Review of Savage Beauty at the Victoria and Albert Museum
If you can, do go and see this exhibition. It is startling, shocking and visceral. Featuring a vast selection of clothes and accessories designed by the late British designer Alexander McQueen, arranged artfully in themed rooms, soundtracked and lit to make you feel detached from reality, and submerged in his world. Most of the manequins have their faces obliterated with masks or metal cages, and you can’t help but be affected by the violence inherent in these the designs.
Lee McQueen was working class, the son of a taxi driver brought up in a high rise flat in Stratford, East London. He started as a tailor aged 15, went into theatrical design, and finally entered the world of haute couture following an MA at Central St Martins. He committed suicide the day before his mother’s funeral in 2010, aged just 40.
Some of the clothes are very wearable – the beautifully sculptured tailoring on show will appeal broadly. The jacket that morphs into short dress with side splits. The subtle detail of red lining under the flap pockets, and the gorgeous buttons from waist to neck.
On the other hand some of the outfits are so outlandish it is unlikely that they could actually be worn. And yet. They are inspirational and beautiful, appropriating animal parts and incorporating them into costumes. They make you wonder about the extent of the human imagination and what else could possibly done to a coat, dress or jacket.
His “Widows of Culloden” Fall/Winter 2006 especially appealed to me. McQueen “designed from the side” celebrating the curvature of the spine – evident in this first dress. He carefully cut the commissioned McQueen tartan so that the bias cuts match perfectly. The more traditionally influenced kilt on the right is arranged over a lightweight lace blouse, embellished with black embroidery. Both dresses reveal silk tulle petticoats and are beautifully draped.
This collection is so exciting – with its 19th century silhouette and antique lace, wonderful natural elements taken from the Scottish countryside – feathers, stag antlers, birds nests, fur. All McQueen’s design work was deeply autobiographical (in this case celebrating McQueen’s Scottish roots) and his themed catwalk shows changed fashion, style and, perhaps, the way women feel about dress.
There is a debate about whether McQueen was a misogynist, or if he made women feel more powerful than before. I am not sure what I think. But I did enjoy the exhibition very much and I would recommend it. If you come away with strong feelings about dress, image, design, art, clothes and beauty it will have been successful. I plan a couple of follow up posts – and visits – on AMcQ in the next few weeks.
At the V&A Museum, South Kensington until 2 August 2015. It is vital to book beforehand (tickets are around £15), or go with a V&A Friend to get in free.
Coat/sleeping bag for homeless people
By now most people who read this blog know that I am involved in housing and homelessness in London. By building 1,500 homes each year Notting Hill Housing makes a real contribution to providing homes for low income Londoners. We also support other charities like St Mungos-Broadway which exists specifically to provide for single and street homeless people. Here I am with TV’s Phil Spencer, a big supporter of the charity, Paul Doe, their Chairman, and Councillor Lisa Homan from LBHF – supporting Homes for Britain.
I was therefore interested to hear via Twitter of a young woman in Detroit who had designed a coat that double as a sleeping bag for street homeless people. Obviously a home, or even a shelter, would be a better offer than a sleeping bag, but I thought this project was really interesting. Design student Veronika Scott created a warm jacket that turns into a full size sleeping bag at night.
When he heard of her work the waste recycling officer from Chrysler got in touch to offer off cuts of the fabric that is used to insulate and finish cars and trucks. It is quilted, stain and water resistant. Veronika recycles this product to mass produce jacket sleeping bags. She has taught dozens of homeless women how to sew the garments on industrial machines. She currently employs 20 homeless women to make the jackets which are distributed to homeless people.
Veronika says that she wanted the coat to look good as well as being practical and she has been refining the design. Maybe the best thing about this project is that unemployed and homeless women have learnt to sew – a skill which could provide employment, and hopefully housing, for them in the near future.
Discharge printing “removing areas of colour from dyed natural fabrics”
One of things about textile printing is that is sometimes nice to create an absence of colour. You can obviously bleach fabric and get some interesting effects.
For this project I used a product called Discharge Paste. Not a nice name, and it is white and gloopy. But it is a great product. It gives quite good control, doesn’t risk burning holes in your garments and is safe to use indoors. This is not a product for spraying on, but works well with a paintbrush or can be piped on. I used both techniques.
Because it is a bleach it does irritate the skin. Even little flecks of it can sting if you get it on your face or neck. It also dried out my fingers so use rubber gloves. Also this is a smelly process so work in a well ventilated room as the smell is not pleasant. In order to apply it nice and evenly I found these small bottles with a screw lid and nozzle make applying the paste quite easy, although it does produce quite a thick line that takes a long time to dry.
I tested the effect on three pieces of coloured silk – navy, turquoise (used for my Burda blouse) and green. These were bought as coloured silk, but of course this works really well on fabric you have dyed yourself and you could dye say cream fabric brown, then use the discharge paste to reveal the cream again.
My first sample was the navy blue lightweight silk I have been using for lining my squiggle suit. I used a small nozelled container to draw on the fabric. Then it has to dry. Even using a hair dryer to hurry it up this sample took three hours to dry. Once dry it is ironed and where the paste has been applied the colour comes away. It is a great effect – you don’t actually know what colour is going to come out as it depends on what colours are in the dye originally applied to the fabric. I wish I had had time to make my squiggle lining like this as it is so nice. When ironed the dried paste gives off an unpleasant smell.
My second sample used a piece of turquoise stretch silk. After the sample had dried I ironed it with a hot iron and found the colour revealed was yellowy. I then pressed the fabric some more and the colour eventually went much whiter. The yellowy bits are where the paste spread around a bit during drying. So for a nice crisp effect leave the fabric to dry undisturbed. There is also a bit of purple on there from the sample being stored with the blue piece, above.
On the green silk I got a nice effect, again quite a yellowy one. Perhaps with more heat from the iron this could go white too, but I quite liked the yellow here. The discharge paste stuck to the newspaper so you can see that on this sample. Once the sample have been ironed to reveal the colour (or colours) you are happy with then wash the fabric.
On a thicker piece of silk I got a subtle effect – the three or four shades of blue is rather pretty. I could build this up by using more paste.
Overall this is definitely an interesting technique and I plan to use it for my final Mary Ward Centre project. It might also creep into my SWAP.
Roland Mouret fabric and a GBSB speed challenge
Having spent forever on the Nina Ricci suit I crave a quick project. Instead of making a coat with my Roland Mouret fabric I will make a lined suit. Obviously a coat and a jacket are equally time consuming, but a skirt is a fairly quick item. I am planning this Kimono style jacket, with the curvy pencil skirt (but the longer version rather than this length), in the RM fabric.
My self set challenge this week is to make a suit to my own design, as fast as I can.
The suit comprises a Kimono style jacket that I designed in the middle of the SWAP planning process, having become very frustrated with a 1950s style fitted jacket I was toileing. My Kimono jacket has the following features for a quick-sew experience.
- no button holes or buttons – it wraps around and is fastened with a tie belt
- no sleeves! The jacket has short Kimono sleeves – effectively an extension of the shoulder
- two main pieces – front and back, plus a gusset
- two darts to provide some bust shaping
- a two piece collar and fusible interfacing.
The most challenging aspect is that my fabric has an uneven pattern woven into it. I cannot fully match it everywhere but I want the horizontal lines to line up – this means I will cut it out in single pieces, doubling the cutting out time. On the other hand it is such a simple design it doesn’t need tailors’ tacks. Also as I have made it before I know the fit is fine. I will match the jacket with a tried and tested pattern I drafted for a pencil skirt with the following features
- grown on waist with a facing
- three main pieces
- zip at CB
I will line both jacket and skirt.
So for a bit of “Great British Sewing Bee” excitement I am going to time making this suit up.
How long do you think I will need?
Sewing with a Plan 2015 0.20 – Completing the Vogue 1650 Nina Ricci suit
I have finally finished the Nina Ricci suit; a marathon sewing experience. Not for me the Great British Sewing Bee – complete a garment in a morning – experience. These items took hours and hours. Whole outfit – including the painted camisole – took at least 100 hours. Despite the hard work involved I really love this outfit. I like it so much I want to make another one! Well not the jacket, but another skirt on a camisole. And an overblouse. This will be my next SWAP project. In the meantime here are the photographs.
The overblouse
I will change the button so that the top matches the jacket. I will make a second overblouse in white.
Skirt
Here is the A line skirt, with pockets in the front side seams. Can you see the little baby who is amusing me with his clapping? I love this outfit – it makes me feel fantastic. Silky, elegant, comfortable, 1960s Nina Ricci Paris couture. In a word chic. I think a green one would be nice, non?
Jacket
The jacket is finished at last. I found some nice round silver buttons.
I lined the jacket with turquoise silk. It’s not hand painted but it is a lively colour and it is sewn neatly by hand. I am pleased with the look of the jacket.
The verdict
Well here I am wearing the jacket to go to an important lunch. Teamed with my fuchsia skirt and a colourful 1970s vintage scarf, vintage Church’s shoes and a nice Ness bag I got in a charity shop
This is not a difficult pattern. Every step is, in itself, quite straightforward. I did skip the piped button holes due to a desire to get this finished for my deadline. But otherwise I followed the script precisely. It was a very satisfying experience, creating a couture garment. It was my second experience with a VPO designer pattern (I did a version of a YSL dress before), and I just loved it. It is a slow burn. This is not a “I whipped up a jersey dress in two hours on my overlocker” experience. It is not a modern garment. It is extremely comfortable to wear with its multiple silk linings. It fits perfectly and glides over the body. It looks terribly smart and pulled together and I feel enormous pride in wearing such a beautiful costume.
I guess you would like to see it all put together. Unfortunately I don’t have a hat or gloves yet!
Menswear – what about a Kilt?
I have been meaning to write about kilts for a while, but now they have featured on the Great British Sewing Bee, the time has come.
Neil’s was really nice, and Patrick looked good in his.
History
The Act was repealed in 1782 and Highland Dress soon became very fashionable. Women started wearing kilted skirts too. Scott’s romantic writings about the people of the Highlands prompted a wave of sentimental Jacobitism. In 1822, on a royal visit to Scotland, King George IV wore Highland Dress. Ever since then it seems our British royalty cannot get enough of the kilt.
Modern kilts
A number of people wear a kilt to weddings if they have Scottish ancestry (I have), and they tend to go for a look like the one below. It is an OK look, but the dinner jacket, silver buttons and bow tie are way too much, to my mind, with the sporran, fancy socks and brooches.
Personally I really like a kilt and think they are a great alternative to the bifurcated garment. If I was a man I would definitely wear one. But we need to mainstream the kilt – seize it from the Scottish if necessary – but pull it away from formal wear and re-invent it, simply as an alternative to trews.
Below are some ideas if you want to incorporate a kilt into your wardrobe.
- Choose a fabric in colours that suit you – it doesn’t have to be tartan
- match it with a good top – it might be a toning jacket, but it could be a jumper or T-shirt
- you don’t have to wear a shirt and tie, unless you want to
- change the footwear to brogues or boots rather than dancing shoes
- definitely drop the sporran, unless you have a nice vintage one in the family
- different fabrics could create a really versatile look eg plain wool, tweed, leather, denim
(images from 21st century kilts, Edinburgh)
Making a nice kilt is on my “To Do” list. Now all I need is a man who would wear one! Would you?
The colour of campaigning
The people of Thailand, living in a monarchy where democracy is yet underdeveloped, used to express their political views by donning a T-shirt. I won’t go into the meaning of this gesture, except to say it is very powerful. The sea of yellow and red allow people to identify with a standpoint at a very low-cost (everyone owns a red or yellow top). The impact of a colour when everyone is wearing it is profound. You get a real sense of the multitude and, if you are powerful, it can be intimidating.
The Royal Family has previously worn a lot of yellow – here is a charming, vintage picture of the current ruling family from the 1960s. I love the traditional Thai ladies suit, usually made with local hand woven silks, with the full length skirt and closely fitted jacket. On slim, elegant women with enormous poise they really help create a sense of calm in a beautiful country.
Today King Bhumibol Adulyadej is aged, and unwell. His daughter Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, is shortly due to celebrate her 60th birthday and the stalls of Bangkok are swimming in royal purple to encourage people to leave behind their protests and support the royal family. This year-long birthday celebration was announced on the official government website:
Various agencies and organizations, as well as the general public, have been invited to display on their offices and houses a purple flag with the ceremonial emblem on the celebrations from 1 January to 31 December 2015. Purple is the color of Saturday, the birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The public will also be invited to wear purple shirts, with the ceremonial emblem, as an expression of love and respect for Her Royal Highness.
Of course politics are colour coded everywhere. In the UK the traditional divide is between blue for the Conservatives and red for Labour. In America the Democrats are blue, and Republicans are red. Obviously Green politicians normally adopt green as their colour. The Liberal-Democrats in the UK have yellow, as do our Scottish Nationalists, with the UK independence party going for purple. In Ireland the Republicans favour green, where the Loyalists adopt Orange. Many Dutch people wear Orange too when supporting their national teams. Colour is a powerful signifier and wearing the wrong colour in the wrong place can get you into serious trouble.
The Homes for Britain Campaign has adopted magenta and black. This week a huge rally was held in Central London to call on the political parties to do something to address our housing crisis.
So, as a committed participant, I dressed up for the event. Here I am on the campaign bus.
Cycling to work in style
Last week I met a man with a broken pelvis who had been pushed under a car by a “fellow” cyclist. And one of my colleagues fell in front of a van when another cyclist forced him to pull out. His broken leg is healing but will never be the same again.
I tell these tales of cycling woe and danger to explain why my cycling is restricted to weekend parkland tootling around on a Boris bike. Lots of fun and low on danger. I wear my weekend outfit – jeans, trainers, a jacket and gloves. With a hat if it is cold and sunglasses if it warm. We jump on the sturdy hire bikes, cycle madly across Hyde Park, and dock them conveniently close to an art gallery or museum. We have taken the odd cycling holidays in France where, although it is a country which embraces the cyclist like none other, I felt a bit embarrassed about getting my lunch in padded shorts and a fitted T shirt.
My friends Clive Turner and Sam Tennakoon both suggested a blog on: “What should you wear when riding a bike”?
What if you are a cycling commuter (we have 70 or so at my workplace)? Do you ride in cycling gear then shower and change at work? Or do you try to find a set of clothes that work for cycling and everyday life? Here are five Polish cyclists wearing the national flag. I think they look very strange. One’s eye is inevitably drawn. To the helmets.
The most comfortable version of the Lycra cycling shorts (originally made with padded chamois) are those (like my camisole skirt) without a waistband. Here are a pair – obviously posed by a cyclist rather than a professional model.
But for stylish cycling we only need to consider the days before performance wear was invented. Shorts, divided skirts, ankle socks, polo necks, attractive blouses, sensible footwear and possibly a jaunty hat. They look great. So what is the answer for today’s cyclists?
If you cycle long distances to work, and want to use it as your main exercise then obviously wear exercise clothes. They don’t have to be black, and it is possible to look attractive in sportswear.
- cycling shorts with sufficient padding (these are invariably black, unfortunately)
- light weight top
- waterproof jacket
- hat and gloves for colder weather
- safety helmet
- cycling shoes
- waterproof backpack
If you are more of a leisure cyclist, or cycle at weekends, then style should be a consideration.
- shorts or trousers with some lycra in them
- leather trainers in dark colours
- stretch top – long sleeved T, lose-fitting shirt or jumper
- jacket that doesn’t constrict you when cycling
- hair band
- small backpack or handbag that can be secured to the bike when travelling
This outfit is sufficiently “street” to look quite normal when you park your bike and go to the shops. The trainers (rather than cleets) mean you won’t have to hobble around with bandy legs.
Of course if you don’t know what to wear you could always join the annual naked bike ride through the streets of London.
Machine embroidery continued
I am making progress with my Mary Ward Centre Opposites project. I printed the four lino blocks in a square, then started to add colour to the other pictures.
I am beginning to get the hang of machine embroidery. After two hours bent over the machine my whole body ached. The work is quite close up and tiring.
I was particularly keen to bring the “students” alive, as I felt the existing “Do Not” posters forgot the “users” of the centre. My portraits are rather crude, but show that you can “paint” with threads. I will do the second version next week (one for me, one for the centre) and will try to get more colour into the pictures. The black background means all the colours are a bit deep and murky, but this maybe OK.
Clothing the Russian Revolution
I have always been interested in the impact of the Russian Revolution on art, music, textiles and clothes. It was such a radical break with Tsarism that for a while culture really flowered. Some of these designs remain strikingly modern and are quite inspirational. As I was looking for inspiration for lino printing I discovered an interesting set of ideas and images that I want to share with you.
The Russian revolution, was in many ways, a short-lived explosion of creativity and dynamism. Effectively it degenerated in Stalinism and his Soviet Realism approach very rapidly. But during the period of the revolution itself Russian art began to extend beyond the traditions of representational painting. Radical artists such as Kandinsky and Lissitsky began to experiment with colour and form in painting, resulting in pure abstraction. Theatre itself was seen as “Agitprop” – an opportunity to change hearts and minds, and the costumes on show at the V&A exhibition (which has just closed) were interesting for fashion designers to study.
Starting in 1919 Russian Constructivism thought of art as a system of “production” – art with a social meaning and practical purpose. Joining the group were “artists-engineers” Vladimir Tatlin, Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and Lyubov Popova. They saw the potential of art and artistic endeavour to change society, and make new forms of artistic expression available to the people, and this involved clothes and fashion.
They believed that workers – male and female – needed practical, simple, hygienic clothing. They believed that providing good quality clothes, beautiful but practical clothes, would improve the lot of the wearer. They challenged symmetry, fussiness and old style pre-revolution attire, creating geometric shapes and bold, bright, colours. Artists Varvara Stepanova and Lyubov Popova both worked in a textile factory, the Tsindel, designing fabrics and patterns for dresses. Popova designed her own version of the flapper dress, whilst Stepanova collaborated with Alexander Rodchenko to design overalls. Using abstract textile designs they aimed to create clothes that were both useful, and reflective of their own artistic vision of a better world.
Stepanova and Tatlin also developed the idea of “prozodezhda” (“production clothing”) and “’specodezhda” (“specialised clothing”); the latter were for occupations which required something specific such as work in a hospital, or foundary – form would follow function. Unnecessary and decadent decoration was rejected, but they used strongly contrasting textiles, bold matching and stripes, with revealed details such as buttons and stitching to remind the wear of how the garment was made. These were uniforms of sorts – aimed at factory workers and various professional specialist these items rejected individual preferences and social differences which had dominated clothes before the revolution. Instead they emphasised the practical role of the wearer in society. There was also a rejection to some extent of gender specific clothing. None of these ideas ever went into production – the new revolutionary government had more important things to do.
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