Tag: #V&A-London

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Selvedge Winter Fair 2015

The Selvedge Winter Fair is an annual event for me and my chums. It’s the perfect start to the Festive Season.

The stands were set out a little differently his year giving the stall holders even more space to hang their fabulous goodies.

The fair a wonderful venue to meet our favourite Textile artists, and gleen a bit of inspiration from some stunning handmade products.

Teresa Dunne of Willapark Designs
Ella Robinson and her fabulous drift wood art
Grace from A Threadbear Production
by Julie Arkell

Of course we need to browse and maybe buy a goody or two. I bought some yummy pieces and caught up with quite a few textile friends from Facebook and Instagram.

I am so happy with these goodies!

After the Fair, we wondered over to the V&A for tea and took in the wintry sights on the way back to the Tube.

The tea rooms at the V&A
Ice skating outside the Natural History Museum

It was a fabulous day out. I can’t wait for next year!

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The V&A and the Tower of Babel

I was so excited to see this piece – The Tower of Babel –  displayed at the V&A. Consisting of 3000 bone china shops (each around 10 cm high), this exhibit by the artist Barnaby Barford, went on public view just a few days ago. I love the way each tiny shop represents a real shop in London and that you can buy one of them too! I have to confess I have bought one or two.
Each is glazed with a photograph of a shop spanning everything from derelict shops to buildings like Harrods. I would recommend you visit it soon – the crowds were building whilst we were there today. You can get up close to the ‘shops’ – which is your favourite?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you get a chance to see it. The exhibition is on until 1st November 2015.
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Shoes: Pleasure & Pain – the fabulous V&A Exhibition

The latest exhibition at the V&A is pleasure and pain all rolled into one. If you are a lover of shoes, or embroidery, or historical costume, or boots or are a collector of shoes (as I am sure a few of us are) then this is the exhibition for you.
The exhibition displays the fabulous, exquisite pieces like sweets in the window of an exclusive Parisian Chocolate shop. Each pair staged to be admired.
The shoes are grouped in collections, each inspired by a theme of – ‘fashion’, ‘obsession’, ‘cinema’, ‘showing a bit of leg’, ‘shoes to entice’, ‘fit for a king’, ‘Royalty’. All truly yummy. Here are just a few of the enticing goodies on display. Enjoy.

The Glass Slipper from the 2015 Disney Movie ‘Cinderella’, as worn by Lily James.
Designed by Sandy Powell.
The red ballet shoes as worn in the 1948 movie ‘The Red Shoes’

 

Shoes fit for a king
Men’s Mojari shoes, India 1800 – Cotton, silk, gilded silver thread embroidery.
Possibly owned by the Nawab of Awadh.

Such tiny shoes for an adult not a child.

Shoes for Bound feet, China 1740 – silk, sequins, metal thread embroidery, linen and leather.
Popular footwear in Han Chinese society.

Here are some shoes worn by British Royalty – Queen Victoria and the Duchess of Cambridge; the French Royalty or rather the mistress of Louis XV; and Celebrity Royalty – Kylie Minogue’s Prada killer heels and Carrie’s famous Jimmy Choo’s from Sex in the City.

Shoes fit for a Queen, a future Queen and Carrie’s from ‘Sex in the City’

There is something for everyone. I visited with the notion that I was about to spend a few hours looking at lots of scrummy shoes, but it was so much more! I left, my mind buzzing with embroidery, textures of fabrics and leather, colour combinations and beading. Visit if you can. The exhibition is on until the 31st January 2016.