Monthly Archives: March 2011

Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain's leading theatre designer between the ‘30s and the ‘50s. Acclaimed for his taste and mastery of period style, Messel created settings and costumes for ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue, but also worked in … Continue reading →

The recent events concerning Libya, the brutal attempts of dictator Gaddafi to regain control of his country and the Western allies’ air and missile raids against Colonel Gaddafi’s military made me think a lot about the consequences of war on … Continue reading →

I have already written about James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) in connection with Vera West’s work in a previous post that looked at the costume designer’s creations for the female characters in a few iconic horror films.   It’s … Continue reading →

I've always been fascinated by Studs Terkel's broadcastings and interviews tackling themes such as the Depression, the war, race relations, labour and the American dream. In fact I think we desperately need a series of interviews in the style of … Continue reading →

Italy celebrates today the 150th anniversary of its unification. Despite being happy about it, I'm deeply ashamed by being represented by a clownish Prime Minister and by some members of the Italian Parliament who still conceive Italy as a country … Continue reading →

Our wardrobes and attics often hide little fashion and tailoring treasures. The coat in this picture wasn't actually hidden in my own wardrobe, but in Frank Boyle's and it's a coat from the British Navy that belonged to his father. … Continue reading →

I recently visited the Saatchi Gallery. Upstairs they currently have an exhibition about Brian Clarke (until 27th March 2011) that includes his works on paper, from his collages to his grids, drawings, skull paintings (often compared by critics to works … Continue reading →

Having been busy with other commitments meant that I didn't have much time in the last week to update properly the site. This also meant that I wasn't able to write earlier about “The Future of Fashion”, an exhibition hosted … Continue reading →

The fashion industry seems to be extremely removed from the tragedies of this world. The fashion weeks were indeed in full swing during the revolts that have changed and are still changing the face of the Middle East. Paris Fashion … Continue reading →

The Yohji Yamamoto retrospective kicks off tomorrow at London's V&A. So, while waiting for the exhibition to open, here's a quick image of the current windows of the Yamamoto shop in Conduit Street. The exhibition promises to be quite exciting … Continue reading →