Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 - V&A Exhibition (London)

 

What started out as a short blog hiatus, somehow managed to turn into a very long break. All of which I blame on work, other commitments and the fact that fashion in the last few months has left me slightly uninspired. But having dragged my friend T to the V&A Ballgowns exhibition last week, I thought it would be a nice way to revive Haute World for a bit (though bear with me - updates may still be somewhat sporadic).

Having first perused the reopened fashion galleries, which I'd highly recommend - especially considering it's free - T and I began our cultural journey on the ground floor of the exhibit. Split into two parts, this area showcased the ballgowns since 1950, while the upper level featured the more contemporary dresses. Throughout the visit, various dresses from the exhibit could be seen projected on the ceiling of the dome above.

Not surprisingly, the most striking gowns were the ones from past eras - back when formal attire was only the norm for private events and handmade for a particular client. Wearers ranged from royalty to debutantes with every outfit immaculately made and beautiful to behold. Through time, private functions evolved to the more public charity balls - and in recent years: red-carpet events.

Ballgowns since 1950

Top: Mary Donan, Yuki, Matthew Williamson and Belville Sassoon, left: Victor Edelstein, Bruce Oldfield (made for Bianca Jagger) and Murray Arbeid worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, right: Hardy Amies.

Designed for the ball: David Emanuel, Worth of London, Norman Hartnell

Rayne Shoes. Gowns and accessories by Dior

Radical Robes 1990-2012, including gowns by Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and, Zandra Rhodes

Left: Alexander McQueen dress from his last collection. Right: 'Elvis Dress' by Catherin Walker created for Diane, Princess of Wales

The biggest contrast, once you reached the upper level was that despite the beauty of the dresses, grouped together in three clusters, there seemed to be a personal touch missing. As everyone knows, these days evening dresses are worn on the red carpet for a mere few hours, chosen by a stylist and lent to a celebrity, who's body shape was never the intended target of the designer. Unlike the lower level, which featured gowns that were actually purchased by their wearers and lovingly stored for future generations, it seems an awful shame that most gowns these days are passed from one celeb to another before ending back in a designer's showroom. 

Contemporary Ballgowns

Overview of one of the upper level displays. Right: Alexander McQueen feathered gown as worn by Daphne Guinness.

Left: Craig Lawrence, Christopher Kane, Ralph & Russo (as worn by Beyonce). Right: Vivienne Westwood.

Craig Lawrence, Jenny Packham (as worn by Sandra Bullock) and Gareth Pugh's metallic gown made of leather.

Giles Deacon, Nicholas Oakwell

Amanda Wakely, Holly Fulton

Roksanda Illincic

Left: Marchesa. Right: Mark Fast, John Galliano, Felicity Brown

Erdem, Mary Katrantzou

Nevertheless, the exhibition made a good point of showing that even contemporary British fashion houses like Alexander McQueen or Vivienne Westwood have successfully bridged the gap between the red carpet and traditional royal functions. With Britain being a focus of pretty much everything these days, this exhibition is definitely worth a visit and will thankfully be open for quite a while longer. If you're in London around this time, I'd definitley urge you to check it out - especially considering the images I took don't really do the gowns much justice...

Additional images shown above are the copyright of the V&A,  Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Henry Holland's 'Debut' - Charity Event & Exhibition (London, UK)

There's nothing better than spending money on something when you know it's for a good cause. Which is why the combination of fashion and charity is such a great mix. The last time I posted about a charity collaboration, it involved designer dolls, which some of you (and yours truly) deemed to be a bit creepy at times. An event that happened this week titled Debut was decidedly less sinister, since it involved actual clothing, art and other memorabilia.

Launched by Henry Holland, Debut saw the designer recruit the help from fellow British creatives and friends, resulting in a large collection of coveted pieces which were first featured in a pre-event exhibition, then auctioned off on March 24. All proceeds went to Cancer Research UK, the world's leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research.

A gorgeous venue: auction pieces displayed in the converted church that is One Mayfair.

I got a chance to catch a glimpse of some of the pieces prior to the auction event, all of which were presented in the stunning One Mayfair venue (a converted former church dating back to 1825). The lots up for auction focused on British fashion through the ages, featuring donations from the likes of Christopher Kane, Nicholas Kirkwood, Kate Moss or Paul Smith to name a few - while Agyness Deyn starred as a DJ during the actual auction.

Loved the pink-black combo of the seating area. The official booklet listed all auction items and the event schedule.

Below you'll find a few of the pieces that went up for auction. Which item(s) would you have bid on? Let me know!

Left: Peter Pilotto dress; the design was worn by Kate Bosworth. Right: Dress by Erdem, designed for Browns boutique to celebrate 40 years of British Fashion.

Donations by Henry Holland himself, included the signature House of Holland slogan shirts and an afternoon out with the man himself (left). A beautiful creation by milliner Stephen Jones (top right) and an autographed photograph of Kate Moss during Alexander McQueen's 2004 runway show, photographed by Richard Young.

Left: Christopher Kane red bandage dress from his first collection, as worn by Victoria Beckham. Right: Richard Nicoll dress featuring artwork by Linder Sterling.

Fashion as art: David Downton illustration of Erin O'Connor (top left), oversized limited edition signed Mary Quant stamp (lower left), painting from Alex Echo, who's art inspired Paul Smith (center), Simon Claridge pop-art of Kate Moss (top right), Dior by John Galliano photograph (lower right).

Left: Erdem floral dress. Right: Bellville Sassoon evening dress.

Top: Kate Moss for Longchamp bags designed exclusively by Kate for Debut (incl. handwritten note). Bottom: Nicholas Kirkwood shoes designed exclusively for Sarah Jessica Parker.

Left: House of Holland wedding dress reading 'Who needs a husband I've got House of Holland'. Right: 'History of Rainbows' dress by Tracey Boyd, exclusively for Debut.

More impressive shots: Twiggy (top left), Sid Vicious (bottom left), Tamara Rojo photographed by Paul Smith (center), David Bowie (top right), signed copy of Alexandra Schulman's first publication of Vogue UK as acting editor (lower right).

Vintage items, incl. a sparkly cardigan from the 20s (left).

If you missed 'Debut', you can always donate to Cancer Research UK via the official page. Henry Holland will be doing more charitable work next month when he runs the London Marathon for Oxfam along with a few friends (including Agyness once again). Donations for that can still be made via this fundraising page.

On a final note, if you happen to be in London this weekend, eco-brand People Tree is running a 'Sample Sale for Japan' until March 27 (near Aldgate East), with all proceeds going towards 'The Second Harvest Charity', which will provide food for the victims of the recent earthquake/tsunami in Japan.