Krissy in Paris

May26

Since watching the Netflix series Emily in Paris, I have been desperate to visit the city again, so I talked my husband into a day trip to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary, after all there is no more romantic city in the world than Paris.

It was an early start with our train from home to London St Pancras leaving at 05:16 to make the 07:01 Eurostar but it definitely is completely possible to do a day trip – just be prepared for a long day and ideally take the next day off work to recover.

Our first stop on arrival was The Place de l’Estrapade, where Emily’s flat is in the series and a visit to Boulangerie Moderne. Now it’s this bakery where in episode one, Emily samples her first pain au chocolat. Naturally I ordered the same and I have to say I was blown away, it really was heaven on the tongue, so buttery and delicious with gooey chocolate. I don’t think I will ever eat a pain au chocolat in England again. It was lovely sitting by the fountain in the middle of the square and doing some people watching. Also in this square is Gabriel’s restaurant in the series, Les Deux Compères, which is actually an Italian restaurant called Terra Nera.

We then walked to the nearby Pantheon, which is an impressive monument and one I seemed to have missed on previous visits to the city. We didn’t go inside but did pay a visit to the Saint-Etienne-du-Mont church, located next to it and lit a candle. There is another filming location from the series here too, The Bombardier, and English style pub which Emily goes on a first date to with her British crush, Alfie.

From here, we walked down to the Seine and the iconic Notre Dame. It is heart breaking to see what the fire of 2019 did to such a magnificent piece of architecture, but it is inspiring to see the renovation well underway with plans to reopen the cathedral in December 2024. It is being restored sympathetically with many medieval building techniques being used.

The square in front of the cathedral was playing host to fete du pain, a bread festival and the aromas of freshly baked bread, drew you towards it. You could see everything being made on site and of course purchase it. We bought a baguette each for lunch and sat in the gardens to eat it, feeling very Parisian.

With Notre Dame closed to the public, we visited Sainte-Chapelle – somewhere I’d found when googling best sites to visit in Paris and certainly somewhere I hadn’t been before or even heard of. It’s a royal chapel in gothic style and was the home of the Kings of France until the 14^th Century. The lower chapel is dark and rather underwhelming but when you climb the stairs to the upper chapel, you realise just why people rave about this attraction. There are 15 stained glass windows telling stories from the bible and a rose window at the west, representing scenes of the Apocalypse. All I could say was wow, it really took your breath away.

No trip to Paris would be complete for me without a visit to Kookai, the fashion label that dominated my teenage wardrobe. My husband was less impressed with this but luckily there was a chair by the fitting rooms for him to relax in. Clearly my shape has changed somewhat over the years and so the clothes aren’t perhaps as flattering on me as they once were, but I did buy a lovely green long sleeve v neck top.

Flagging a little by now, having been up so long and covering quite a bit of Paris on foot, we headed for Café de Flore in the Saint-Germain des Pres district, another filming location from Emily in Paris, where she meets Thomas, but also legendary as once frequented by famous writers, philosophers, actors and designers including Ernest Hemingway, Jane Fonda, Brigette Bardot and Yves Saint-Laurent. It feels very luxurious and the waiters all have waistcoats and bow ties. The hot chocolate was to die for, just like liquid chocolate, if a little expensive at €9.50.

My feet had decided we needed a break from walking so we then got the metro to Chaterlet. We walked through Westfield Forum des Halles, a modern shopping centre which makes it feel more like London or the US than Paris with the usual chains such as McDonalds and Nike. We headed back down to the Seine and to Pont des Arts, also known to Parisians as Le Pont des Amoureux or Lover’s Bridge. This was a necessary pilgrimage for me as felt like I had been cheating on my first love of Sex and the City with Emily in Paris and this of course is the site where Big says the iconic line in the final episode “Carrie, you’re the one”. The bridge is one of the few pedestrian only bridges in Paris and is covered with love padlocks.

A quick stop was made at the Louvre so we could do the iconic finger on top of the pyramid shot, before it was back to Emily in Paris filming location hunting and we headed to the Palais Royal, a formal royal palace. The forecourt or Cour d’honneur, has striped pillars which look like sticks of rock and seem to be a prime location for influencers to pose. The Jardin du Palais Royal is a beautiful tree lined garden, where Emily has her lunch break in the first episode and meets her friend, Mindy. Many of the benches have quotes written on them from 20^th century writers. The one I am sitting on translates as ‘we’ll never look enough, never fair enough, never passionate enough.’

Near here at Place de Valois is the location of the offices of Savoir where Emily works in the series. Here I bumped into other fans of the programme having their photo taken outside.

Time was now against us and we still needed to have our anniversary dinner, so we jumped on the metro to Abbesses. Just in case we needed any further exercise, we were greeted here by a 186 step spiral staircase to the street – should have definitely used the lift! It was then onto the funiculaire to take us up to the steps of the beautiful Sacre Coeur with wonderful views over the city.

We headed to La Maison Rose for dinner in Montmartre. The building is pink with green shutters and really beautiful. People were stopping to take photos all the time of this pretty restaurant. Emily and Mindy eat here in season one, episode five, which isn’t surprising as it is definitely Instagram able. We had a table outside and it was lovely that it is finally warm enough to eat al fresco. We had a lovely meal to celebrate our pottery anniversary and then headed back on the metro to Gard du Nord for the 21:13 train back to London. We arrived home about 12:20am!

I love the French language and it was great to have the opportunity to brush up on my rusty A Level French. Paris really is a beautiful city and there is still more I want to see, which gives me another excuse to return. I can’t think of a better way to have celebrated our anniversary, even if I was very tired at the end of it, having been up about 23 hours and covering about 28,000 steps! Our second celebration will be the pottery date night I bought Phil as a gift which involves air dry clay, hot chocolate and fudge. Definitely a lot less strenuous!

An unwanted Valentine

Feb20

My gift this Valentine’s Day was a positive Covid test. I couldn’t believe it – having avoided the dreaded lurgy for almost two years, two lines were staring back at me. The day was spent under a duvet in front of Netflix and binge watching Emily in Paris. I did get a beautiful single red rose from my husband which cheered me up a bit though.

This year I really wanted to celebrate properly, after last year being in lockdown – was that lockdown part three? I lose track. So, it’s just as well we planned our celebrations for the Saturday before Valentine’s, after all who wants to celebrate on a Monday anyway?

Despite lockdown last year, we did make the best of it and still celebrate with an afternoon tea delivered from Cutter and Squidge in London. I wore a jumper from Oasis with heart buttons on the sleeves and was spoilt with my favourite red roses and some heart earrings from Pandora, so I can’t really complain.

I know a lot of people see Valentine’s as commercialised and so don’t bother to celebrate it at all, but I think any opportunity to celebrate love is worth taking. Having said that I do try to avoid restaurants with set Valentine’s menus, as it is usually inferior food and service at an inflated price.

This year, we did something a little different to the norm. The huge slide at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, ArcelorMittal Orbit, had been on my bucket list for a while and as I can see it from my new office window, I figured it was time to take the plunge. I’ve always enjoyed theme park rides so thought this would be great, until I read that the last part of the slide is corkscrewing in the dark that is! Flashbacks hit me of Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris, aged 13 – the only ride I’ve ever hated.

The slide is the world’s longest tunnel slide at 178m long. There are viewing platforms to take in the views across London before you slide and they are breath-taking. You can see as far as the Shard, the O2 and Canary Wharf. Once up there and seeing the slide, my nerve started to go. There are transparent sections of the slide to take in the views and I was watching people go down. Was I too old for all this now? Did I really want to be doing it? I figured the slide has been there for ten years now (how were the Olympics ten years ago?) so it must be safe and you are only on it for 40 seconds so how bad could it really be?

Anyway our slot came and we put on the head protection and elbow pads and joined the queue. I decided to go first and get it over with and I really don’t know what I was worried about – if anything it was quite tame and I really enjoyed it. My other half on the other hand wasn’t so keen!

Afterwards as we walked round the structure, trying to get a good picture, you could hear people screaming as they came down and we looked at each other and said we were glad we hadn’t heard that before we went on it or we may have chickened out!

We finished the evening with a more traditional celebration – a meal at The Real Greek with prosecco and cocktails!

It’s so easy for day to day life to take over and to stop spending quality time with the one you love, so Valentine’s is the perfect reminder to appreciate each other.

Reflections of Lockdown

Mar21

So here I am again, finally putting a blog together, after some eighteen months plus absence.

Next Tuesday 23 March, marks a year since lockdown began in England. We were so sure it would only be for 3-4 weeks and here we are a year later! Although there has been some rule relaxation over that time, life as we know it has not been able to resume.

Now in many ways I know I am one of the lucky ones. Up to this point, I have been lucky enough not to suffer Covid-19 myself and my family are thankfully all safe. The vaccine programme is well underway and we have a roadmap for getting out of this, but still a year locked down has taken its toll, particularly with the additional personal challenges – those close to me know what I am referring to. The hardest part has been this stretch since Christmas where we have been back in full lockdown but without the sunshine of last year’s full lockdown. I think what was once a novelty, has started to become quite tiresome now. A holiday to look forward to or even a meal out would be nice.

Now I vowed a year ago to start blogging again – after all lack of time could no longer be used as an excuse – however somehow or another, weekend after weekend would pass without me getting around to it. Well now as we have a roadmap for hopefully being back to normal by June, I really need to get on with this before time does become an issue again.

So, what am I going to write about you might ask, given that most of the last year has revolved around my four walls and the latest Netflix series? Well there is plenty to catch you up on prior to the pandemic changing our lives beyond recognition, but I’ll start with a reflection on our current situation.

There have amazingly been some positives to come out of this world crisis and I only realised quite how many at New Year, when I went to post my top ten photos of the year from my camera roll on Instagram and struggled to narrow it down.

In January 2020, we got our new rabbit, Benji – a continental giant. I had been keen to get another, since we lost our beloved Rufus the previous October and I’m so glad we did before the pandemic hit, as he has been a great comfort during the lockdown, even if we do now have a lot less carpet than then, thanks to his chewing! Next month we will be adding to our pet family with a girlfriend for him – double trouble here we come!

I had never been a great one for gardening before the pandemic, but last year, my husband and I really got stuck in and grew runner beans, courgettes and peppers successfully. The peppers I was particularly proud of as I grew them from seeds I dried out of peppers from the supermarket. The BBQ was used more than it had been in all the years of having it too!

Having lived in Medway ten years next month, it had never really felt like home, mainly I think as I used it much like a hotel as I worked in London all week and visited friends and family in the London boroughs most weekends. Now while I would still like to move back to a London borough, the pandemic has made me appreciate my local area far more. We have discovered and appreciated some great beauty spots on our doorstep and as well as keeping up our running (despite there being no parkruns) we have also realised the pleasure a good walk can bring. We’ve also got to know our neighbours better and it feels more like a community – particularly on VE Day in May, when we had a street party.

Our wedding anniversaries have always been grand celebrations, usually involving a holiday, but I actually found our 2020 celebration of six years together far more special than any of those, because so much more thought went into it– read more about that in a later blog.

I started volunteering for the Rainbows, part of Girlguiding, it’s for the 5–7-year-olds before Brownies. Volunteering with Girlguiding was something I had wanted to do for a long time but somehow, again never got around to. So far it has all been on Zoom but I am looking forward to finally meeting them all in person after Easter, all being well. Volunteering really is so rewarding and I’d encourage anyone to look for opportunities, even if you only have limited time available.

I got to see one of my closest friends get married and get her well-deserved happy ever after, the weekend before they cut wedding numbers from 30 to 15. The ceremony was beautiful and held at The Old Marylebone Town Hall. I felt so privileged to be included in the intimate ceremony and the smaller numbers made it all the more special. She looked absolutely stunning and they both looked so happy. It was a cold, windy day but we still managed confetti on the steps as they came out, followed by prosecco and the favour was a facemask to remember the occasion. I wore a purple dress from Silk Fred, with my wonderful Sophia Webster sandals which I had bought for her original do, planned for April 2020 but cancelled due to the lockdown.

One of our proudest moments of last year was being selected to be Godparents to my best friend’s son. Again, the ceremony was small given restrictions and we went with my friend and her husband for afternoon tea after the service. It just felt extra special somehow because it was a small affair. I wore a floral maxi dress from Oasis, with a navy waterfall jacket from New Look and my espadrilles by Castaner that I got in Barcelona a few years back.

In amongst all the craziness, my husband and I even managed a short break to Whitby in August, which we last visited to get engaged in 2013. We stayed in a lovely little cottage and of course visited the famous Magpies restaurant for Fish and Chips.

One of the things I am so grateful for is technology. If it hadn’t been for Zoom and FaceTime, I’m not sure how I would have coped. While nowhere near as good as meeting people face to face, it is a good consolation and I have enjoyed video calls with friends and family, including quizzes! I have never researched so many quiz questions in my life! We have regularly had dinner over facetime with my Mum and Dad which actually works really well and you almost forget the camera is there. Christmas lunch was done like this and we told cracker jokes and opened our presents over it too.

I’ve loved spending more time with my husband, even if we have driven each other crazy at times and when I have managed to see friends, it has been more quality time, without distractions and I feel we’ve got to know each other even better.

I certainly haven’t missed the commute, although it will be nice to see work colleagues in the flesh again. It will be lovely to get some routine back and a push to get out of bed in the morning, rather than leaving it to the last possible minute to roll into the spare bedroom and start work. One phrase I definitely won’t miss is ‘you’re on mute.’

I will miss some of the simple pleasures that lockdown has brought though, not least that quality time spent with people. A slower pace of life has been nice and time to notice some of the nature around us – maybe the answer is a blended approach. I won’t be giving up my Sunday evening baths with Lush bath bombs, candles and a book, that’s for sure! I’m sure we will all be glad when the hairdressers open though – there’s a reason I never trained as one – me and clippers are not a match made in heaven, as my husband can testify!

We all hope we are on the home straight now, but why not take some time to look for the positives in this nightmare and like me, you might be surprised at how long your list is!

The romance of film noir

Apr8

Looking for a night out with a twist? Look no further than the Evans & Peel detective agency in Earls Court, London.

My friend, who has fabulous vintage style and can always be relied upon for a good night out, announced that the theme of her birthday celebrations this year would be film noir. Apart from the obvious translation to ‘a black film’, I’m ashamed to say that I knew little else about this, but Google is always on hand to help.

Film noir is a genre, retrospectively assigned by film critics, to Hollywood crime dramas from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. The Big Sleep, This Gun for Hire, The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity are a few of examples of classic film noir. The films tended to be quite pessimistic as was the general mood in post war America. They are usually saturated with cynicism as well as using stark light/dark contrasts and dramatic shadowing, as a visual style.

For the occasion, I wore a black pencil dress from Pretty Kitty Fashion with wartime seamed tights and a cream faux fur jacket from New Look. I set the outfit off with red Sarah Jessica Parker shoes in a classic t-bar style and a black vintage frame, clip top bag which incidentally, was bought for me years back by the birthday girl. I styled my hair using a Heidi roll tool also from Pretty Kitty Fashion and topped it off with a burgundy pill box hat from Kiss Kiss Heart.

On arrival at the venue, you would never guess in a million years that it was a bar. You are greeted by a simple door with Evans and Peel detective agency written on it and a buzzer. After pressing said buzzer, you follow the stairs down to a dark office, where you are asked to state your case. One of our group stated that their wedding ring had been stolen and they believed the culprit to be someone in our group. The agency agreed to take the case on, at which point, a bookcase opens to reveal the bar. Menus in brown case file envelopes are given out which list aptly named prohibition radiator moonshine beer amongst a selection of cocktails and it’s there I’m afraid, that the theme sadly ends.

Not for us however, as our case had been thought up, based on prior knowledge of the evening’s events that were still to come. Suddenly a member of our group pointed at my friend’s boyfriend and said “it was you who stole the ring!” To this, the smartly dressed ‘doctor’ dropped to one knee and proposed to my friend who was dressed as the classic Coco Chanel. Her expression was priceless, she was completely shocked and clearly not expecting it, but very quickly that turned to pure joy as she accepted.

It was a beautiful moment between them that I feel very privileged to have been a part of. I am so happy for my friend as she so deserves the happiness she has clearly now found. I await their wedding in June with anticipation – I know it will be another beautifully styled vintage event.

Congratulations guys – who says film noir is dark and pessimistic – it certainly brought you guys great joy and happiness.

Love is Louboutin

Oct11

May was our third wedding anniversary and to celebrate we decided to go away for a week. Having spent the last few years visiting various far flung places, we thought it was time we explored the treasures the UK has to offer and as such headed to Scotland.

We could have driven or flown but we opted to travel by the Caledonian Sleeper train, which booked in advance was very reasonably priced and hired a car once there. Now the sleeper train is not luxury but an experience none the less and it certainly is nice to fall asleep in London and wake up in the Scottish Highlands.

We were greeted at Fort William by horrendous rain – the main problem with staying in the UK. As we were unable to book into our accommodation before 4pm, we sought refuge at the Inverlochy Castle hotel and indulged in afternoon tea.

Highland scenery is stunning and by our bed and breakfast there was a beautiful wide expanse of lake which was ironic given that they ran out of water by the Thursday!

A walk through Nevis Gorge to Steel Falls is well worth it, if not for the faint hearted – it’s a four and a half mile round trip. The ground is rocky and rough with sheer drops but you are rewarded with a beautiful photo opportunity. Just make sure you wear appropriate footwear – my Italian leather ballerina pumps didn’t cut it!

Glencoe also provides beautiful views and has been used for films such as James Bond – Skyfall and Harry Potter – it’s where Hagrid’s hut was built.

T-Shirt Oasis, cropped jeans Oasis and ballet pumps from Milan

A great way to see some of the flatter scenery the highlands have to offer is by horseback. I have always enjoyed horse riding and really enjoyed my trek in Tain – not least as I managed to tick off my bucket list, riding on the beach.

Sweatshirt Joy, Jeans Oasis and rain jacket New Look

On our actual anniversary we boarded the Jacobite steam train for a journey from Fort William to Mallaig, crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct – made infamous by the Harry Potter films. We celebrated with champagne and exchanged gifts. The three year wedding anniversary is leather and as such, we couldn’t have let it pass without him adding to my shoe collection. I was ecstatic to open my very own pair of classic Pigalle Louboutins in black patent! You can read more about Louboutin in my previous blog First Steps. I bought him a leather wallet with his initials embossed on it from Aspinal of London. Leather is traditionally used to protect and shelter due to its durability, so as your relationship matures, a gift of this represents those qualities.

Glenfinnan viaduct

Butter-brew cocktail

Harry Potter Charm

If castles are your thing, Scotland has some fabulous examples. We visited Urquhart castle, overlooking Loch Ness, for a great example of castle ruins which date from the 13^th to the 16^th century and Dunrobin which is a true fairytale style castle. Interestingly Dunrobin castle was used as a boarding school for seven years – imagine going to a school that looked like that!

Urquhart castle

Dunrobin castle

If you are looking for an adrenalin rush, I can highly recommend the Seaxplorer fast boat trip out on Loch Leven. We got to see seals and sea birds as well as our captain doing some elaborate fast turns like they do in lifeboats to add to the thrill.

We couldn’t visit Scotland without going to Balmoral of course. Having always been a royalist it was fabulous to see the Queen’s holiday hideaway. Balmoral castle itself is beautiful although we saw very little of the inside. The Landrover safari trip revealed how vast the grounds are, with stunning views and we got to see some majestic deer.

Balmoral

T-Shirt Zara and leather jacket New Look

Being us it was a mad rush to get from Balmoral back to Fort William to catch the sleeper train home but we made it and got a lovely view of Ben Nevis on the journey too.

Ben Nevis

KIP (Krissy is Phil’s) elephant snuggling on the Caledonian sleeper

The UK really has some great sights that shouldn’t be overlooked. We had a great anniversary and look forward to many more years happily married. I love my husband because he knows me inside out and loves me anyway.

A hundred and counting

Sep24

Blogshoe001

This post marks a momentous occasion in my blogging history – it’s my ‘centiblog’ or hundredth post! Have I really managed to pull together circa 100,000 words on my little life over the last six plus years?!

Blogging has a longer history than many people might be aware of, with the first blog being attributed to a student, Justin Hall in 1994. It wasn’t referred to as a blog then though and it was another three years, before the term ‘weblog’ was coined and further two years, before it became shortened to ‘blog’. Since then it has evolved significantly, gaining peak popularity around 2004. In February 2011 there were over 156 million public blogs in existence. You could say then, that I was somewhat of a late comer, launching my blog in April 2011.

Having always had a passion for writing, as well as keeping a diary since childhood, it was a friend who suggested I write a blog, around the time I moved in with my now husband. Being I was also an avid follower of Sex and the City, I obviously had desires to live like its lead character, Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker who wrote a newspaper column about her life in order to earn a living.

Carrie Bradshaw

I would define my blog as a ‘lifestyle’ blog with a focus on fashion and shoes. What’s a ‘lifestyle’ blog I hear you say? Some people see it as a catch-all subject that means the blog lacks a focus, whilst I see it more as a description of what life is like for a person of a certain age in a certain location; a little like a diary. I think blogs will be used in the future to inform history, in much the same way as diaries, such as that of Anne Frank, have informed our knowledge today, of years gone by. If nothing else it may be something my future children will enjoy reading.

Other than writing, I have long been a dedicated follower of fashion with a particular devotion to shoes and therefore love to entwine my outfits of the day with experiences abroad or in London, from afternoon tea to exhibitions. Of course my blog may have a change of direction if and when my husband and I cease to be D.I.N.Ks (double income, no kids) which is the beauty of a lifestyle blog – it evolves as your life does.

Interview Picture 1

So what makes a successful blog? I don’t have a secret formula – being I am still waiting for mine to take off but what I can do is share some of the tips I have learnt along the way.

My number one rule has to be draft, re-draft and draft again! If you can get someone else to read it before you publish even better, as often you become blind to your own errors.

I write more as a hobby – fitting in time as and when, but if you truly want your blog to become a commercial enterprise you need to post at regular intervals so it is probably worth setting aside time each day to write. What day and time you choose to post your blog can have an effect on subscribers so I would advise trial and error using analytic tools to see what works. I found I get greatest readership if I post on a Sunday evening, so I try to stick to this time now.

Inspiration often comes unannounced so it is handy to carry a notebook with you that you can jot ideas down in as they come to you. You may find it helpful to create a space in which to write that you feel enhances the creative juices and somewhere you can remain uninterrupted. I have a beautiful desk area under the stairs which I am continually kitting out with my latest stationery purchases. I particularly love Kikki K products. I do also enjoy writing in my summer-house when weather permits.

Social media is a fantastic tool for any blogger. I had always used Facebook and so share a link to each new post there, but I have found that Twitter is even better for getting you noticed. Twitter has the added bonus of you being able to link posts to companies, whom you have featured.

Brand is important for your blog but often difficult to achieve, especially if you are blogging through a platform such as WordPress or Blogspot. It seems unless you can master CCS coding, something that continues to be beyond my capabilities, you are stuck using the templates available in terms of background for your blog. I did however create a logo for myself which is at least a start at branding.

This brings me neatly on to hosting platforms, which is how I do my blog and therefore what I have the greatest knowledge of. WordPress also allow you to add tags which work in a similar way to hashtags on twitter and make it easier for people to find you on the site. The best way to increase followers is to interact with other bloggers on the platform. Read as many blogs as possible and not only follow them but comment on them too. If someone comments on your blog, don’t let the conversation dry up – interact with that person.

I hope you have found some useful tips and you are inspired to follow my blog. I look forward to entertaining you with my next 100 blogs!

Diana: Two Decades on

Aug31

All little girls love princesses and Diana certainly was the fairytale princess. The Royal family has always been admired the world over and is quintessentially British but Diana challenged their old-fashioned ways and appealed to a whole new generation.

I was 14 when my Mum woke me one Sunday morning to tell me Diana had died, aged just 36. The whole world went into shock and there was a huge outpour of public grief.

I went to see the sea of flowers at Kensington Palace, signed a local condolence book, queued at Woolworths for Elton John’s Candle in the Wind tribute single and was glued to the TV for the funeral. Along with most of the nation, I mourned the people’s princess. She was someone who was so compassionate and gave so much to so many.

Flowers at the gates of Kensington Palace September 1997

It’s hard to believe that it’s 20 years ago today that Diana was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris. The world has moved on so, that Diana would scarcely recognise it – social media for one thing, but still today people remember the wonderful Diana. She is one of the few people who can still sell a paper 20 years after her death.

Diana loved fashion and an exhibition which opened in February at Kensington Palace, shows her transition from shy teenager to style icon. In April, my Mum and I went to visit Diana: Her Fashion Story.

Many of Diana’s dresses were auctioned in June 1997 to raise money for her charities, so this exhibition has relied on the kindness of collectors to lend the dresses for it. One of those dresses is the Catherine Walker dress she wore to the Christie’s dress auction.