ALEXANDER MCQUEEN SAVAGE BEAUTY

A while ago, I wrote on a post, that one of the things I will try to do more of was visit galleries and exhibitions. Last Thursday the opportunity arose to go to the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition, and of course who would say no?! We jumped on the train to London nice and early so we had plenty of time to get there in time for our 12.45 entrance (Nottingham to London is further than you think!). We arrived slightly early, so we sat in the foyer of the V&A, admired the beautiful decor and impatiently waited for our time. As it was coming up to 12.45, we rushed to the entrance, and waited in the queue. Then it was our turn. AHHH!!!

We walked through the entrance and suddenly there was an absence of light and in front of us was a huge portrait of McQueen, done by his brother, Lee McQueen. As we continued through we set foot in the first room, which stood a variety of garments taken from McQueen's first collections. It was extremely weird and surreal seeing these garments in the flesh, especially when they're older than you! 

"I'm a romantic schizophrenic"

After the first room, we were greeted by a quote stating "I'm a romantic schizophrenic", this is something which became a reoccuring subject matter through the rest of the collections we were about to see. We went on to see garments from A Romantic Mind, A Gothic mind (one of my favourites), Romantic Primitivism, Romantic Naturalism, Cabinet of Curiosities, Romantic Exoticism, Voss, Romantic Naturalism and his last collection Plato's Atlantis. There was one room which was complete madness, Cabinet of Curiosities. In here lay a centre piece of the the dress from SS99 that was sprayed with paint from industrial paint guns, which was surrounded by a huge range of McQueen's work including his peculiar headwear and footwear. 

This is something you have to see in the flesh, its such a surreal experience and I fully appreciate this man's talent and what he brought to the industry!

STYLE ICONS

In one of this week's seminars we did a bit of research into style icons. A message learnt from this seminar was to be fully informed and knowledgeable of fashion history. As part of my textiles course we had to learn the history of fashion from the 1800's, so I would say I'm fairly informed on this part, however when Tim was asking us to recall style icons from certain eras, it proved difficult to me. After a couple of hours of researching into some of the most exciting and well known style icons, we were asked to think of who is iconic to us and inspires us.

A lot of my inspiration comes from Instagram accounts and blogs rather than actual people but after looking at a Pinterest board that I created a while ago, I noticed a few heads which were reoccurring. The blog 'Kayture' is something I've followed for a couple of years now. Kristina Bazan, the creative mind and founder of Kayture is someone who I really admire in terms of style and the person she is. The posts of her incredible journey from Swedish blogger to global fashion icon, are a pleasure to read and the images, taken by her talented boyfriend, portray such positive vibes.

Another couple of icons who I admire when it comes to style are Mary Kate and Ashley. Most young girls will of been a fan of the Olsen twins since they were young, but within the recent years, as they matured, the girls have become rather celebrated within the fashion industry. Their couture line 'The Row' shows their eye for style and their talent for design.

COBDEN CHAMBERS

When exploring Notts on my day off, we came across Cobden Chambers. You'll come across this hidden space while wondering around the independent, edgy part of Nottingham. The secret alley is positioned opposite Wired and just up the road from Bodega. After being instantly attracted the the pastel coloured sign, we decided to follow the path and see what it takes us too. 

The courtyard, which was once used as a photographers studio has been hidden away for almost 20 years until Bilburn, an urban real estate development company decided it was about time this secret garden had some attention. After 7 months the courtyard was transformed into a peaceful shopping experience, which is home to a magazine store, recommended to us by our course leaders, Ideas on Paper. 

On one side the walls have be slathered in pastel coloured paint, and the other is covered with brightly coloured artwork. You can grab a coffee and enjoy the peace and quiet on the picnic benches, or you can have a wonder around the stores, particulary Cavology! I'll definitely recommend a visit!

SURFACE GALLERY

Today me and my flatmate took a trip to the Surface Gallery located near Lace Market. Surprisingly, us students tend to get bored, but thats probably down to having very little money to spend. So today we both had the day off and decided to make it a productive one. After looking up things to do and places to go in Nottingham city centre, we came across Surface Gallery and funnily enough they had an exhibition on where they collaborated with Nottingham Trent University.

Stories in the Dark, is an four week long exhibition by NTU which is split into four series. The first two parts of the exhibition took place from the 19th to the 24th of February, and the last two from the 5th to the 10th of March. The displays were titled 'The World is Round' and 'Khepri'. The World is Round presents how the state of being in the dark signifies uncertainty and unknowing.

I like the simplicity of this piece, it speaks a lot

The second part to the exhibition was Khepri and was produced by artists Verity Heald and Anthony Fletcher. This display was a performance celebrated the Egyptian god Khepri, and was about how the dung beetle busies themselves preparing for the emergence of its fully formed offspring. We were both slightly shocked when we entered this room, it also looked like a murder scene, but after realising they were costumes on the floor, and the exhibition was based around a recorded performance, we were slightly less worried. It was unusual to watch but I think after they started dancing around to Lion King's Circle of Life, we got quite into it.

I'd definitely recommend a trip to this restored gallery, but make sure you do your research and know whats exhibiting.

A GLIMPSE OF MFW

As I'm not lucky enough to attend any of the fashion weeks, I've been keeping up with them on social media sites, Twitter and Instagram. Two shows that caught my eye from Milan Fashion week this week were the Moschino and Dolce and Gabbana shows. From cartoons on jumpers to babies as accessories, MFW seems to of been slightly more up beat than you'd expect.

Although extremely cute, it was slightly unusual and more of a shock to see babies and toddlers appear on a catwalk alongside some much more mature models. It's definitely noticed within Dolce and Gabbana's fashion campaigns, that they have a strong theme of 'family' surrounding them, however it seems that this time they fancied creating a more mothering atmosphere, and what better way than to have very well behaved kids walking the runway. I can't deny that I'm a big fan of the Italian fashion house, I love the elegance and femininity in their campaigns and shows, and it nice to see a change in fashion, in celebrating motherhood.

Not all change is good though, since Jeremy Scott was announced as the new creative director of Moschino, I've began to hate it more and more. I've never really been a fan of Moschino, it's always screamed "tack" to me but now it not only screams "tack", it also just says "trash" and "cheap" all over it. Last year we had a McDonalds inspired collection along with Spongebob, and this year we've got graffiti'd dresses and the Loonely Tunes on jumpers, whats next? The Simpsons?