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Audrey Bored-rey?

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Now, I LOVE a good photography exhibition. If it’s about fashion and iconic women, I’m there, standing as a wide eyed pedestrian, my gaze fixed on glossy captures of beauty. And, when I say beauty, I mean life, in all it’s glamour, gristle, realism and fantasy, it’s all beautiful and photography shows us that better than anything. When I saw that there was an exhibition of unseen Audrey Hepburn photos at The National Portrait Gallery, I figured I’d pop it on my list. The website said to book ahead as demand will be high and so, even though it’s not something I usually bother doing, in an attempt to be organised and to force punctuality upon myself I dutifully booked myself a 1pm slot on a Tuesday for £10. Most galleries suggest pre-booking as it creates the idea that it’s gonna be popular but I never guess it really means it, but, when I arrived a little early on the day, goodness, it was busy! It was in it’s first week, and there was another big free exhibition going on but ooof, it was heaving and they were crazy strict with time slots, all the slots up until 5pm that day had already sold out, so in this instance I was pretty pleased with my pre-planning. When the clock hit 1pm I went straight into the exhibition and it was as busy in there as it was the rest of the gallery, so busy you could hardly get to see the photos, jeepers! I couldn’t believe just how many people wanted to get their peepers on the portraits. Obviously Audrey is lovely and very pretty to look at but, crikey, what made this so special? Well, I still don’t know. The pictures were nice, many were very small and there wasn’t any which I felt were anything new, it all kinda felt like I’d seen it before. I assumed that it would get more magnificent as I went round, it was all very beautiful and a sweet insight into Audrey, but, I have to admit, I was a little under-awed. And then, it came to an end, after 3 very small rooms! A nice selection of images of a great icon, but, meh, I was left wanting more. I like Audrey, she’s not one of my most favourite girls, but I appreciate her and enjoy watching her, but these images all seemed a little stale. Maybe because I go to so many fashion photography exhibitions, my eyes have gotten used to bigger things, I like my photos in galleries to be huge, so big you feel small in comparison, so big you can see every eyelash and every pore of the skin, so you feel you’re getting something that you wouldn’t get if you just flicked through the accompanying book. I like to see a character in the images, a change from one image to the next, I guess maybe the simplicity of Audrey and her image alone is the beauty of this exhibition. I know these are portraits rather than fashion photographs, I just think I hoped for more fashion and variety in them. And they were all so small! I didn’t love this exhibition, but I did like it. I just felt it was a little over-hyped. The cynic in me thinks that maybe the estate of Audrey Hepburn needed a boost as many of the images were on loan from the family, and I see that there’s a new Audrey Hepburn cookbook hittin’ the book stores by her son with all her favorite recipes. Totally fair play, if Audrey Hepburn had been my Mama, I sure would be shouting about it all the damn time.

These shots were the ones that stood out to me;

  1. Audrey Hepburn by Philippe Halsman for LIFE Magazine, 1954 (above)
  2. Audrey as Ondine by Philippe Halsman, 1954
  3. Wait Until Dark by Howell Conant, 1967
  4. Audrey for Vanity Fair by Steven Meisel, 1991

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Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of An Icon is at The National Portrait Gallery until 18th October 2015

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Alexander The Great

‘You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition.’ ~ Alexander McQueen

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It would be kinda paltry of me to approach this post as some kind of review of this exhibition because, quite simply, it’s amazingly good and surely everybody already knows it. ‘Savage Beauty’ at the V&A is pure brilliance. Curated to perfection, this is not merely an exhibition, it’s a sensory adventure, a visual wonderland and a superb retrospective of the work of one of Britain’s most enormously talented fashion designers. Alongside the theatricality, the grand scale and the amazement which it brings to the eyes, Savage Beauty manages to act as a stunning personal tribute to the man himself who died in 2010; Lee McQueen. His precise and traditional skill of tailoring, when blended with his eccentric, macabre imagination created the most spell-binding fashion which knew no limits. Unashamedly extravagant, this beautiful show is by far the biggest fashion exhibition that the V&A have ever staged and eeesh, did they stage it well! Following the massive success of this show at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the V&A set high expectations for themselves with an eagerly awaiting audience. They needed to find a way to make it feel more intimate and home-grown here in London, McQueen’s home city, and I think they achieved that. It felt like an exhibition which celebrated a great British talent, the pride was palpable. The narrative of the exhibition takes you through various rooms of his collections, some so dark it’s like entering a Ghost Train ride on foot, and others so crisp, clean and bright it feels like you landed upon a cloud in fashion heaven, the perfect formula to portray McQueen’s love of the ugly and the beautiful. The obvious centerpiece of the show is the Cabinet of Curiosities in which you can’t help but stand and stare in awe at the many fascinating objects, films and sounds around you. For me though, the most magical element by far was the room after that which housed a giant glass pyramid and …poof… inside it appears the most haunting, most delicate and most adorable ghostly hologram of Kate Moss- surely his most beloved muse- floating to classical music. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

The demand for this show has been so enormous that they are opening the museum overnight on the final weekend to allow everyone to get their eyes on this magic. Fashion exhibitions have slowly been becoming more popular, attracting a mainstream audience, and this one, well, it has catapulted fashion exhibitions onto an even bigger stage. McQueen; in his death we lost a great talent but this show reminds us just how much he gave us. Wonderful.

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Below is a video of the Kate Moss hologram, the title bears a mis-spelling of his name but…take a moment to indulge in this, it’s gorgeous.

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Getting to Know Knitwear

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Ooof! If there’s one thing I love about the colder weather that’s creeping in, it’s getting all cosy with knitwear and so it was without hesitation that as Autumn started showing it’s blustery face I swooped down to the beautiful Bermondsey to take in the latest exhibition at The Fashion and Textile Museum; called KNITWEAR, Chanel to Westwood. I’ve not been to an exhibition at this place which I haven’t adored, it’s the most informal, welcoming and relaxed atmosphere and the size of the exhibition space means that each show is perfectly digestible and you don’t need to spend hours making sure you’ve seen everything there is to see. Although that being said, I get the feeling that staff wouldn’t mind one bit if you fancied lingering the whole day long looking at the fashion on display. Sometimes with the more epic fashion exhibitions at venues such as the V & A, it can be kinda overwhelming and you feel like you need to invest the bulk of your day taking in all the sights and remembering all the information you are learning. Sometimes, that’s great, you wanna loose yourself in a magical exhibition, in an amazing venue for hours and hours, but, there’s a lot to be said for those small and perfectly formed exhibitions in smaller places which can be enjoyed as part of your day rather than as all of it. For me, this is where The Fashion and Textile Museum excel.
This exhibition was a super display of knitted fashions spanning the last century and, was interestingly predominantly made up of the personal collection of Mark and Cleo Butterfield. It was more a showing off of their vast and spectacular collection than a timeline of knitting, allowing the whole thing to feel slightly more light-heated than historically rigid. With amaaaazing examples on show, we get to see the journey of knitwear; it’s early use for warmth and function, knitted swimwear and evening dresses of the 1920’s, the ‘make do and mend’ trend for unravelling jumpers to use the yarn again, embellished angora sweaters from the 50’s, futuristic knits from the likes of Couregges in the 60’s, novelty and folklore knits in the 70’s and the experimental bold knitwear from the 80’s! This exhibition is thorough without being too heavy and you get a really good grasp of knitwear and it’s past, there’s plenty to swoon over, especially, for me, the 1920’s fine knit gowns! The layout was a bit dark for me, the displays were sectioned into large wooden shipping crates, with some piled two high so it pulled the small space in quite close and felt a bit gloomy, but, the actual garments themselves were all pretty well lit and what I always like about this place is you can peep your eyes up real close to the displays and see every stitch! A gorgeous exhibition that leaves me gasping to get a look at more of Cleo and Marks incredibly large private collection of vintage fashion….. making mine just seem teeny in comparison.

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 KNITWEAR, Chanel to Westwood is on at the FTM until 18th January 2015

To find out more about Cleo and Mark Butterfield visit their blog

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Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful

“I don’t dress this way to go unnoticed”

On my recent American road-trip holiday, we spent three days in Las Vegas. I was last in Vegas when I was 21 and this time my memories aren’t as fond; it was busier, stinkier, hotter and tackier than ever. Too many stag do’s, drunken business trips, and voyeuristic tourists have turned this magical kitsch city into a bad night in a sweaty nightclub. Alas, it appears that any glamour has long gone. But, luckily, as I was walking past The Cosmopolitan hotel and casino, I saw a sparkle of the city’s past glamour; in a small but perfectly formed exhibition showcasing the sequin festooned stage outfits of pianist Liberace. Phew.lib15alib16alib20a

In Las Vegas, both now and in it’s heyday, it seems that the bigger, the tackier, the more brash, indulgent and extravagant; the better. And who better to have lived by this idea than glittering entertainer Liberace. I don’t know a lot about him, I know he was a child prodigy on the piano, I know he was camp and theatrical and that between the 50’s and 70’s he was the highest paid entertainer in the world, wowzers. Liberace’s love affair with flamboyance began when, as a younger man he was watching pianist Hildegarde and was told ‘you’ve got to get a gimmick‘. Liberace then went and bought a gold candelabra from a thrift store and placed it on top of his piano whilst performing. This was just the start, his signature style of kitsch European opulence was born. Much of his career was spent playing residencies in Vegas at hotels such as Flamingo where I stayed, and up until 3 years ago there was a permanent museum in the city dedicated just to him. It would seem that Liberace and Las Vegas go hand in hand, this ace pop-up exhibition at Cosmopolitan celebrated the over the top, in your face, bedazzling style that you would expect from America’s most garish city. The title of the exhibition states it perfectly;

‘Too much of a good thing is wonderful: Liberace and The Art of Costume’

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King Neptune Suit

This suit dazzled audiences around the country and was replicated for the recent movie ‘Behind The Candelabra’. The beads elaborately create the look of waves, shells and sea coral.

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‘Rhinestone Suit’

Whoosh, someone went crazy with the rhinestones on this one. As with many of his suits this is made from a sturdy polyester gabardine but the embellishments completely cover the utility fabric. The crystal rhinestones are rim set- a now obsolete technique that encloses the stone within a circular mount and then attaches it to the fabric.

collagelib3‘Purple and Phoenix Suit’   

Liberace sure knew how to make an entrance and at Radio City Music Hall in 1986 he came onto the stage from above- showcasing this suits bird motif and glittering plumage! The birds are outlined in crystal seed beads and pink French curled Ostrich feathers make up their tails. Feathers featured in many of his costumes, making it hard for preserving the collection.

collagelib4‘Matador Suit and Cape’

Crikey this one’s pretty glam! Liberace wore this costume for his 1981 performances in Mexico City. The elaborate sequin work on the cape is accomplished with the now obsolete Cornely machine, a chain stitch machine which allowed the individual application of beads and sequins.

collagelib5‘Hapsburg-inspired Suit and Cape’ 

This rather camp ensemble was designed by Michael Travis in 1983, it features a double headed Eagle associated with the rulers of the Austrian Empire; The Hapsburgs. Heavily appliqued using gold lame and bands of gold bugle beads to make up it’s lavish appearance. The cape is trimmed in Sable fur.

collagelib6‘Red, White and Blue Hot Pants Ensemble’

Woah, it doesn’t get much more American than this! Liberace wore this rather patriotic number in 1986 as a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. The embellishments of silver bugle beads and crystals give the illusion of separate garments but it is in fact a jumpsuit, making costume changes easier. Audiences loved how this suit demonstrated Liberace’s wonderful sense of humour.

collagelib7‘Christmas Suit and Cape’

I wish Father Christmas was real and that he wore this. In 1980 Liberace wore this gabardine and white fox cape for his Christmas shows at Las Vegas Hilton. The cape demonstrates the skill of Anna Nateece, a Greek born fur designer, the cape was entirely lined in silver sequins…oh my!

This pop-up exhibition was a delight, a perfectly delivered slice of old style Vegas glamour, the Vegas I treasure, where neon signs were a novelty, people dressed up for the shows and casinos, and when a trip to this city was a glistening indulgence. There are rumours that the permanent Liberace Museum (it was open for 31 years and closed in the recession) will reopen in a new downtown location, which would be marvelous, you gotta admit that this guy had some pretty exciting style and it would be a real shame to hide that away in this sequin-celebrating city.

 

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Fashion Galore, Blown Away.

Isabella Blow, 2002 by Diego Uchitel

Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore! What a spectacular fashion exhibition indeed. Curated by Alistair O’Neil and Shonagh Marshall, this Somerset House exhibition was a pure thrill to see. I visited on a late night Thursday on the week that it opened, a dark cold wintery London evening. Somerset House is breathtaking in this season, with the skate rink full of whizzing, wrapped up festive people and the Christmas tree that seems as big as a Cathedral; perfection. This exhibition used the same space which housed the Valentino exhibition, but this time the space was used so much better and felt like a much more slick and modern curation.

This huge exhibition celebrates the life and wardrobe of the infamous Isabella Blow whose work as a fashion Editor, Stylist, Consultant and Muse made her a prominent figure in the industry for over 20 years. A fascinating woman, born in 1958, who after a troubled upbringing whereby her parents separated, her Brother died and her Father didn’t like her, moved to New York City to study. Among many things, Blow shared an apartment with an actress, moved to Texas, worked for Guy Laroche, got married, met Anna Wintour and became her assistant. Pretty good going. She then became the assistant to Andre Leon Tally, chief Editor of US Vogue. Working for these people, the biggest names in fashion publishing, jobs that people would kill for, came naturally to Blow, hanging out in circles that included Andy Warhol, Blow was fast becoming a fashion icon. In 1986, she returned to London and worked for Michael Roberts, the then Fashion Editor of Tatler Magazine and The Sunday Times Magazine. Blow was a lucky lady in the career department, having jobs people can only dream of, and in her personal life, she was now divorced. In 1989 Blow went on to marry Art Dealer Detmar Blow. You would imagine her life to be wonderful, living a fashion dream, but she was a woman plagued by sadness and depression.

One of the things that Blow was most known and respected for was finding and nurturing British fashion talent. Most famously she discovered and nurtured Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy and Matthew Williamson. She personally bought the entire first collection of McQueen by paying him in weekly installments. Philip Treacy’s hats became her signature style;

“That’s why I wear the hats, to keep everyone away from me. They say, ‘Oh, can I kiss you?’ I say, ‘No, thank you very much. That’s why I’ve worn the hat. Goodbye.’ I don’t want to be kissed by all and sundry. I want to be kissed by the people I love.”

In 2007 Blow committed suicide after drinking weed killer, it followed numerous attempts at taking her own life including jumping from Hammersmith Bridge and breaking both her ankles. At the time of her death, Blow was also suffering from ovarian cancer. She had told her husband that she couldn’t fight her depression any longer. A sad end to her life, a life that was vibrant, theatrical, bold and unapologetic. Blow’s story proves so vividly that no matter what success or wealth you find in life, mental illness can take precedence and make it all seem pointless. Her life is a very valid reminder of how big an illness depression can be. Blow left behind her a wonderful legacy, her eccentricity and her genius as an artist proves how important fashion is in enabling us to express ourselves and have fun.

Fashion Galore! showcases over 100 pieces from her collection including many from the designers she discovered and launched. An amazing amount of Treacy and McQueen, all displayed to perfection, with great lighting and a wink of humour, this exhibition is truly celebratory rather than sombre. I also loved how the clothes were not behind glass, instead of treating them like rare butterflies, they are in the open so you can really peep up close and breathe in the detail. A beautiful tribute to an extraordinary woman.

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This exhibition runs at Somerset House until 2nd March 2014, in association with The Isabella Blow Foundation.

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