The Sneaky Magpie

Yesterday I went to see a fun exhibition at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum: Foale and Tuffin and Made in England.

I first came across Foale and Tuffin 4 years ago at the 60s exhibition at V&A and loved their quirky colorful designs ever since. It’s easy to spot which contemporary labels got their inspiration from Foale&Tuffin, and nice to see that the company’s heritage lives on.

A classic trench I would wear now and a dress reminiscent of Eley Kishimoto and Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Kate Moss must have gotten very impressed by this flowery dress (yours truly in the mirror too). I love the frilly top of the second dress.

The Double D dress and a fabulous green summer dress. A breath of fresh air after New Look era.

Peter Pan collars were everywhere. The ‘Boyfriend’ jacket in the background.

It’s all about color and comfort.

Simplicity is the word.

There were pictures of Twiggy and Jenny Boyd sporting the brand often photographed by the young David Bailey as well as drawings of the designs.

The exhibition also had few hippie frocks but that’s not my cup of it, let’s leave it to Bill Gibb, shall we?

And this is the workshop of Sally Tuffin and Marion Foale, the queens of Carnaby Street. They loved Liberty prints.

If you have got interest in fashion history this is a major chunk of the 60s London.

I do have a slight obsession with Audrey Hepburn. She was stylish, beautiful, waif-like and charming. I like her so much I am even able to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s without thinking how Truman Capote’s story was changed into a rom com with slapstick elements and still be absolutely in love with Audrey’s style and beauty.

Don’t get me wrong, Breakfast at Tiffany’s has got its charm and if I watch it without thinking about the novel it’s almost perfect (Mickey Rooney’s character is shocking though). I am not a big fan of rom coms and happy endings so perhaps it is Audrey and her styling that does it for me?

But yesterday I watched Two For The Road. This is one of her less known films. It’s not the greatest but she is wonderful in it and the styling is amazing: Paco Rabanne, Mary Quant, Foale and Tuffin.

It’s a story about a twelve year long relationship: falling in love, marriage, conflicts, boredom, unfaithfulness.

Great Paco dress…

As I said it’s not the best movie I have seen but definitely worth watching on a lazy afternoon.

Last week, having managed to see all the exhibitions from my list I felt rather pleased with myself. Two days later the Tate magazine arrived announcing the autumn schedule, I scanned through all the galleries and here is my new to see list:

Tate Modern: Pop Life show will include Kippenberg, Koons, Warhol and Hirst to name a few. There will be also a John Balderssari show and Miroslaw Balka will take over the Turbine Hall.

It seems to be the season of Pop Art, The Hayward Gallery is having a retrospective of Ed Ruscha paintings, this should be good!

Tate Britain: Turner and The Masters, I am really looking forward to this show, it will include old masters like Rubens and Rembrandt. I would suggest to visit this exhibition bit later in the autumn as it will be packed in the opening weeks. The gallery will hold the annual Turner Prize show too.

Somerset House is hosting Norman Parkinson: A Very British Glamour, expect a visual feast of some of the best fashion pictures ever taken. I must admit, I have never been to this venue, it has been on my list for ages. Now is the time to go.

Victoria and Albert Museum: Maharaja show, I really hope this is good, the last few times I went the exhibitions looked tempting but failed to deliver. The last one that I really enjoyed was The Golden Age of Couture which I went to see twice.

Royal Academy of Arts, probably my least favorite museum in London, will hold Anish Kapoor show. Looks very interesting.

National Gallery is showing a major exhibition of Spanish painting and sculpture from 17th century, Velazques and Zurbaran are among the artists. The Sacred Made Real show opens in October. This is my favorite gallery in London, I often go in and spend hours looking at the paintings from their permanent collection.

The White Cube Hoxton Square and Mason’s Yard will hold Anselm Kiefer and Damien Hirst shows respectively.

Fashion and Textile Museum have got Foale and Tuffin retrospective. I saw few designs of this iconic company few years ago at the V&A and loved every piece they produced.

British Museum:  Revolution on paper, Mexican prints 1910-1960. This is a real highlight for me.

I did miss one exhibition this summer which was Banksy vs Bristol Museum however Purple Cloud documented it very well so I feel like I have been there. Have a look here.