I SHALL go to the Ball

The exhibition has been on for almost half of this year…but I finally managed to fit in a visit to the Ballgowns exhibition at the V&A in London. Maybe I put off going because I knew I would kinda be overcome with amazement and glee at the mere sight of all those dresses in one place….oooooheeee, it was, as I expected, breathtaking.

‘Ballgowns; British Glamour Since 1950’ is a dream to view. Ballgowns are pretty much my favourite thing in fashion and Sonnet Stanfill who curated this exhibition, did so to utmost perfection. The ground floor of the exhibition showcases 30 ballgowns from the 1950’s up to the 1990’s, and on the upper area there are 30 dresses from recent seasons of the best British designers. Each and every gown is visually stunning, and the way they have been displayed is gorgeous. Grouped in colours on the ground floor, the sense of grandeur and vintage sophistication is ripe, the dresses all behind glass like an untouchable nostalgic memory. Upstairs is white and spacious with holograms on the ceiling and giant pearlescent baubles and modern white wooden chandeliers gathered around the mannequins. I adore the contrast between the two areas, each wholly elegant and magnificent but with totally different atmospheres. This exhibition shows British fashion designers off to their best. The textures, silhouettes, fabrics, colours, effects and glamour are indeed wondrous.

I loved both areas, but as a vintage loving gal, I was more in awe of the older gowns, my very favourite was the chartreuse coloured satin gown by Worth, London, 1960. Oh my….! And upstairs I loved the 2012 black and white silk tulle Marchesa gown. There were two other dresses in the upstairs area which I adored, the silver leathered dress by Gareth Pugh, 2011 with a great big high neck, I also rather loved the Atsuko Kudo lace printed lurex dress from 2011, amazing construction on both of these. Goodness me, all the dresses were spellbinding and I’m pretty pleased that I finally got to go and see them…be still my beating heart…..an utterly dreamy exhibition.

 

  The exhibition is on until 6th January 2013, for more information visit http://www.vam.ac.uk/

 

London Fashion Week. SS13.

London Fashion Week is always a treat. No other brands or designers can be relied upon as much as those in British fashion to showcase a perfect blend of innovation and classicism. Tailoring, elegance and sophistication sit comfortably alongside eccentricity and wit. Both Vivienne Westwood and Fyodor Golan exhibit this perfectly with totally wearable designs that make my eyes pop with glee. I love classic, plain stuff, that can be accessorized with detail, I also adore real showstopper dresses that are a structure and creation all on their own and need no adding to. I like all or nothing when it comes to fashion. After lots of gazing at the SS13 collections I managed to choose my most very favourite 10 looks and my top 3 catwalk shows….in which I kinda love everything about the collection. For the upcoming spring/summer, there seems to be lots of white, and lots of bold block colours in sumptuous ruffles, laces and satins, lots of tailoring with it’s usual sexy androgynous tone, and plenty of futuristic digital and abstract prints. It was flats that appeared to reign supreme in the footwear, with flat platform soles, running trainers, plimsolls and jelly shoes being teamed with girly dresses. I personally like a heel, so the killer heels in the Burberry Prorsum show were the ones that made my heart swell. There was a definite nod to the 1990’s, with dresses and skirts worn over trousers and skinny spaghetti straps on dresses….much as I loathe to admit the 90’s are now classed as vintage…I think they are working their way forcefully into that category, crikey. Whatever the season, and whatever the trends, London Fashion Week is always a beautiful and delightful escapism for my eyes.

My Top 10 looks from the shows......

  1. Erdem
  2. Fyodor Golan
  3. Christopher Kane
  4. Jonathan Saunders
  5. Fyodor Golan
  6. Markus Lupfer
  7. Temperley London
  8. Antoni & Alison
  9. Corrie Nielson
  10. Antoni Beradi
My Top 3 catwalk shows.....

Burberry Prorsum. Always a British classic, I totally adore their collections, sleek tailoring, feminine elegance and with a dash of subtle eccentricity, delightful, and so damn sexy.

Erdem. Feminine sugared almond pastels with timeless silhouettes, gorgeous prints and lace, all the fabrics look utterly sumptuous.

John Rocha. His designs are always amazing in their structure and composition, I love the quirks and lavish detail, his simple palette of blacks and brights for this show is perfection.

And my favourite model of the shows has to be Liu Wen, seen here at the Burberry Prorsum show…….beauuuutiful.

Swimwear and Swooning

I’m not a sporty gal, nor do I tend to indulge in watching much of it, but wooosh!… I was overcome with swooning at the mere sight of all the beefcake swimmers in the Olympics. Jeepers! All of a sudden I became an avid sports voyeur…..

I shall celebrate my new found love of swimmers by doing a pictorial post on the absolute and utter beauty of vintage swimwear….women’s swimwear…..because lets be honest, it’s not the men’s swimwear that I like to look at! In the world of vintage fashion, heck, it doesn’t get much sweeter than a cutesy swimsuit….oooh my!

 

 

Fizzy, Bang, POP!

I merrily swooshed down to my most favourite place, the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey for the opening day of their new exhibition POP!

I adore this place, it’s a great size and it has a really genuine, informal vibe. This latest exhibition has been curated to perfection by Dennis Nothdruft, of the Fashion and Textile Museum, with guest curators Richard Chamberlain and Geoffrey Rayner of Target Gallery. The exhibition takes a good look at the way music, art and celebrities from the late 1940’s to the late 1970’s influenced fashion, as well as attitudes, ideals and desires. It takes us from the glee of Rock ‘n’ Roll through to anarchic Punk Rock, via, Mod, Psychedelia, and Kitsch. As usual with this lovely place, the exhibition is a visual delight! It’s been displayed so beautifully and precisely, the sleek Mods, the black and white of Quant, the neons of the Psychedelic; it’s glorious to say the least.

Skirt fabric for Elvis fans, 1956.

Men’s Slicker jacket, 1957.

Martini label skirt, 1956.

I love this Martini skirt, which demonstrates the early use of commercial advertising as a decorative form, it’s gooorgeous! The exhibition has fashion and home wares from each era as well as some cute quirky pieces of consumer goodies.

Potato Sack dress, C.1960.

This sack dress is ace, a witty satire of Pierre Cardin’s radical Sac dress from the 50’s, implying that anything can be turned into fashion.

Part of the exhibition….

Mary Quant dress, 1961.

Part of the exhibition showing monochrome Mary Quant

My favourite bit was the late 60’s, early 70’s kitsch and cartoony part of the exhibition, great to see some prints from Zandra Rhodes in there too!

A pair of shorts by Sylvia Ayton, 1967, using Zandra Rhodes ‘Lipstick’ fabric

Wedge shoes and belt by Mr Freedom, 1970.

Cruise Dress by Sportaville, 1969.

Terry De Havilland snakeskin platform peep-toe shoes, 1971.

Fiorucci ‘Cherries’ platform sandals, 1971.

This Pop! exhibition sure does make your eyes pop, it’s so startlingly colourful and effervescent, and translates magically the potent influence that modern popular culture had on the designs of fashion. So much to look at, loads of classic iconic pieces to gaze at as well as loads of cute unusual discoveries too, pop along and give your eyes a feast!

http://www.ftmlondon.org

Pop! is on until 27th October 2012

 

 

Print-cess Mary Katrantzou

Mary Katrantzou walked into the room wearing head to toe black. For a woman whose fashion designs are known for pioneering bright, fussy, intricate and vivid print, I was kinda surprised that she was dressed so plainly. I liked the contrast though between the images her name conjures up and the simple dark silhouette she commands when in front of you. I went to ‘An Evening with Mary Katrantzou’ at the Fashion and Textile Museum, as with the talk by Pat Albeck, this was a small informal group and Mary chatted about her career in fashion design. She spoke of how happy she was that finally print in fashion was shifting and evolving and women were becoming more open to wearing print as well as all black. When questioned why she herself was dressed in all black, Mary replied ‘All year round I wear the same, a black A-line skirt and a black long sleeved top, I’m known for it, I am not known for wearing print. When you are constantly creating and working with colour and print, you need a plain uniform to counterbalance it. My flat is as plain as it gets, all white walls and wooden floors, nothing else.’ I like this, I think it would be pretty crazy if her whole life, every aspect, was about prints and colour, the dissimilarity between her work and home life must keep her sane.

Greek born, Mary studied in the USA at Rhode Island School of Design and then went on to St Martins where she completed her BA and MA. Her original interest was in architecture, then fabric, and then she moved into fashion. ‘Once you start working with the body, a 3D figure- everything changes. You never know how a pattern will look and change on the figure, the way it swings, the way pleats hang..’ she seemed to have been really fascinated by how her print designs could take on a whole new form through shape and movement. Once you work with the female figure ‘you become a fashion designer’.

Mary’s fashion designs are all about print, when she first started, it was stilll early days of digital print, she taught herself Photoshop and still, today, it is the only programme she uses. In her Graduation show, she had 9 dresses, all identical in silhouette but with different intricate and bold prints. Mary confesses that she is not able to pattern cut herself, she works completely on the model. Her interest in architecture comes into play as she adds the fabric to the model, shapes it so that it flatters and hangs as she wants it to, her dresses have a real sculpted, and architectural element.

Mary loves women, she knows women and she designs for women. She chatted about one of her earlier collections where she took items that women coveted but couldn’t physically wear, like perfume bottles or vases and put them in print form on a dress, enabling the woman to wear what she loves in a new form. I love this concept. It has a real tongue in cheek element as well as being utterly beautiful in itself. Some of her dresses are pretty surreal and abstact, quite sci-fi too. But, a woman after my own heart she says, ‘It should be as viable to make a dress a woman can treasure and collect and wear once, as it should be to make a dress a woman can wear 500 times’. Oh yes, dresses aren’t always things to be worn over and over, they can be purely an object to love and adore for it’s form and beauty.

Three of Mary’s dresses were on display for us to look at; the first is a really cute and kinda futuristic sculpted shape, different sections and fabrics with contrasting prints, she told how her inspiration was to take elements of ornamentation from different countries and cultures; tapestries, florals, vases, and put then all in one dress……very gorgeous and pretty wearable too.

This next dress has so many elements, the mixed layers of raffia, silk, canvas and beading mixed with the different prints make it a really stunning piece…

This last dress is my favourite, plush velvet with different prints, the colours are really vivid and Swarovski jewels have been hand-applied to excentuate the colurs…beautiful!

Twas a lovely few hours looking at lovely dresses with some lovely people, Mary said how thrilled she is that her dresses are worn by women from ages 25 to 65, ‘and they all wear them equally well’. 

For more information visit www.marykatrantzou.com