One month off.

 

1. Visiting Eltham Palace

Without doubt, one of the best places in the London, the UK, the world; left to us by Ginny and Samuel Courtauld and now in the care of English Heritage. From the phenomenal entrance hall to Ginny Courtauld’s private bedroom (complete with gold tiled bathroom), this Art Deco mansion also incorporates a two-storey ladder for the Courtaulds’ then-pet lemur Mah-Jongg. Too much.  The volunteers at Eltham Palace are SUPER awkward about you taking photos, (hence the use of the stock photography above) so, for now, you’ll have to settle for this photograph of the Lemur-printed tea towel that accompanied me home. Well, a new flat isn’t going to furnish itself, is it?

 

 

 

2. An interview with Phoebe Philo from 2003

 

Otherwise know as the one where she talks to Murray Healy about hardcore jungle dancing and going to raves in hotpants and a vest. Atta’ girl. There is, of course, her more recent  interview in US Vogue, but frankly..

 

 

3. ‘Americans in Piccadilly’, British Vogue August 1968.

 

After inheriting two tonnes of 1960s issues of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, it is taking a veritable age to deliver my promise of sharing the best bits with you all. This editorial, shot by David Bailey for the August ’68 issue showcasing new American designers is particularly ace. Perhaps no outfit  more so than the box jacket and pleated skirt combo finished off with a jaunty Matador-style hat and patent buckled heels a la Marc Jacobs.

 

 

4. Birthday gift wishes.

 

Birthday Wishes by thebachelorgirl featuring leather ballet shoes

 

It’s very nearly birthday time and these lovely things, along with two dozen gin and tonics, will hopefully soften the blow of turning – gulp – 23. The Isabel Marant-style jacket is particularly beautiful and has me aching for some more sunny days. Plus, it’s from somewhere suitably obscure that not everybody and their mother is going to be wearing it. Zara *cough*

 

 

5. An Art Deco architecture walking tour of London

 

 

After two years of procrastination, I finally galvanised myself to go on this two hour jaunt around London. A totally unexpected discovery was the National Radiator Company building, right opposite Liberty! The final stop on the tour was Claridges, which would have been a lot more fun if we hadn’t been kicked out for being such a large group. Nevertheless, if feel like learning more about the oldest escalators incorporated into a department store  in the UK (!) you should definitely give it a go. Seriously though, go, it’s great.

 

 

6. Nickstape Megamix on Spotify. Every Friday morning Nick Grimshaw is let loose on Radio 1. The resulting list of 417 songs (and counting) is a ready-made party playlist. Warning: It’s pretty heavy on Destiny’s Child.

 

 

7.  Dream blogging desk in the V&A

 

 

It’s silver, shiny and has a lot of drawer space. Seeing as this post is currently being written hunched over my bed, laptop resting on a book entitled, ‘The Laura Ashley Guide to Country Decorating’, it seems like a pretty tempting prospect right now. Designed by Edward Maufe and originally displayed at the Paris Exhibition in 1925, this beauty is currently sitting pretty in Room 74 at the V&A. Swoon over some more images here.

 

 

8. And FINALLY, the greatest conversation ever overheard, then live-tweeted, by the brilliant Sarah Bennetto. If you’ve ever questioned your past dating history, THIS GUY will, I hope, put all of your problems into perspective.

 

 

[Images via: Payne & Gunter, Gardens to Go,  Tumblr, Pinterest, all other (shoddy) photos by me]

Love is blindness.

 

So, couture week happened and as always, I am rather late to the party. Surprisingly, it was not Dior that grabbed my heart this season but Maison Martin Margiela. The collection was small, 19 looks to Dior’s 46, and like its newly-invigorated Parisian counterpart, was a breathtaking display of beautifully made, yet thoroughly modern clothes.

As with Margiela’s first couture or ‘artisanal’ collection last year, the House re-appropriated elements from vintage clothing; the focus this time on the 1920s. Original beadwork from the era was transposed onto trench coats, long-line biker jackets and gowns teamed with worn denim and brushwork-patterned silk.

My favourite look, the richly embellished flapper dress/zipped-pullover (last three images) was a perfect synthesis of the 1920s ‘modern look’; all dropped waists, shorter hems and cleaner lines, with sportswear as we understand it today. ‘From the sublime to the sublime’, is how Nicole Phelps described this combination.  I couldn’t agree more.

 

[Images via style.com]

Taking care of Haute Couture: Part 1.

The first proper post of 2013 has taken it’s own sweet time but has finally escaped the WordPress drafts limbo. Hurrah!

Back in November, Christie’s held a vintage clothing auction called ‘Vintage Couture’.Whilst I’m not entirely sure that Ossie Clarke and Zandra Rhodes tea dresses count as couture (they definitely don’t) there were enough pieces of the Real Deal to make it well worth a look, including some obscenely beautiful 1920s Jeanne Lanvin pieces and a shedload of Christian Dior.

This piece was one of the most exiting in my opinion; an incredibly rare piece from Dior’s first ever collection, 1947′s ‘La Corolle’. As Laura Jones at Vanity Fair has stated:

‘This collection ‘re-imagined women as flowers … suddenly the Western world was a garden of bell shapes and full skirts, with women loving the way they looked and felt in Dior’s deep curves formed from yards and yards of silk.’

This blouse is a beautiful example of how exactly how Dior manipulated material; using a multitude of pleats and pin-tucking to create his signature silhouette. Hopefully, this beauty is now resting easy in a pristine white box, next to a Bar jacket.

In a dream world, the V&A would have bought it and put it on display.  Conservation and display are probably the two biggest problem facing curators of historical costumes; natural fibres, by their very nature, degrade very quickly if not kept in absolutely perfect conditions, and even then are often so fragile that custom-made mannequins are needed in order to display them without causing stress to the fabric.

Keeping everything looking tip-top is a time-consuming and massively expensive business, no better illustrated than in this article from the conservation department at the V&A. It tells the story of a super-duper rare Dior ‘Zemire’ ensemble (above) being brought back to life kicking and screaming by a very determined curator, Claire Wilcox, and an entire team of scientists and cleaning experts. I don’t want to ruin the ending, so pop over and read it!

[Image via Christies and Diorable]

A very Parisian sort of New Year.

 

First and foremost, A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and ate/drank/danced/laughed far far too much.

The picture above is possibly one of the classiest hangovers I’ve ever had, although in hindsight, it was probably more to do with the melon liqueur that followed that did it.. The rather statuesque bottle on the left is St. Germain elderflower liqueur, from Paris naturally. Incredibly sweet but worth the price for the bottle alone. Yep, I’m one of THOSE people.

A few more resolutions:

1. To eat out more in London (and not always order a variation of king prawns and garlic butter for starter).

2. Find the perfect pink jumper.

3. Build up a shoe wardrobe. Something Gaia Repossi would be proud of.

4. Go to more Courtauld Institute alumni events.

5. Continue feeding the 1920s obsession and bore more people to death about it.

I love to watch you dance.

About your dress.

 

Well, this is pretty much perfection, isn’t it?

‘Miss Vogue’ Editorial from Vogue Paris, September 2012

[Images via Feed my Ego]

Lucky strike.

What is everyone up to this week? Could I possibly tempt you into buying ARMFULS OF DISCOUNTED CELINE?

Yep, that’s right: THERE IS CELINE ON YOOX. And none of that Michael Kors-era trash, the real deal Philo stuff. Months ago I heard a rumour that similar garbs were lurking in the Céline outlet in Bicester village, but the fact that said rumour came from twitter and that Bicester is FAR meant it never happened.

If you are a fan of the floral stuff, there is some of that on the site too! Sadly, patterns make me look like a drag queen :(

Have fun!