A Beautiful Day at the V&A Cont. - Ballgowns Exhibit

There was no photo-taking allowed at the next exhibit I visited, but I've managed to find some photos on the internet of the garments being worn in their original context. The ballgowns exhibition (British Glamour since the 1950s) was interestingly laid out according to colour, with different eras blending into each other; very contemporary designs alongside classical '50s shapes. Downstairs were the British classic designs, displayed on plain white mannequins with backdrops of the ornate paneling in Norfolk House. Upstairs the models were scattered under a domed atrium and the floor-space was adorned with over-sized pearl necklaces and fallen chandeliers. The layout was effortless, and perfect for such an exhibit. Here's a few highlights:

A fabulously '80s pink taffeta number worn by Joan Collins (left) in 1983, and Helen Mirren's 2007 Bafta dress (right) in fawn and ivory silk taffeta.

 A design by David and Elizabeth Emanuel (left), who made the wedding dress for Diana, Princess of Wales. This one a gown for Elizabeth Hurley worn in the Estee Lauder 'Pleasures' advertising campaign. An ethereal and soft white satin and flocked tulle gown by Vivienne Westwood (right) for Lady Bianca Job-Tyoran to wear to Queen Charlotte's ball in 1994.

There was also a fabulous collection of accessories including gloves in mustard, flame, crimson, rose, teal, indigo and olive, and shoes with impressive diamante and crystal detail on the heels and toes. All in all a fabulous glitzy, girly day and the V&A!

A Beautiful Day at the V&A - Fashion Exhibit

I love the V&A. In my opinion it's the best place for research and also the perfect place to spend and entire day. I never feel like I've wasted my time going there, and I always see something new and different even though I've been there so much. I hope to have a look at some of the archive stuff to research for my Extended Major Project at the end of Level 6 Costume. I went to look at the new and improved fashion exhibit, with clothing on show from the mid-1700s onwards. The new pressure and humidity chambers mean that more delicate and intricate examples of historical clothing can be put on show, and the new exhibit is beautifully laid out. I was really impressed, although obviously it's the V&A; it was unlikely to be unimpressive! So here's a few photos I took with a few comments on the new exhibit and things that I took away from my day there...

 Incredible late 1700s silk gown with a surprisingly modern-looking gold thread pattern. The proportions on this dress were ridiculous. The tiny bodice with narrow sleeves and quite short  stature really contrast with the incredible width of the skirt

 Stays - 1780-90, English, linen with leather, silk and whalebone

Hat - 1760-70, English, straw with silk and bobbin lace

 The first area you come across is the 1700s, with an incredible selection of really really old clothing and accessories. I loved the hats and the shoes they had on display; the colours were gorgeous and the details so intricate. Everything is also really tiny and the mannequins quite short. An interesting comment made by an equestrian costumier I was talking to recently was that the people weren't all that short and tiny. The costumes that survive are short and tiny because the wider and taller costumes had a larger volume of fabric in them, and were probably remodelled into new clothes over a period of time until they were worn through! Two world wars has resulted in quite a few bodices and jackets surviving, but very few skirts, as these were a valuable source of fabric!

 A really nice comparison between the 1700s and 1800s can be made between the two ivory and gold dresses in both exhibits. It shows a massive progression in technique of cutting and use of fabric, but a similar love for glitz and colour. Gold was, is, and will continue to be, a powerful eye-catching detail to stylish and fashionable clothes.

Corset - about 1830, English, cotton with whalebone and cord; Chemise - 1835, English, linen trimmed with cotton; Drawers - 1834, English, cotton; Sleeve support - 1825-30, English, cotton stuffed with feathers

The early 1800s are, appropriately, separated from the late 1800s as they are so incredibly different, so the next section you come across is the early section. Some gorgeous examples of the extremes clothing reached in this early period, in particular some really impressive sleeve shapes and shoulder lines. In each section there is also an example of the undergarments of the time, which is really interesting to see as they define the silhouettes of the garments. The bottom image on the right is particularly significant in terms of undergarments as there is a sleeve pad on the right arm of the mannequin, which held out the voluminous sleeves of the era. Having the undergarments as part of every exhibit emphasises how important they are when looking at historical garments, and when reconstructing history.

The following section is the late 1800s, showing examples of enormous skirts and narrow waists. It's really nice to see items such as these that are so familiar from the V&A 'Fashion in Detail' books.

This 1908 pale rose pink linen gown is carefully detailed in the Janet Arnold 'Patterns of Fashion' books. It is, again, really interesting to see actual examples of the garments noted in the books I have studied. 

The early 1900s is nicely represented by some beautiful examples of soft tailoring and some lovely lacework. 

I am typically a lover of historical fashion pre-WW1, and I don't tend to look that carefully at the fashion exhibits post-WW1, but at the V&A all the examples of historical fashion are so beautiful and shown so well, I found myself spending an uncharacteristic amount of time in the '40s, '50s and '60s! The women's tailoring from the '40s was lovely to see, juxtaposed with cardboard boxes on string which would have had gas masks in, and hard leather accessories. I struggle matching checks, stripes and patterns in tailoring, and these examples were immaculately matched. Obviously I shouldn't have expected any less, as these were high class examples of '40s fashion, but it's still impressive to see. Also exhibited were the understructures of '50s dress alongside the coat and skirt it would have been worn with. Again the understructure in this era defined the shape, and it was interesting to see how much it had moved on since the earlier periods. The really striking thing about the '60s exhibition space was how contemporary everything looked. The patterns, cuts, fabrics and embellishments would not have looked out of place in a modern shop. Just goes to show how history repeats itself, although possibly not to the extremes of corsets and crinolines....

Reflection

I have learnt so much whilst being at the National, and at the same time it has firmed up some things I think I already knew.

I've had a really positive experience. I feel like my work is good enough for the professional environment, I've seen some of the costumes I've made and helped to make on the real stage, and I've worked with a really nice group of people for 3 weeks and felt comfortable and settled really quickly. I now know that when I go into a professional working environment I can feel confident and comfortable with my work as soon as I get there. I know I need to work faster, but for now I know my costumes will not fall apart...

I've also learnt some things the hard way. The designers and surrounding company are not there to appreciate your costumes, and you will only hear from them if something is wrong. Also, commuting in London is difficult. Being on the tube is depressing, especially before the Olympics. Everyone looks tired and grey and bored. This often conduces low level rudeness. Bad times.

I really appreciate all the help and information I was given at the National, and I really hope they'll have me back one day. For now I'm going to work really hard to create beautiful costumes for my final show that are finished to a high standard. I am going to try to get as much work experience as possible with as many people as possible, and get my name around in the costume world.

I feel very privileged to already have, as they say, 'one foot in the door.'

End of Week Three - Race to the Finish

It seems like everything has gone so quickly. And now it's all over. I've learnt so much and had so much fun working with the people at the National. I've been made to feel really welcome and have really been put to work! During this last week the main bulk of Doctor's Dilemma costumes were finished, and the tech was over the weekend, so we've been sent up things to alter and finish in dribs and drabs during the rehearsals. This was a really interesting week as I got to work on some other productions and got given much more of a range of jobs to do, including a lot of alterations, labelling and finishing. Obviously I was given odd jobs that no one else really likes doing that much, but I didn't really mind, that's what I was there for! Here's a few things I've been working on during the last week at the Theatre:

Monday - trouser hem alterations, velvet ribbon on maid's skirt, brown trim on 'Emmy's belt with new hooks and bars; all for Doctor's Dilemma.

Details of the maid's belt

Tuesday - stitching detail on green velvet belt, train loop on green skirt, blue jacket extra trim and buttons sewn back on. Watched the dress rehearsal in the afternoon and couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride. Costumes that I had helped to make were on stage at the National Theatre. It was so surreal.

Train loop on green skirt

Hand stitching on green velvet belt

Wednesday - worked on a few Curious Incident costumes: labelling and poppers on policeman shirts for quick change.

Thursday - More Curious Incident labels and made new chiffon cuffs for Doctor's Dilemma cream and fawn-coloured understudy jacket

Constructing new chiffon cuffs

Cuffs finished inside jacket sleeves

New self-covered buttons attached to jacket front

Friday - last day! - touched up jacket inside (sewed up holes), replaced buttons which I covered myself, finished blue belt for understudy, London Road alterations and labels!

Blue belt covered with lace for understudy

Phew, what a busy week. And it flew by so so quickly. And now it's all over and I have to go back to normal life! To top it all off I got free staff tickets to see the production I'd been working on the most (Doctor's Dilemma) on Friday night. I took a friend with me and she too was so proud to see stuff I'd made on the National stage. The audience made so much difference and the production was actually quite funny! The set looked beautiful and I hope the designer was really pleased. I'm sure the sense of pride eventually wears off, but I couldn't help but feel a bit teary.

Photos of original set design on walls in studio

Actual set! On stage and ready to rumble! So exciting!

Aspirations for Specialist Equestrianism

OK, so lots of big words but what I really want to do next year is this:

This:

And this:

i.e. I want to make riding habits from the 1750s, 1800s and 1850s. I want to, one day, be able to advertise myself as a specialist in historical equestrian costuming. In my 3rd year at university I need to build up enough information and proof in my portfolio that this is something I can do. I will choose models that look quite different from each other, but suitable to their own historical period, which will show my ability to pattern cut, and will begin to build up a catalogue of appropriate fabric swatches for future projects. I am looking forward to extending my historical contextual knowledge and also my specialist construction techniques. A project like this will help me develop my pattern cutting, my tailoring, my accuracy, my fitting, and my finishing skills, and will be incredibly valuable to my professional practice.

A Weekend Excursion

Made a lovely visit to Brick Lane on Saturday to have a look at 'Prime Cuts', which included a selection of AUCB 3rd Year Graduates work. It was a fantastic opportunity to see the sort of high-quality work I will have to produce next year, and also a chance for a good old snoop at what other universities were up to. I was impressed with everyone's work, and although I know I'm biased, I think the Bournemouth stuff really stood out as high quality and well made. Here are a few snaps from the AUCB work at the exhibition:

A selection of Battle for the Winds costumes (left - Aeolus costume in foreground and Breathers in background, right - Doldrum costume in foreground with performance photographs in background)

 The gorgeous reproduction of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Gown, with months of hand-embroidery carefully applied all over the skirt, and dazzling hot stoning to finish 

 Exquisite historical reconstructions (left - Victorian day dress for the Costume Society Janet Arnold Pattern Cutting Prize, right - reproduction Queen Victoria and Price Albert wedding outfits)

Edwardian Elegance displayed in costumes on the left, and incredible design and creativity in one of the 'Peacock' costumes from the celebrations at Brownsea Island

But obviously we weren't the only university exhibiting. Below are a selection of truly impressive and beautiful costumes from Edinburgh and Birmingham:

 Some of the beautiful costumes from Edinburgh College of Art included fantasy and historical inspired costumes with a fashion edge, impressive hand-beading and professional-looking prop costumes

 A selection of the costumes exhibited by Birmingham College - fantasy fashion creations, historical reconstructions and creative opera costumes were all exhibited in the college's space

It is definitely one of my aspirations for next year to get my final show work chosen for the 'Prime Cuts' exhibition. I will continually keep the standard of my work high and keep putting a lot of effort into my final year to ensure I have a really impressive outcome for my portfolio, and something I can be proud of.