Missing in Action!

Firstly, if I have any regular readers left, I apologise profusely to you all. Sometimes life grabs hold of you, gives you a good shake and you're left wobbling around like jelly. The past six months..almost to the day..since my last post have been manic with some epic highs and lows, as well as major life events, since we last spoke, I've been to Africa, China and the USA.  
The big bits of news first - on the first weekend of December I was woken up at a very antisocial time of the morning, flown to Venice and was proposed to - I said yes! Secondly, the Boy and I bought our first place together and (after doing a bit of work and dealing with a NIGHTMARE vendor) we finally moved in and lastly, I moved jobs and am now back in the world of fashion. All of this will be expanded on but for now I just wanted to say hi, it's nice to be back! X

Queen Viv To Tell Her Story!

Something I have been trying to keep out of the blog recently is the fact that the Boy and I are buying our first place together. It's wonderful but also incredibly stressful. Right now - it's so horrid that I'm treating the blog a an escape. When it's all sorted, I will update but for now, all I will say is that we're moving to Vivienne Westwood's neighbourhood.  I have seen the flame haired one on her bike rattling along in Clapham Old Town and am harbouring a fantasy that when we move, we will bump into reguarly at the library, local deli and such like. 

Next year, Queen Viv will launch her first ever memoir in October. The fashion veteran is working alongside her friend and renowned biographer, Ian Kelly, to pen her life story in candid detail."The living deserve respect. The dead deserve the truth; Ian and I are working together on this and I am excited that this will be my story, the story nobody ever did before," said Westwood.

The book, published by Picador, will include contributions from Westwood's family and high-profile friends - although names have not been confirmed yet. The memoir will span her career, from primary school teacher to becoming one of the industry's most famous and rebellious designers. As you will be awaree, Westwood is known as much for her passionate eco-campaigning, as she is for being one of punk's key influencers - having helped catapult punk style into the mainstream, with her use of tartan, saftey pins and bondage gear.

"Vivienne is much more than what you first see," said Kelly. "She is passionately committed to human rights and to eco-politics, but as well as that I am keen to tell the truth about a huge-hearted, warm and witty individual, whose face and clothes are known the world over - but who is also recognisably the Derbyshire primary school teacher who met and fell in love with Malcolm McLaren and changed the world."  I cannot wait.

Italiano Style

Valentino posing among his models nearby Trevi Fountain. Rome, July 1967

Whilst Winter creeps upon us, it's good to look forward to the Spring.  In April next year, the glamour and style synonymous with Italy is being celebrated at the V&A and it's going to be a show-stopper of an exhibition.

‘Made in Italy’ has become a global codeword for a representation of style and quality, conveying Italy’s position at the forefront of international trends.  It’s not just Italy’s synonymic designers such as Versace, Gucci and Armani influencing the designers of tomorrow.  Thanks to the online exposure that now surrounds fashion week, fashion editors Anna Dello Russo and Giovanna Battaglia have become today’s style icons and two of Italy’s best fashion exports, likened to a contemporary Anna Piaggi.  By the way, if you're not following Anna on Instagram, I suggest you do so NOW.  Her outfits are inspirational!

In honour of this fashion movement, the V&A will host the first major exhibition, The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945-2014, to examine the country’s contribution to fashion from the end of the Second World War to the present.  More than 100 ensembles by leading fashion houses including Armani, Gucci, Missoni, Prada, Pucci, Valentino and Versace, from the early catwalk shows held in Florence through to the next generation of talent including couture by Giambattista Valli and Valentino’s new designer duo Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, will be showcased in the museum.

When it comes to sartorial self expression, nobody does it better or more naturally than the Italians, but the exhibition also highlights the influence of Italian cinema - War and Peace, La Dolce Vita and Roman Holiday among others once earned Rome the nickname of “Hollywood on the Tiber”.  Audrey Hepburn, who won the 1953 Best Actress Oscar for her role in Roman Holiday, became not just a major Hollywood star but also a living icon for the Eternal City. Her love affair with the Italian capital is captured in the exhibition, alongside the influence of the many Hollywood films shot on location during the 1950s and 1960s.

If the V&A’s run of previous exhibitions is anything to go by, I’d recommend booking a ticket early at vam.ac.uk/italianfashion.

The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945-2014, sponsored by Bulgari, runs from 5 April - 27 July 2014 at the V&A.