Grace Kelly Style Exhibition

Last weekend the husband and I drove all the way down to Lorne on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria for my cousin's wedding. On the way back we were lucky enough to make it to the opening day of the Grace Kelly Style Exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery, only hours behind Princess Charlene.
Whether or not you like Grace Kelly as an actress, or you care for royalty or not, you can't deny that Kelly influenced 20th Century Style. When your very name becomes an adjective for a certain type of simple and relaxed glamour - if you hear someone say that a look is very 'Grace Kelly' you immediately know what they are they are talking about - you probably do deserve an exhibition all of your own.
Courtesy of the V&A in London the Bendigo Art Gallery is currently displaying four rooms full of Grace's clothes, hats, gloves, handbags (hello the Hermes Kelly bag) as well as tonnes of photographs and clips from her films. A movie star for a short time before quitting the business, Grace made only eleven feature films in her career but was at the height of her Oscar winning popularity when she met and married Prince Rainier, regent of the tiny municipality of Monaco. The year that High Society was released and she wed her Prince in the 'Wedding of the Century' saw her celebrity reach its peak. Every element of her wedding trousseau was pored over, and many of those dresses and suits are on display in Bendigo, as well as costumes from Rear Window (Edith Head), The Swan (Helen Rose) and High Society (also Helen Rose). There is a replica of Grace's famous wedding dress (perhaps only rivalled by Princess Diana's wedding dress for icon status) - the most expensive dress ever designed by Hollywood costumier Helen Rose - as well as many stunning couture gowns Grace wore once she became a Princess. These had me mesmerised: there is Madame Gres (such as the green suit above), Balenciaga, Givenchy and tonnes of Dior and Marc Bohan. Marc Bohan was a huge favourite of hers; the silver dress in the state photograph above is a Bohan and is on display at the exhibition.

After finishing up at the Art Gallery we took a stroll around the sites of Bendigo, checking out the impressive architecture of the gold rush town. Here's me on top of the town's water tower.

And it was a little chilly for me in Lorne (although not so much for the New Zealanders who made up the bulk of the guests and bridal party) so for the wedding day I chose a dress I'd worn before, to the lovely Pia Andersen's 30th Birthday Party. In this case I paired it with my new Chloe suede pumps that remind me of Neapolitan ice cream and a sweet lime green 1960s purse picked up at the Vintage Fashion Emporium.

Inspiring Style

I just noticed this in the March issue of US Vogue: an exhibition has opened at the Phoenix Art Musuem in Arizona celebrating the life and style of Ann Bonfoey Taylor.

The remarkable Taylor, who lived and entertained in high style between Denver and Vail, was one of the first women to earn a pilot's license, played tennis at Wimbeldon, and was a champion shot, a dashing equestrienne, and a member of the US Women's Olympic Ski team.

Sounds like an amazing lady, hey? She was also a model and designer who launched her own range of ski wear in the 1940s. Even though I've never been skiing - I'm allergic to cold weather - I can imagine it isn't easy to look chic covered in snow. LOVE those crazy ski goggles and the pink lippie.

Taylor amassed an amazing collection of high fashion during her lifetime, which was bequeathed to the museum. Below is some Charles James, Balenciaga and Givenchy to drool over.

The Early Days of Colour

The National Gallery of Australia in our nation's capital is currently hosting an exhibition of Australian-born photographer Anton Bruehl's work. Bruehl relocated from Melbourne to New York and from the 1920s through to the 1950s he was a top international photographer of magazine editorials and advertising campaigns. He is credited as one of the early pioneers of colour photography (I have a particular love for early colour photographs) and also pursued art photography alongside his more commercial work, publishing two books of travel inspired images.
Most of his magazine work was with the Conde Nast group for Vogue, Vanity Fair and House & Garden. You can see some more of his lovely cover shots here.

Up Close and Personal

Yesterday, during a one hour break between sessions at the Brisbane Writers' Festival (held at the lovely State Library of QLD in South Bank), I managed to slip next door to the Gallery of Modern Art and the Valentino retrospective. Oh happiness.
I'm still brimming with joy in fact, despite coming home to a very sick husband and an equally sick apartment. Seeing this level of workmanship and design up close and personal - the retrospective includes some of the most memorable dresses from the last fifty years - made the clothes on my back (and everyone else in the gallery) seem very ordinary indeed.
The intricate beading, the inspired design - from late 50's tulip skirts, to ethnic influenced 60's frocks, painterly 70's and 80's sheaths and suits and finally two rooms filled to the brim with the most stunningly beaded, draped and sculpted evening wear - all of it had me smiling from ear to ear.
I always say it is the little things in life - a delicious meal shared with a lover, a compulsive and touching book you have to read in one sitting, an afternoon on the couch with a dog in your lap and a funny movie on TV - that make life joyous. And the artistry of beautiful clothing is something I would definitely throw in that mix.
Let's face it - a lot of the big things are truly awful.

Unfortunately the GoMA store had just sold out of the exhibition program, so while I put one on order, I selected a few postcards for the time being.

I think Valentino's famed 1968 White Collection - of which they had many items on display, including Jackie's wedding dress from her marriage to Aristotle Onassis - deserves its own post. In the meantime, these postcards are of a few more recent frocks: Haute Couture A/W 2007-08 / Haute Couture A/W 1990-91 / Haute Couture A/W 2004-05 / Haute Couture S/S 2003.

Valentino Retrospective

My invite to the Valentino Retrospective Past/Present/Future - opening August 7 at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art -arrived in the mail today. Lucky for me I'll be visiting Brisbane twice in August and fingers and toes crossed that I'll be able to find a spare hour somewhere to gaze at some of the worlds most beautiful and expertly constructed frocks. Here are a couple of samples from the collection:

Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1960 and 1959 respectively.

Spring/Summer 2003

You will note that I wore my orange nail polish today in support of the Netherlands only to be saddened and frustrated by their loss. My cousins in Holland tell me that the whole country is in mourning, but my sadness was somewhat dampened by the arrival of my brand new Kindle - along with this lovely invite - in the post today.

Swings and roundabouts, hey?

Millinery Masterpieces

Yesterday I was gushing over the latest Christian Dior haute couture collection but I forgot to mention the divine hats. Stephen Jones, superstar milliner, designs for Dior and his creations are imaginative and gorgeous. Jones was co-curator of the 2009 V&A exhibition Hats: An Anthology and - excitement of excitements - this exhibition is coming to Australia at the end of March! The Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane is hosting it from late March through June and the displays are drawn mainly from the V&A's and Stephen Jones' own collections. Knowing how inspired Jones is by history, I can imagine that there will be many lovely, lovely hats on display. Here are some of his latest ready-to-wear creations.

The Queensland Art Gallery will also be hosting the Valentino retrospective - as seen in the Valentino doco - from August, so fingers crossed for some timely travel North later this year. And an afternoon off.

Drape

The fantastic National Gallery of Victoria is currently showing an exhibition entitled Drape: Classical Mode to Contemporary Dress which has me itching for a Melbourne mini break. I used to make it to Melbourne every couple of months - usually for work - but the past twelve months hasn't seen me visit at all, and I'm rather keen to reacquaint myself with Melbourne's lovely lane ways.

Draping fabric has long been used to create attractive silhouettes, working with the body's natural contours and ensuring best use of fabric. This exhibition opens at an opportune time as draping is well and truly back in vogue, popping up all over the place on the S/S 2010 runways. Christopher Bailey with his bubblegum mini dresses for Burberry Prorsum and Alber Erbaz at Lanvin particularly spring to mind.

The Cecil Beaton photograph above contains a feast of Charles James dresses circa 1948, and the 1954 Jean Desses masterpiece and 1973 Paco Rabanne sparkly sheath below are just a couple of the items on display. Apparently they've also managed to acquire a Vionnet gown.

The exhibition runs until the end of June so here is hoping I find myself in Melbourne before winter well and truly kicks in.

Cool Links - Photographic Nostalgia

The Australian National Maritime Museum in my fair Sydney is hosting an exhibition called Exposed! The History of Swimwear at the moment. Entry is free and for history buffs and fashion fans alike it definitely sounds worth checking out. And for me, oh how I love swimwear! I still maintain we Aussies design swimwear better than anyone else in the world. As an example, here are some of the latest cossies from Hotel Bondi Swim ... how can you not love a gnome print ... so cute!

In far, far away London town there is an exhibition of British photographer Terry O'Neill's photographs. O'Neill's career peaked in the sixties and seventies and he is well-known for taking unconventionally candid portraits of celebrities. I read about the show at Queens of Vintage and here is a selection of some of his images (Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren and Jacqueline Bisset) that particularly caught my eye.

And speaking of fab photos and swimwear, my mate Michael pointed out this delightfully mood evoking photo gallery on The Daily Beast's blog called The Great American Summer. Combining three of my fancies - photographs of yesteryear, summer and America - I wish I could own some of these images. And how great are Ginger Rogers' pins?

Can you tell I'm suffering from the winter blues? Everything is better when the sun is shining and I can lie by the water in my cossie. My Nth QLD holiday is fast approaching ... Mission Beach here I come!

A very pretty Norma Jean Baker.

Humphrey and Lauren and sail-boat chic.