The Man who Made the Men who Made Menswear

I’d heard about this tour for a couple of months but had never managed to orchestrate it so that I was in London on the right day.  And then as luck would have it (or more a case of the tour guide, Russell Nash, being clever and knowing his audience) a tour was planned for the same day of the Chap's Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball (more of that later).

On the steps of the Athenaeum Club with George V
in the background (he didn't join us for the tour)

Meeting on the steps of the Athenaeum Club just off Piccadilly, we were treated to almost two hours of anecdotes and facts about some of the greatest figures in the history of menswear.  The tour takes you round St James’ and Mayfair, making stops at Jermyn Street, Savile Row and Burlington Arcade, among many other sartorially significant locations.

Russell Nash is clearly very passionate about his subject and this comes across in the engaging way in which he reveals interesting details about people you may already know a little about (such as Beau Brummel, Tommy Nutter and Bunny Roger).



With the statue of George 'Beau' Brummel at the bottom of Piccadilly Arcade

The tour charts the history of menswear over the past 200 years, starting with George IV and is brought up to date by the injection of (relatively) new talent on Savile Row such as Ozwald Boateng and Richard James.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would like to see what Russell’s other walking tours of London are like.  I won’t reveal anymore about this one as I think you should all go and see it for yourselves!



Outside Lock & Co, St. James' Street



The last tour of this year – ‘Mayfair: High Born and Low Life' will be running on 12^th December at 11am.  The Men Who Made Menswear and other tours, will be running again in the New Year.

For more information, see Russell’s website, or else follow him on twitter or instagram @MrRustyWoo

Let me know what you thought of the tour if you've already been or are planning on going - or even if you just like the pictures!

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.

Savatore Ferragamo - the architect of modern footwear

Whilst trawling the internet for bridesmaid shoes, I stumbled upon these, available at Office:

I thought ‘hmmm, these look familiar’ as they bear a striking resemblance to a suede pair designed in 1938 for Judy Garland by the visionary designer, Salvatore Ferragamo (1898-1960).

This pair were playfully entitled ‘Rainbow’

Office aren’t the only ones who have taken inspiration from this remarkable pair of shoes.  A few years ago, Jeffery Campbell made a pair called ‘Groovie’ that again show more than a passing nod.

Many of Ferragamo’s creations look decades ahead of their time.

Top Row L-R: ‘Lauren’; gold stacked heel ; 2006 version of the 1955 Cage Heel

Bottom Left: kid-covered cork, 1939

Ferragamo was known for his revolutionary heels, including the ‘f-heel’ wedge (may be familiar to fans of Irregular Choice):

from L-R: the 'America’; the famous ‘f-wedge’ heel in purple kid, 1947;

'The Invisible' sandal with nylon thread upper, 1947. See also the ‘Twist’ model

If all of that wasn’t enough, he is also credited with inventing the stiletto in 1955 (the ‘Romantica’) after having studied architectural pillars (architecture was always a major influence on Ferragamo’s designs).  One of the things that enabled Ferragamo to produce such statuesque creations was the years of anatomical study he went through in America.  He wanted the shoes to be beautiful, but also comfortable.

You can see early sketches of the 1938 'Maharani',
as well as a woven straw pair from the same year

Ferragamo may be best known for creating Dorothy's Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz (1939) as well as Marilyn Monroe's red Swarovski crystal encrusted stilettoes (1959). The designer was as popular off-screen as he was on, designing for many of the personal wardrobes of Hollywood’s greatest stars.



The personal lasts of his A-list clients,

see the names written on each one

Sophia Loren being fitted by S.F. and her namesake, the re-released (in 2008) ‘Sophia’

Of the 350 patents S.F. took out (including the cork wedge in 1937) and the 20,000 models of footwear he designed, he only ever produced one pair of men’s shoes – the ‘Salvatore’, a beautiful black patent leather dress shoe.  One his more bizarre designs featured ankle boots covered in monkey hair.  I’d say it’s not surprising they didn’t catch on, but I think hair embellishments did make their way back onto the catwalks fairly recently!  

from L-R: leather and silk 'Ninfea', 1938-9; leather and cotton 'Booty', 1947

Salvatore Ferragamo is still operating as a global brand, but I prefer to think of what was created by the eponymous designer during his heyday that spanned 4 decades.

There is a Salvatore Ferragamo museum in Florence, Italy with the money made from tickets going to footwear design scholarships.  I’m trying to convince myself that a trip to Florence just to go to a shoe museum is entirely justifiable!

- also just found out that the Metropolitan museum in New York has a huge collection of his shoes - how did I not find that room!