Not like me to be a fashionista, but Janie loves the V&A and had worked out that, on the back of her membership, we could take in the new Mary Quant and Christian Dior exhibitions in preview without breaking a sweat on this late opening Friday.
I preceded the impending double dose of fashion with a double dose of tennis. The first hour was a singles bout against a gentleman who was a fairly regular opponent of mine in the early days but who I hadn’t played for some while. The handicap system had us level for this game, but I think he was having a bit of an off day and in any case all the luck seemed to go my way and not his, resulting in me registering a good win.
The second hour was the senior doubles, which I have mentioned several times before, e.g. click here. Robin Simpson, who is one of the handful of nonagenarians who still plays, was on the other side and on top form today. He seemed able to get back everything my partner and I could throw at him. In truth it was a delight to witness his performance, except that, at 5-all, 30-all, you don’t want your supposed winning shots sent back to you with interest, on two consecutive points, by a 92-year-old, to seal the set for your opponents.
Then a quick snack before Janie joined me and we headed off to the V&A. We figured that the late afternoon slot might be best for minimising the queuing, as we had been warned that we might need to queue for quite a long time for both the Quant and the Dior.
The members desk recommended that we start with Quant, where we only had to queue for about 10 minutes. Dig this groovy trailer for the show:
This exhibition will be running until February 2020, so if you read this Ogblog piece in time, clicking here or on the image below will tell you how to see the show – in any case the V&A resources about this show should still be there.
Janie especially loves these 60’s fashions. I found the story of Mary Quant’s early life interesting…
…indeed, in truth, I was more interested in the whole iconography and 60’s culture generally than in the fashion. But this show has plenty of fun imagery and artefacts as well as fashion garments.
Then Janie and I went to the Members Lounge for some refreshments before braving the Dior queue, which we had been warned was a formidable 30 minutes or more job.
The Christian Dior exhibition has been running since February and has proved so incredibly popular that the run has been extended to September 2019, but even that has now sold out so it is available to members only in the absence of pre-booked tickets.
Click here or the image below for on-line information about the Dior exhibition. There are several vids and lots of amazing photos and panoramas of the show, which might satisfy many a curious reader who cannot get to see the show itself.
including the credit for this image.
In the event, our choice of that late afternoon/early evening slot proved wise, as we only needed to queue for about 5 minutes to get in to the Dior. We chatted with an unusual lady dressed in a bizarre assortment of home-made turquoise-dyed garments.
The haute couture in truth means even less to me than the Mary Quant type fashion, but the context of Dior’s life, untimely death and then how the House of Dior progressed over the decades was interesting.
Further, the Dior exhibition in particular is beautifully laid out – stunning in places, so Janie, who took loads of photos in the Quant one, took loads more in the Dior one.
Janie’s stack of pictures from this afternoon and early evening at the V&A can all be seen on Flickr by clicking here or below.
I found the contrast between the two exhibitions fascinating, making it a well worthwhile visit, for me, to see the two shows. In truth, it was a very enjoyable and interesting outing from both of our points of view. The benefits of Janie being a member of the V&A really came into play for this visit. We’re planning another next month, so watch this space!