Contortionists, comedy horns and cocktails.

This is going to be quite a picture-heavy post as I am rather tired after quite a busy but brilliant weekend.  By force of habit, I tend to take my camera everywhere with me now and this weekend was no exception.

Hayley looking delightful

You may have seen my previous post on the Ric Rac club and how brilliant it is, so I made sure I could be in London for the circus themed bash.  All of my early costume ideas centred around face paint (to which I am allergic) so it wasn't until a couple of days before that I decided to don my best tight-rope walker/Big Top outfit (yes, I went as a tent). 

 

My outfit consisted of a gorgeous '50s sunsuit (label - "Sun fashions exclusive with Best's" - anyone have any information on them?), nude fishnets with a black seam, incredibly uncomfortable ballet pumps (courtesy of Primarché) with added ribbon and a hat I cobbled together the night before.

 

Sunsuit - vintage
Shoes - Primark
Hat - made by moi

 Here are some pictures of my lovely chums in all their circussy glory.



Much joy was had with the comedy horn

The lovely Jeni Yesterday

Sara and Russell looking splendid as always

Fleur, Bethan and Auntie Maureen during the infamous raffle 

 

As well as Auntie Maureen on the decks, there was also a fantastic contortionist by the name of Stephanie Valentine.  In the words of Hayley, "she's so bendy!"

 



My best attempt at being a contortionist!

After a lovely leisurely Sunday morning, Hayley, Katie and myself headed into town for a spot of lunch at the Brasserie Zédel and cocktails in the adjoining Bar Américain - that is, after quaffing some free champagne in Burberry, admiring some of the Great Gatsby costumes in Brooks Brothers and dancing to Trinidadian Calypso in Regent Street.  I'll do another post about Brasserie Zédel later on or this will get too long!

  

Did any of you attend the Ric Rac club?  What would you wear to a circus themed party?  Have any of you been to Brasserie Zédel?

 

Hollywood Costume at the V&A

I had been looking forward to the Hollywood Costume exhibition at the Victoria and Albert for at least a year – whenever it was that I heard it was opening.  So when I found out we were going to the press launch I was understandably rather happy.

Like a child in a sweetshop, I was running from costume to costume, catching my breath at the names of who wore some of them: Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Mary Pickford and Claudette Colbert to name but a few.  Not only is the calibre of actors who inhabited these costumes the highest you could imagine, to be able to see costumes from luminaries of design such as Adrian, Edith Head, Travis Banton, Orry-Kelly and Travilla was amazing.

The exhibition is split into three sections ‘Deconstruction’, ‘Dialogue’ and ‘Finale’.  Deconstruction deals with how a designer can create a character from just a few clues in a script, even if the effect goes unnoticed by most of the audience.  Highlights for me were Kim Novak’s green ensemble from Vertigo and Vivien Leigh’s ‘curtain’ velvet gown from Gone with the Wind.

The second room, ‘Dialogue’ examines the collaboration between directors and costume designers.  It also looks at how the role of the costume designer has changed with advances in film-making and how the aesthetics of each era influence period films made at the time.  Claudette Colbert’s green satin gown from Cleopatra and Joan Crawford’s red-beaded dress from The Bride Wore Red are absolutely exquisite.

The Senior Guest Curator, Deborah Nadoolman Landis (the Oscar-nominated costume designer on films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Blues Brothers and Coming to America) said of the finale, “it’s just meant to blow your mind”.  There were some wonderful costumes (particular favourites in room 3 were that green dress from Atonement, Marlene Dietrich’s top hat, white tie and tails from Morocco and two of Marilyn’s dresses, from The Seven Year Itch and Some Like it Hot).

The exhibition is full of digital displays of the creative processes the designers go through, interviews with directors, designers and actors as well as clips from the films themselves.

The exhibition marks the first time a pair of the Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz have ever been displayed outside of the US (only for a month though!)  The V&A was also able to announce that they have just been given 700 costumes from the British Film Institute, making them the national archive of cinematic costume overnight.

The end of the exhibition seems a little cramped with Kate Winslet’s incredible hobble-skirted white suit from the beginning of Titanic was also sadly lost at the back of a scene.  The final costumes of the exhibition (two dresses that will possibly draw the crowds  more than any others), the iconic white halter dress work by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch and Judy Garland’s Dorothy outfit from The Wizard of Oz, are just tucked away at the end which seemed a bit of a shame.

The exhibition is absolutely amazing, and for anyone interested in cinema, design, fashion history or just pretty things it is a must.  I can’t wait to go back!

Oh, and I was interviewed for Chinese TV while we were there!

Hollywood Costume opens tomorrow, 20^th October and runs until 27^th January 2013 and tickets start at £9.00. You can find more information here.