What a wonderful start to 2014- the Vienna State Ballet- dressed by Dame Vivienne Westwood– performing at Liechtenstein Palace as part of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day concert.
The costumes incorporate key features of Vivienne Westwood’s design vocabulary: corsetry, draping, the Argyle check & mini kilts
London‘s Somerset House has a fine fashion pedigree as the home of the British Fashion Council and London Fashion Week, and to the delight of us stay-cationing London fashionistas is currently hosting two fashion photography exhibitions. The retrospective Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me runs till September 29th 2013 and coincides with the publication of a book of his cinematic work.
Having immersed yourself in the colour-bath of Aldridge’s work you must pop nextdoor see the Erwin Blumenfeld exhibition. Blumenfeld is a master of colour creating some of the most iconic fashion photographs and portraits of the 20th century which you can enjoy along with originals, magazine covers and a short biographical film.
Who didn’t gasp on first seeing Lisa Fonssagrives elegantly hanging from the Eiffel Tower, for Vogue 1939.
Grace Kelly‘s classic beauty captured in a 1955 shoot for Cosmopolitan.
Blumenfeld’s Vogue cover shot of Jean Patchett sets the standard for the perfect 1950’s maquillage– arched brow, doe eye, beauty spot & red lips- still stunning 60 years on.
Blumenfeld’s images continue to inspire- see the Lady Dior Spring/Summer 2009 handbag campaign shot by Peter Lindbergh & featuring the striking Marion Cotillard
Sølve Sundsbø brings Blumenfeld’s iconic image to life in this Chanel promotional film for Rouge Allure– what else?
And if this all leaves you wanting just a little more- indulge in The Telegraph’sgallery of iconic Blumenfeld shots.
Coco Chanel‘s hands at work and Schiaperelli‘s surrealist gloves both feature in this summer’s fashion must-see exhibition Haute Couture at the Paris Hotel de Ville.
Fashionistas need no excuse for a trip to Paris– but if you’re looking for one the current Haute Couture exhibition at the Hotel de Ville (on till early July) is definitely worth a visit. Curated by the Musée Galliera‘s Olivier Saillard and Anne Zazzo, ‘Paris Haute Couture’ opens with a selection of black and white photographs of some of the best known hands in fashion- literally – and continues with sketches and toiles and then opens into a hall containing key pieces from the history of couture cleverly displayed in glass cases which allow for 360 degree viewing.
A beautiful catalogue has been produced to accompany the exhibition
Curator Olivier Saillard introduces the exhibition here:
Haute Couture runs from 2nd March to 6th July. Open Monday-Saturday 10-19:00. Free admission.
Hôtel de Ville, Salle Saint-Jean 5 rue de Lobau, 4e, Paris
The much anticipated David Bowie exhibition at London’s V&A museum is being enjoyed by record-breaking numbers of visitors. We swelled those numbers by taking the London College of Fashion‘s Access Fashion Business students, many of whom were newbies to the wonders of the Bowie!
The exhibition claims not to be a retrospective but uses David Bowie’s own vast archive- including hand written lyrics to many of his iconic songs, stage costumes and ‘sound and vision’- to explore the influences on, and influence of Bowie.
Accompanying the exhibition are a range of talks and activities. Curators Jeffrey Marsh and Victoria Broackes treated a captivated audience to a glimpse behind the scenes of staging the exhibition- their visit to the David Bowie archive in New York, how they selected artefacts to exhibit and explained the innovative audio-visual experience visitors enjoy as they tour the exhibition. They also shared their surprise and delight at the amazing coincidence of their opening coinciding with Bowie’s latest (highly secretive) album release- The Next Day.
The fabulous Theatre of Fashion‘s Amber Jane Butchart in conversation with Helene Thian as part of the V&A Bowie weekender explored Bowie’s interest in kabuki theatre and his creative collaboration with Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto which spawned many iconic costumes.
The V&A shop features some fun products- I love the Bowie paper doll book.
All the world’s got Bowie-fever including Vogue Japan– the April 2013 edition features ‘Fashion Warrior’– a Bowie fashion spread.
On Saturday I spent a fascinating fashion day at Snibston Costume Gallery at the Costume Society‘s Utility Fashion in Wartime Study Day. Philip Warren started the day by exploring the social, political and economic context of 1940’s Britain that led to clothes rationing being introduced in June 1941.
Jenny Lister of the V&A museum followed with a detailed review of the Board of Trade Utility collection, which tasked the Incorporated Society of Fashion Designers to produce stylish fashion in accordance with strict wartime restrictions.
Utility skirt suit 1942 Victor Stiebel
Utility suit & coat by Worth 1942
I gave a talk on the Make Do & Mend campaign through which Mrs Sew and Sew encouraged the mending and remodelling of pre war clothing: on hand were examples of a blouse made from salvaged parachute silk, a jigger jacket made from a baby’s blanket, a 1940’s party dress remodelled from a bias cut 1930s wedding dress and dyed and coats made from Victorian shawls.
Currently the interest in wartime crafts is so strong that the Mrs Sew and Sew leaflets have been reproduced in this cute book
A tour of the CC41 Utility Fashion in Wartime exhibition was followed by Professor Lou Taylor’s thought-provoking examination of Paris Couture during the war.
We were lucky to finish the day with two private collectors- Alisdair Peebles and Janet Godfrey of the Kent Costume Trust– sharing their collections with us. And re-enactors Sandra Gribben and Tracey Cork stole the show with their fabulous 1940’s ensembles.
The Paris Haute Couture shows highlight France’s skilled artisans, ‘les petites mains’, who handstitch every detail of each exquisite gown. Equally important are the handcrafts such as embroidery, flower & button making. In order to protect the future of couture, the house of Chanel has bought up many of these studios, including legendary embroiderer Lesage.
Enjoy a peek behind the scenes at Lesage in this video:
Selfridges is one of my favourite stores. I’m obviously not the only one of that opinion as Selfridges was named best department store in the world in 2010 by the Global Department Store Summit. Founded on London’s Oxford Street in 1909 by Gordon Selfridge, the store has always been famed for its window displays. This Christmas is no exception, and vmcfashion‘s photographs of the Nutcracker themed windows are featured in a great review entitled ‘Selfridges Cracks Christmas‘ on the website of Visual Merchandising & Branding experts Blue Mount.
In keeping with the heritage trend, Selfridge’s enticing history is soon to be dramatised in a new ITV series Mr Selfridge.
I’m obsessed with the PrintempsChristmas windows. The chic Parisien store has 74 specially commissioned Dior dolls dressed in some of the house’s most iconic creations.
Scroll through the Dior videos to enjoy the opening & get a peek at the dolls’ creation!
Research from the London College of Fashion confirms what many of us thought- that wearing make-up lifts the soul– 85% of women surveyed said wearing make-up improved a bad mood day. & despite 54% of men finding red lipstick tarty, fashionistas LOVE it!
Marilyn Monroe is famous for her perfect red-lipsticked pout– in this tutorial make-up artist Lisa Eldridge gives you some top tips to recreate her iconic look & reveals Marilyn’s preferred lip colour- Insolence by Guerlain.
As you know Raf Simons recently debuted his first couture collection at Dior. In this video he describes his design approach as juxtaposing the history of the house with a modern fashion attitude. Whilst acknowledging the architectural genius of Christian Dior’s constructions Raf seeks to fuse the label’s heritage with futuristic techniques to create a new 21st century couture explains about how the cropped & slashed gowns worn over pants offer a nod to the past but with an eye very much on the future. Fab fashion illustration from Paola van der Hulst at PvdH.