Tag Archives: costume

Jane Austen’s Portraits

The Mysterious Miss Austen, The Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre, Jewry Street
Winchester, until 24th July, 2017

Jane Austen by James Andrews, watercolour, 1869
(c) Private collection, courtesy of the 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop, Stevenson, Maryland.

I had of course known about Jane Austen for many years but had not actually read one of her novels until I was in my early twenties and found out what an absolute delight they are. I knew something of her life (I just passed where she stayed in Covent Garden’s Henrietta Street this morning) but it was a real delight to come and see this exhibition which marks the two hundredth anniversary of her death and which not only brings together five portraits of her under the same roof for the first time, but includes letters, items of clothing and a manuscript alternative ending to her final novel Persuasion, which was not used in the end. There are also items from both an English and an American private collection which bring the story up-to-date and the rather fine ceramic vase Jane Austen in E 17 by Grayson Perry has been loaned as well.

Installation view:
Jane Austen Pelisse coat

I found it unexpectedly moving and although as the exhibition’s title suggests she does remain somewhat mysterious I felt I had at least encountered her. It was therefore wholly appropriate to pay my respects as I bowed my head to read the inscription on the tablet set into the floor of the north aisle in nearby Winchester Cathedral, commemorating her life and burial there.

Jane Austen ledgerstone – Winchester Cathedral by John Crook

https://hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk/the-gallery-at-winchester-discovery-centre

Installation View:
Jane Austen portraits display

BOOK REVIEW: Brigitte Bardot: My Life in Fashion

I have asked John Kirkwood to review this book:

Brigitte Bardot: My Life in Fashion  

Henry-Jean Servat, Brigitte Bardot

Publisher: Flammarion
ISBN: 978-2080202697
£29.95

brigittebardotmylifeinfashion_cover-2

It may seem slightly odd to bring out a book about fashions worn by an actress who was well known for wearing no clothes at all on screen.

 

Bardot says that le style Bardot is her style which is to say that there is no style at all as she wears what she feels like at the moment. However, it was impossible in the late fifties and early sixties not to see girls who were clearly influenced by her on almost every high street. The gingham dress or Breton sweaters and jeans crowned by the disarranged ‘choucroute’ hairstyle piled on top.

Bardot never really followed fashion, she was a complete individualist and in so being created a look which became her style. For some of her films she was dressed by Givenchy, Dior, Chanel, Balmain and Cardin but in her private life wore designs by the House of Real and Jacques Esterel who made the famous pink gingham dress which was copied everywhere. In the seventies she was very enamoured of the gypsy cum hippie look of Jean Bouquin.  At one time she went to Coco Chanel because she so admired the Chanel dress worn by Delphine Seyrig in Last Year In Marienbad and wanted one like it. In one of her best roles in La Verité she wore clothes which she herself had bought from Monoprix, the French version of Woolworths and in other films would quite often wear clothes from her own wardrobe.

As a long term practioner of ‘Bardolatry’ I found this to be a very well-constructed book which takes us through the evolution of Bardot’s non-style with many wonderful images which still remain fresh today.

Now in her eighties and devoted to her Foundation which benefits animals Bardot when asked about her style today says ‘I don’t dress up anymore!’

 

http://editions.flammarion.com/

Girls and their Pearls!

Maisie Broadhead – Pearls, Sarah Myerscough Gallery at Gallery S O. 92 Brick Lane, London E1, 10th-30th June 2016

Ball and Chain, 2016. Ed.6 Digital c-type and pearls, 108.5 x 83.5 cm

Ball and Chain, 2016.
Ed.6 Digital c-type and pearls,
108.5 x 83.5 cm

17th century female portraiture is the inspiration for this exhibition of new photographic and sculptural works and a video piece. In the 1600s wealthy families often had formal portraits of their young daughters painted to capture their beauty but also their wealth, expressed through the fabric of their clothes and through their jewels.

Hung, 2016. Ed.6 Digital c-type and pearls, 61 x 47 cm

Hung, 2016.
Ed.6 Digital c-type and pearls,
61 x 47 cm

Pearls were the most highly prized of that era and were also regarded as a symbol of purity and chastity. Their humorous use in these works, reflect the artist’s interest in the social history aspects of jewellery and give them a 21st century context.

Shackled, 2016. Ed.6 Digital c-type and pearls, 108.5 x 83.5 cm

Shackled, 2016.
Ed.6 Digital c-type and pearls,
108.5 x 83.5 cm

 

http://www.sarahmyerscough.com

 

Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh: Public Faces, Private Lives, Treasurer’s House, York, until 20 December 2015

The original costumes standing proud in the historic hall © National Trust / North News Agency

The original costumes standing proud in the historic hall
© National Trust / North News Agency

Vivien Leigh was theatrical royalty in Britain before going to Hollywood to undertake the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind – the role with which she is most closely associated along with her later incarnation of Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London finishing the hang in the Streetcar Named Desire room © National Trust / North News Agency

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London finishing the hang in the Streetcar Named Desire room
© National Trust / North News Agency

She is the subject of this exhibition, organised by the V&A, in the historic setting of Treasurer’s House in York, the former home of early 20th century businessman Frank Green, who had a passion for the arts, especially theatre.  Although there has been a small touring exhibition this is the first major display of objects from Vivien Leigh’s personal collection since her private archive of more than 10,000 items was acquired from her family in 2013 by the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London checking out the names in the guest book of from the Olivier home © National Trust / North News Agency

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London checking out the names in the guest book of from the Olivier home
© National Trust / North News Agency

Her romance with Laurence Olivier scandalised society even though they later married and she became Lady Olivier when Sir Laurence was knighted. Lettters written to Leigh by luminaries such as Sir Winston Churchill, Bette Davis, Tennessee Williams, The Queen Mother and a young Judi Dench at the beginning of her own career can be seen alongside love letters written by Leigh to Olivier

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London getting into the frame with one of the stereoscopic images in the slide show room © National Trust / North News Agency

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London getting into the frame with one of the stereoscopic images in the slide show room
© National Trust / North News Agency

As well as the Becoming Scarlett section there are other dresses she wore, annotated scripts and a number of stereoscopic colour photographs which give us a unique glimpse into her world – some are part of a 3D slide show. The exhibition is a thrilling reminder of a wonderful, if complex, actress whose contribution to twentieth century theatre and film remains undimmed.

 

Visit the website for opening days and times. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/treasurershouse or telephone 01904 624247.

BOOK REVIEW – Ingenue to Icon

Ingenue to Icon70 Years of Fashion from the Collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post

Howard Vincent Kurtz. Edited by Trish Donnally. Introduction by Nancy Rubin Stuart

9781907804403 Published by GILES in association with Hillwood Museum and Gardens Foundation, Washington, DC

PRICE — UK£29.95/US$45.00

ISBN — 978-1-907804-40-3

 

This book takes us on a fascinating journey through Mrs Post’s life as a philanthropist, art collector and a director of General Foods.  It is told over a seventy year span by her clothes and accessories, including shoes, fans, handbags and parasols.  Many of her clothes were especially chosen to complement her magnificent collection of jewellery.

Marjorie Merriweather Post Davies in the Russian Room at Tregaron, Washington DC, c1950 Yousuf Karsh

Marjorie Merriweather Post Davies in the Russian Room at Tregaron, Washington DC, c1950
Yousuf Karsh

She had a distinctive style and this was created for her by both American and European designers. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with not only images of the costumes but also of Mrs Post wearing them.  She is caught either by the camera or on canvas by leading exponents of these disciplines such as Yousuf Karsh and Frank O. Salisbury.  It is a celebration of both personal style and the changing world of fashion and is a must-have volume for those interested in fashion and social history or indeed in Mrs Post herself.

Marjorie Merriweather Post 1905

Marjorie Merriweather Post 1905

This book accompanies the major exhibition Ingenue to Icon: 70 Years of Fashion from the Collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post, Hillwood Museum & Gardens, Washington, DC, until 17th January 2016

Marjorie Merriweather Post at the Saratoga Races, 1930

Marjorie Merriweather Post at the Saratoga Races, 1930

gilesltd.com

Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1928

Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1928

 hillwoodmuseum.org

Portrait of Mrs. Post (Davies), 1952, By Douglas Chandor

Portrait of Mrs. Post (Davies), 1952, By Douglas Chandor

 

Mrs Post's Closet in her bedroom suite at Hillwood.

Mrs Post’s Closet in her bedroom suite at Hillwood.

A HUGUENOT LEGACY

Fabric of the City, Cass Bank Gallery, 59-63 Whitechapel High Street, London E1, until 31st July 2015

Fabric of the City (c)Stephen Blunt

Fabric of the City
(c)Stephen Blunt

While this may not appeal to all it is an interesting exhibition in that it celebrates the heritage of Spitalfields which thanks to the influx of Huguenots became the leading textile centre in the 17th and 18th centuries. Indeed as I write this I see a fragment of an exquisite mid-18th century Spitalfields silk dress hanging on the wall in front of me.

Fabric of the City (c)Stephen Blunt

Fabric of the City
(c)Stephen Blunt

Hosted by the The Cass, London Metropolitan University the show has been curated by their course leader Gina Pierce who invited 14 leading East London-based textile and fashion designers to take part. These designers have created unique pieces that reflect and carry on the traditions of the Huguenot weavers in our present age.

Fabric of the City (c)Stephen Blunt

Fabric of the City
(c)Stephen Blunt

 

Fabric of the City Exhibitors:

 

Opening hours (Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat) 12-4

(Thurs) 12-8

Fabric of the City (c)Stephen Blunt

Fabric of the City
(c)Stephen Blunt

http://www.thecass.com