During last week’s study trips, we were lucky enough to snoop around Hampton Court Palace’s Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. Items within their collection of 10,000 objects date from the late sixteenth century to the present day. They range from Queen Victoria’s monogrammed underwear to That Dress worn by Princess Diana when she danced with John Travolta at a White House dinner in 1985. All of Hampton Court’s archive storerooms are located in converted palace apartments and, rather fittingly, the dress collection is housed in an old laundry room. Curator Matthew Storey kindly showed us some ..read more

A brand born out of Central Saint Martins in 2006, with Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff at the helm, Meadham Kirchhoff had a short-but-oh-so-sweet 9 year run full of awards, Fashion Week shows, and their Topshop collaborations. Distinctly kitsch, cutesy and a little bit edgy, it is no surprise that Meadham Kirchhoff rose to fame during the ‘twee’ era of the 2010s, and as the trend’s revival is now upon us, it makes sense to take a closer look at one of my favourite Meadham Kirchhoff shows, SS14.  Conceptualisation Edward Meadham described his mood boards as containing ‘a random mix ..read more

A little while back, I stumbled across Margaret Bourke-White whilst looking up 20th Century female photographers, discovering her work among others such as Germaine Krull and Grete Stern. It goes without saying that each of these women were respectively brilliant at working behind the lens, and each are deserving of a writeup, but I was especially drawn to Bourke-White’s photographs of Marina Semyonova (fig. 1).   Figure One: Marina Semyonova by Margaret Bourke-White. Photo: MOMA   Taken at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, this photo shows Semyonova – the first Soviet-trained prima bal ..read more

Over the weekend my Instagram feed was graced by an image of Audrey Hepburn (Eliza Doolittle) at the Ascot Races from the 1964 classic film My Fair Lady. I was immediately struck by the photograph, not solely for its aesthetic splendor but rather by the questions it raised in my mind surrounding the relationship of high fashion to sportswear within an Edwardian equestrian microcosm. It may also have left a lasting impression as it reminded me of a black and white cocktail dress which has been lingering in my online shopping basket for a number of weeks now, but that’s beside the point. In any ..read more

** This blog post contains spoilers for Mad About Men (1954), La Piscine (1969) and Mahogany (1975) ** Sometimes I want to watch a film, not really for the plot, but for either the fashion, the cinematography, the set design or even just the general aesthetic. So, just in case anyone else has the same penchant for beautiful films, I’ve comprised a short list of three recommendations from the 50s, 60s and 70s respectively. Mad About Men (1954): Mad About Men Movie Poster, IMDB. Mad About Men is the charming sequel to the 1948 comedy film Miranda in which a lonely mermaid captures a young man an ..read more

Amy Winehouse photographed in her bedroom by Valerie Phillips, 2003. Reddit. Yesterday I visited Amy: Beyond the Stage, the Design Museum in London’s eclectic tribute to Amy Winehouse. Amy is my favourite artist of all time; she was my number one listened-to artist on Spotify last year, and He Can Only Hold Her was my most streamed song. So, as you can imagine, I had high expectations for this celebration of her life and musical career. The intimacy constructed by the exhibition between viewer and Amy’s dresses, interviews and music did not disappoint. From the moment you descend the narrow wh ..read more

Truthfully, I’m rarely one for New Year’s resolutions and if I ever do commit to making a change, it’ll just so happen to be something which I’m already willing to reduce or eradicate in its entirety. This year, however, I’ve decided to truly revamp my attitude – and wardrobe! – by committing to only buying second-hand clothes. For the last few years, I have made a concerted effort to buy a maximum of three garments which could be categorised under the term ‘fast-fashion’ a year and thus the goal seems attainable; however, this would invariably creep up to five or so items having fallen for th ..read more

I recently found myself sifting through self-portraits by women photographers in a not very coherent bout of research on the National Portrait Gallery website. I didn’t find exactly what I had been looking for, but I did find something much better – this photo of Madame Yevonde (fig.1). Fig. 1. Madame Yevonde by Madame Yevonde (1967). https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw58111/Madame-Yevonde?sort=dateDesc&LinkID=mp06547&role=art&displayStyle=thumb&displayNo=60&rNo=40   This photo caught my eye, and made me smile, when I had been otherwise stuck in a tra ..read more

‘Man in White Suit’, played by Kōji Yakusho and ‘Man in White Suit’s Mistress’, played by Fukumi Kuroda “So you’re at the movies too huh? Watcha eating?” Here begins Jûzô Itami’s Tampopo of 1985. A mobster and his mistress, both glamorously suited head-to-toe in white, saunter to the front row of a movie theatre and set up their champagne feast. Our unnamed ‘Man in White Suit’ wastes no time addressing us, confidently leaning into the other side of the screen to see what we have brought to snack on during the feature, so long as it is nothing involving “crinkle wrappers”. After hysterically th ..read more

This post contains spoilers from the film Passing. Clare Bellew (Ruth Negga, on the left) and Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson, on the right), Photo: Screencap from Netflix Jazz, novelty, dynamism and the rebirth of Black culture… It was the 1920s and the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing. Mainly taking place in New York and spreading to the rest of the world, the era spanned from the 20s to 30s and beyond. However, behind the glitz and glamour was an era tainted by prohibition and racial tensions. An esteemed product of this age, which captured the psychology, and tensions of the era subtly ..read more