuesque: nine women between 172 and 178 cm, met on a Belgravia staircase
The great houses of Belgravia were built for height: double-height drawing rooms, tall sash windows, staircases that curve up through three floors beneath a glass lantern. Women who stand above 172 cm look entirely at home in them, and nine in the edit do.
We have arranged them as you might pass them on such a staircase, from the first landing to the top, with a word on how each carries her height. In heels most of them will look you straight in the eye, and none of them minds in the least whether you are taller.
Statuesque, in the edit
Angelika
24 yearsMayfair
Karolina
27 yearsCovent Garden
Michelle
27 yearsChelsea
Milena
25 yearsSouth Kensington
Patricia
28 yearsBelgravia
Samanta
27 yearsMayfair
Stacy
22 yearsChelsea
Vanessa
25 yearsPaddington
Violetta
30 yearsBelgravia
The first landing: 172 and 173 cm
Angelika and Patricia share 172 cm and could hardly differ more, one black haired and athletic from morning tennis, the other slim and auburn with a watercolour box in her bag. Michelle and Vanessa are a centimetre taller: Michelle curvy and dark, a sailor with a talent for cocktails, and Vanessa slim, with sandy balayage and hazel eyes, the one who will ask you for your favourite word.
The half landing: 174 and 175 cm
At 174 cm, Karolina and Samanta are the musicians of the staircase, piano for one and violin for the other, both slim and long haired, Karolina in black and Samanta in a sleek dark brown. Milena, at 175 cm, is the most openly glamorous of the nine, curvy with glossy black hair, and she enters a room as though someone has just brought up the lights.
The top of the stair: 176 and 178 cm
Stacy, 176 cm, wears near-black hair and a quick wit sharpened by a love of stand-up, and she is the least formal of the nine in the best possible way. Violetta, at 178 cm, has nobody in the edit above her, slender and long limbed with sleek black hair; she lives in Belgravia and moves through its grander rooms as easily as through her own hallway.
Heels, hems and the height of the evening
Tall companions think about shoes the way sailors think about weather. Most of the nine will ask where the evening is heading before choosing a heel: something flat for the gravel paths of Hyde Park, something higher for a ballroom, a sensible middle for the cobbles of a Belgravia mews. If you would rather she stayed close to your own height, tell Rosie, and she will choose her shoes accordingly without a second thought.
Rooms where height tells
Height counts for less at a seated dinner than you might expect and for more than almost anything at a standing reception. That is why these plates suit gala nights and client tables so well: a companion who carries herself easily through a crowded room at The Lanesborough or a Belgrave Square reception makes every introduction lighter. Four hours at £1,300 covers most black tie evenings, and an overnight at £2,400 covers the ones that run late.
The same staircase, other sets
Six of the nine also belong to slim and slender, Michelle and Milena hang among the curvaceous plates, and Angelika joins the toned and athletic. Across the age sets the staircase spans a decade: Stacy and Angelika come from the early twenties, Violetta from the thirties, and everyone else from the late twenties.
Asking for her
The first hour is £400 whichever of the nine you choose, and anything longer is priced on the rates page. Black tie, lounge suits or something looser: mention the dress code up front in your note through booking, and Rosie will say which of the nine can join you that night.
Seen a face you like? Ask for her by name.
Or describe the evening and let Rosie choose. Either way you receive a written reply naming who is free, what it costs and when she can knock.