Risk it, go for it!

May31

Mary Quant once said “Risk it, go for it. Life always gives you another chance, another go at it. It’s very important to take enormous risks.” That’s exactly what she did in the Swinging Sixties, redefining what it meant to be young and seizing every opportunity that came her way.

The Fashion and Textile Museum’s latest exhibition; ‘Swinging London: A Lifestyle Revolution’ explores the design and the fashion of the Chelsea Set, in particular Mary Quant and Terence Conran, but touching on the work of other designers of the era, who worked with them such as Laura Ashley and photographers of the time.

I visited with my Mum, who grew up during the wonderful Sixties in London. I often think it must have been a fabulous era to be a teenager in. Taking Mary’s philosophy of risk, I chose a different outfit to something I would normally wear which also gave a nod to the Sixties/Seventies, along with embracing the current trend of co-ordinates. The skirt and top were from River Island, the beige mac was M&S (I was channelling my inner Mod here) as well as the orange espadrilles. The bag I styled it with was also River Island – a great copy of the Dior saddle bag. I tied in the orange shoes by also wearing orange hoop earrings from Accessorize. Unfortunately, the risk didn’t really pay off as the outfit was not a great choice for my fuller figure. Fashion is about having fun and Quant certainly promoted fashion as a game, but we have all had our fashion fails. Why not share some of yours below?

While a relatively small exhibition, Swinging London gives a great overview of fashion from 1952-1977, displaying homewares, fashion, furniture, lighting and ceramics and is very reasonably priced to visit at less than £10 per ticket. Visit before the exhibition closes on 2 June 2019.

Mary Quant was born in Blackheath, London in 1930 and was instrumental in the Mod and youth fashion in the sixties, along with being one of the designers accredited with the mini skirt and hot pants. She opened her first shop, Bazaar in Chelsea in 1955 and two years later a second branch, in Knightsbridge, designed by Terence Conran.

Terence Conran was born in Kingston Upon Thames, London in 1931and started his own design company in 1956, designing a shop for Mary Quant. He is most famous for the household and furniture store, Habitat, opening the first branch in Chelsea, London in 1964. Involved in other retail businesses, along with architecture and interior design; more recently he is known for a number of London restaurants which he has created.

The below photo shows the co-ord set designed by Quant in 1965. The design of the fabric was a textile from Liberty of London, originally an early twentieth-century block-printed fabric, which Liberty converted to a screen-print. The ‘Sgt Pepper’ coat is by Michael Mott for Paraphernalia, a leading boutique in New York who acknowledged the influence of Mary Quant and her boutique.

The shoes below, came with a carry bag and are from a 1967 range by Quant when she collaborated with G.B. Britton – a work boot manufacturer. They proved to be unpopular, given that like wellies, they were too hot and sweaty in summer and too cold in winter.

Part of the exhibition was Elizabeth Suter’s sketches which captured the designs from the sixties catwalks. What makes these sketches all the more brilliant is that they were drawn mainly from memory, as sketching during the shows was not allowed. These were captivating and showcased such a wonderful talent. I would love to have some of these framed on my walls at home.

Following the exhibition, Mum and I explored some previously unvisited corners of Bermondsey and discovered a lovely parade of cafes and shops which included Kat Maconie the shoe designer and London Glassblowers where they display glassblowing as well as selling signed decorative pieces by Peter Layton. We went on to discover Vinegar Yard, an urban garden and street food market that has pop up shops selling vintage clothing, antiques, records and art, amongst other things. Vinegar Yard only opened in April this year and you can’t miss it, due to its art installation of a train carriage with giant ants crawling over it. Artist Joe Rush created the ants and has a working studio within the yard. Just round the back of London Bridge station, this is a classic example of what I love best about our Capital, there is always something new to discover around the corner!

We finished the day in the vibrant Borough Market with lunch at Fish! which served delicious fish and chips in the heart of the market.

We had a lovely day out, proving that South London has just as much to offer as the more central and traditionally tourist parts; after all Mary Quant herself was a South London girl!

Why not take a leaf out of Quant’s book and take a risk, after all when you die you always regret the things you didn’t do.

J’adore Dior

May28

When I think of Dior I think of femininity, luxury and class. When Dior launched his first collection in 1947, he created The New Look – the hour glass silhouette. The press dubbed the collection The New Look because of its revolutionary nature. In contrast to wartime boxy styles, his designs emphasised the curves of the female body.

Born in 1905, Dior retrained as a fashion artist in 1935. Tragically, he died of a heart attack in 1957, just ten years after the launch of his first collection, however the legacy left by Dior continues to inspire some seven decades later, through the six artistic directors that have succeeded him in the fashion house.

The V&A’s biggest fashion exhibition since Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty in 2015 Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, has been a sell out for the London Museum, leading them to extend the exhibition for a further two months until 1 September 2019. The exhibition was inspired by the Christian Dior: Couturier du Rêve in Paris and also explores the designer’s fascination with British culture. Dior is quoted as saying: “There is no other country in the world, besides my own, whose way of life I like so much.” He was fascinated by England’s great houses, ocean liners, Savile Row tailoring and royalty. He often showed his collections in grand country houses, such as Blenheim Palace in 1954 in aid of the British Red Cross.

I had long anticipated the release of tickets for this exhibition and finally got to visit in March with my friend. For the visit I wore a red t-shirt from Topshop with J’adore on the front to emulate an actual Dior t-shirt worn by Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City Movie 2.

I paired the t-shirt with a black satin, bias cut skirt from New Look. A similar skirt produced by Topshop was an Instagram sensation and therefore a sell out. The weather still being somewhat chilly, I also wore my trusty New Look faux leather biker jacket that is one of my go to pieces. To really set the outfit off, I wore black suede heels that I purchased in Belgium some years back and accessorised with an Asos bag which I thought had a look of a Dior saddle bag and actually appeared in Fabulous magazine sometime after I had purchased it. The only true Dior I wore was my mascara, Diorshow which I can’t rate highly enough. A lady on the tube commented on how beautiful my shoes were but after a whole day in London in them, I can assure you I was using a rather different word to describe them!

The exhibition has over 500 objects, including over 200 rare Haute Couture outfits, displayed with accessesories, original drawings, perfumes, magazines and photographs. The exhibition is set out over different themed rooms and is a display of absolute beauty, curated perfectly to take you on the Dior artistic journey. It looks at where Dior found inspiration for his designs from the eighteenth century, to travel to gardens.

The entrance to the exhibition looks at Dior’s life and then focuses on The New Look, particularly the bar suit, acquired by the V&A in 1960 and considered to be a key piece of his first collection, reimagined subsequently by many artistic directors.

Dior in Britain’s main attraction was the dress designed by Dior for Princess Margaret to wear in her 21st birthday portrait in 1951. Dior said of the princess: “she was a real fairy princess, delicate, graceful and exquisite. The same adjectives could be used to describe Dior’s own creations.

The next room is historicism and looks at the influence of the eighteenth century on Dior and subsequent artistic directors.

Dress to the left is Christian Dior – Raf Simons part of Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 2014 – The skirt emulates the style of an 18th century court dress

The pink jacket to the right is again Christian Dior – Raf Simons and part of the Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 2014 collection. The cut and embellishment clearly echo 18th century court attire

Me in the historicism room

Christian Dior enjoyed travel and took inspiration from art, landscapes and architecture in different countries. The Travel room looks at how travel inspired his, and future designs of the fashion house. My favourite outfits in the room are shown below. On the left an Egyptian inspired piece by Christian Dior – John Galliano and part of the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2004 collection. This is purely art, if totally unwearable. On the right, the dress was for the Tokyo presentation of the 2017 Spring-Summer haute couture collection and I just adore this Christian Dior – Maria Grazia Chiuri creation, which with the trailing cherry blossom, encompasses the femininity of Dior.

The next room was by far my favourite, The Garden, and I could have spent hours in there. It truly felt like a secret garden, which is exactly the feel Maria Grazia Chiuri wanted to create in the Musee Rodin where she displayed her first couture collection, as homage to Dior’s love of gardens. Flowers influenced both Dior’s designs and his wonderful perfumes. He would often sketch in the garden and as a boy he loved to study his mother’s plant catalogues. Dior said: “After women, flowers are the most divine of creations.” The room was simply magical. The centre piece gown, seen top right in the below collection of photos is Christian Dior – Maria Grazia Chiuri and part of the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2017 collection. The detail is phenomenal with the petal-like decoration created using layers of dyed feathers.

The centre bottom photo of the collection above is a dress by Dior – Raf Simons and part of the Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 2012. The dress was worn by Natalie Portman as the face of the Miss Dior perfume. The bottom right picture of the above collection shows to the far right a dress by Christian Dior – John Galliano, which was part of the Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 2010 collection and is hand painted silk, clinched at the waste by a green bow representative of garden twine.

The Ateliers room demonstrates how test garments are made in white cotton fabric so the fit and shape of the design can be checked before making it in the actual fabric and adding embellishments.

The exhibition concludes with The Ballroom which was where Dior could really allow his imagination to run free and showcase extravagance. Dior once said that: “evening clothes are the most glamorous and fascinating things a woman can have as the evening is the time when you escape the realities of life.” This room was really atmospheric with relaxing music and lighting moving it between day and night.

The dress to the bottom right of the collection above is Christian Dior and part of the Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 1949 collection was embroidered with thousands of shimmering sequins and has to be one of his stand out pieces.

The final dress we see is the below creation by Christian Dior – Maria Grazia Chiuri and was part of the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2018 collection. The inspiration for the dress was an original 1950 hand-painted fan by Christian Dior, held by the mannequin. Having his signature embroidered in the skirt is symbolic of his lasting legacy.

If you can get to the exhibition, I highly recommend it. Additional exhibition tickets will be released on the 15th day of each month for the month ahead and limited tickets are available to purchase daily at the museum on a first come, first served basis. Dior remains one of the greatest designers and his creations are often seen both on the red carpet and in the fashion magazines.

The shop at the V&A also has an impressive range of books on the designer and souvenir drawings, photos and stationery from the exhibition.

Sadly my finances will probably only ever extend to the makeup and perfume of the fashion house, but his influence can often be found in high street designs. He was a true God of the fashion world. Long may his legacy continue.

Zigazig-ha!

Nov18

No one knew what the phrase meant but the band that coined it would change the landscape of pop forever. Who am I talking about, the Spice Girls of course!

The five straight talking girls burst on to the pop scene in July 1996 with their debut single Wannabe which stayed number one for seven weeks. I was a broke thirteen year old, attempting to record their Top of the Pops performance of the song onto a blank cassette tape while flushing with embarrassment as my Dad announced about Mel B ‘I wouldn’t mind her boots under my bed!’

Spice girls

The Spice Girls were a girl band who embraced individuality with their five alter egos Scary, Ginger, Posh, Baby and Sporty. They were something teenagers of the nineties could look up to with their girl power philosophy. It was a new modern feminism. It taught girls to believe in themselves and take control of their lives as well as the importance of solidarity with female friends. They loved to make a statement at every opportunity – who can forget Ginger Spice pinching Prince Charles’ bum at the Royal Variety or that Union Jack dress at the Brit Awards!

Over twenty years later, it would appear their popularity hasn’t diminished with people last weekend, rushing to announce on social media that they have secured tickets for their comeback tour next year. I never saw them tour in their heyday but did go to their 2008 reunion tour. For me this time round isn’t going to be the same as they are only touring as a foursome, with Victoria too busy on her fashion line.

4 spice

This year I visited SpiceUp, an exhibition about the Spice Girls at the Business Design Centre, Islington London, with my sister-in-law. Now me being me, I always have to get into the theme and dressed in a denim mini from Oasis, a Spice Girls t-shirt from their 2008 reunion tour and platform shoes from New Look, with a mini backpack also from New Look and Union Jack ribbons in my hair.

The exhibition is a collection of costumes worn by the Spice Girls over the years on stage and in TV appearances as well as extensive memorabilia. It’s creator is Alan Smith Allison, who started collecting memorabilia aged fifteen. It takes you through their many albums and singles and even includes some items and costumes from their solo careers. The Spice Bus from the film Spice World, released in 1997, was the star of the show. I remember Mum and Dad getting me the video of the film which came in a celebratory tin.

I really enjoyed Viva Forever, the musical of 2013, that critics were very critical of and closed early due to financial losses. There was some merchandise from this on display.

Some of the costumes, especially the shoes were unbelievably outlandish and surprisingly most of them looked fairly cheaply made, although there were some designer pieces. I was disappointed that Geri’s Brit Awards Union Jack dress wasn’t part of the exhibition. I remember going to a Spice Girls themed birthday party where the birthday girl wore a replica of that dress.

Pop merchandise for the group took off in a way it had for no other band before or since. They launched channel five and endorsed Pepsi, Chupa Chups, Impulse deodorant and Walkers crisps to name a few. Their faces appeared on everything from collectable photos to dolls, to duvets! At the end of 1997, it was estimated they had earned over £300 million in marketing deals that year. The exhibition even had Pepsi cans with the ring pulls missing, which fans (including me) collected to get a special single – Step to me.

Despite being a young fan who idolised Geri Halliwell, I didn’t think I had that much memorabilia, but as we walked around the exhibition, it appeared I owned rather more than I first thought! “I had that” became a well used phrase.

It was a great blast from the past and it would appear that fashion wise, the Spice Girls aren’t the only thing from the nineties having a come back. Checked suits as worn by Cher in the nineties classic film Clueless have flooded the high street this autumn. I lived in my Benetton sweatshirt in the nineties and it appears sweatshirts are the jumper of choice once again this season. I have two lovely ones from Oasis and one from Joy. Even Buffalo platform trainers have tried to make a comeback!

If you have enjoyed this trip done memory lane, it’s not too late to visit the exhibition and Spice up your life! The exhibition is showing at Intu, Watford now, until 31 December 2018 – say you’ll be there!

IMG_1997 copy

Sailing in luxury

Apr29

My fast becoming favourite museum, the V&A, is currently running an exhibition entitled Ocean Liners: Speed and Style, until 17 June 2018.

The main draw for me to visit this exhibition was the fact that a piece of the Titanic was included, which has not been seen in Europe since the ship was built. I must confess to having somewhat of an obsession with the fated Titanic’s maiden voyage – not least because of the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio which was released in 1998. As an impressionable, young 14-year-old – I idolised Leonardo and wanted to be as elegant as Kate Winslet. I cried bucket loads when I saw the film at the cinema. Anyone who has seen the film, cannot forget the moment that Rose, laying on a part of the ship and floating in the atlantic, has to let go of Jack. This is what sprung to mind when I saw the wooden panel fragment from the first class lounge of Titanic, the largest remaining fragment from the ship, which was found floating in the Atlantic and is on loan from a museum in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is in fact what the film’s set designers modelled the floating refuge on.

I was pleasantly surprised that the rest of the exhibition enthralled me just as much. The exhibition is very much a show of the luxury that could be found on these ships all those years ago. People were supposed to forget they were even at sea, as the great ships aimed to replicate first class hotels.

With the introduction of passenger flights in the 1960’s, Ocean liner trade declined significantly until it ceased in 1986 except for transatlantic crossings by the Cunard line shipping company. The cruise trade has boomed however.

The lines are blurred between descriptions of cruise ships and liners, and often the terms are used interchangeably. Liners had higher fuel consumption and fewer windows as their use was to transfer passengers from one point to another whereas cruise ships follow circular routes, sometimes with no stops.

Cruises nowadays are of course more of a relaxed affair – no longer are you expected to dress for dinner every night for example. While this is good as it opens up the demographic, I can’t help but mourn an era where luxury ruled supreme; especially given that I have always had champagne taste and beer money!

The first room of the exhibition concentrates mainly on poster advertising for the liners. You then move into a room where various interiors from different ships are mocked up – giving you a feel of the attention to detail, when they were designed with elaborate wooden carvings. The next room was my favourite as it was very much focused on the fashion and the glamour.

Mum, posing against a moving backdrop to give the illusion of being at sea

Deckchairs

Christian Dior day suit worn by Marlene Dietrich arriving in New York on board the Queen Elizabeth in 1960 and luggage previously belonging to the Duke of Windsor, 1940s

Bathing suits circa 1925-1937

Silk georgette and glass beaded ‘salambo’ dress 1925

Art deco at its best

The Ballroom

Children’s chair from first class playroom on the Normandie c.1934

Having enjoyed the exhibition, my Mum and I decided to sample a piece of the luxury, offered by London today. We went for afternoon tea at Number Sixteen – a high-end hotel in South Kensington. We enjoyed prosecco, sandwiches, scones and some delightful cakes in the orangery of the mid-Victorian white terrace, looking out on the beautiful private garden.

No girls day out would be complete without a visit to the shops, so we hopped onto the tube to Knightsbridge and visited the home of luxury, Harrods and browsed all the many delights I would love to be able to afford.

‘It’s so much more friendly with two’

Apr2

Like me, I’m sure many of you grew up with the stories of three great bears – Rupert, Paddington and Winnie-the-Pooh.

AA Milne himself could not have predicted the popularity and enduring love of Winnie- the-Pooh when he created him, based on a Harrods bear his son, Christopher Robin was given on his first birthday.

In 1926, Milne published his first collection of stories about Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends, who he based on other nursery toys. The stories were brought to life by EH Shepherd’s illustrations. Milne and Shepherd had worked together previously on the magazine, Punch but their collaboration on Winnie-the-Pooh produced some of the nations best-loved children’s books and is what they are most famous for.

Reproductions of Christopher Robin’s toys used as props in the film Goodbye Christopher Robin (NB Owl and Rabbit were purely figments of Milne’s imagination and not actual toys)

Milne who was a Londoner, bought Cotchford Farm on the edge of the Ashdown Forest in Sussex, as a holiday home in 1925 and the area provided the perfect backdrop for the stories, referred to as The Hundred Acre Wood.

Winnie-the-Pooh was always one of my favourite characters and I was often taken to Pooh Corner, a shop in Hartfield, Sussex, mainly of course as it was en route to my fathers favourite place, the Bluebell Railway. This shop, opened in 1978 and is dedicated to all things Pooh.

A short distance from the shop, you can indulge in a game of the famous Pooh sticks yourself at the bridge where Christopher Robin and his father played the simple game. The bridge was built in 1907 and then partly rebuilt in 1979 and later completely restored thanks in part to funding by Disney, who had of course by then acquired the rights to the characters and dropped the hyphens in Pooh’s name.

If you are feeling energetic, why not also visit the Enchanted Place, where there is a plaque is dedicated to Milne and Shepherd.

After all that walking, as Pooh would say, it is time for a little something. Head back to Pooh Corner for a traditional English cream tea.

Last year, the film Goodbye Christopher Robin was released, once again bringing Winnie the Pooh to the fore of popular culture. If the film is to be believed, it is rather ironic that the characters and stories that made so many people’s childhood’s happy, had the opposite effect on Milne’s own son, Christopher Robin. He took none of his father’s royalties.

The V&A museum is currently running an exhibition, Winnie-the-Pooh – exploring a classic, until 8 April. I visited the exhibition with my friend. It is cleverly designed to appeal to young and old, just like the characters themselves. The collection includes original drawings and some of the families photos, along with a trail for children to follow with lift up flaps to discover things, a slide and a table with pencils for them to unleash their own creativity. One of the main things I learnt was where the name Winnie-the-Pooh came from. Winnie was the name given to a bear at London Zoo whom Christopher Robin visited, while Pooh was the name he had given to a swan he fed.

Entering the exhibition

Is Pooh at home?

The stairs Christopher Robin bumped Pooh down

Tea set given to the Queen

Table for children to create their own drawings

Mock up of the famous Pooh sticks bridge

Slide

One of the original drawings

Eeyore’s house

Plate used to print the drawings

Christopher Robin’s bear and EH Shepherd’s son’s bear

My favourite drawing

because the forest will always be there…and anyone who is friendly with bears can find it

At a time when war was a recent memory for many, Winnie the Pooh transported readers into a magical world where the only threat was time. The characters transcend time however, remaining as popular with adults as they are with children. The stories have been translated into many languages and Pooh, for a bear with very little brain, provides some great philosophical quotes.

The exhibition includes a large array of merchandise, including a dress from a collaboration with Cath Kidston in 2016 and a tea set given to, the now Queen, in 1928. The most recent collaboration is with Pandora, as part of their Disney charm collection and my husband kindly bought me one for Valentines Day this year.

I am sure Pooh will continue to enchant lots of children for many years to come and always remember ‘you’re braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think’ and of course when all else fails, ‘it’s so much more friendly with two.’

blahnikgirl

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