Balenciaga: Master of Lace, Master of Us All

Three Weeks. That's the exact amount of time you have left to visit the Balenciaga exhibition at the Museum of Lace and Fashion in Calais. With the current Eurotunnel situation, if you set off now, you might just make it!

Fashion is often derided by academics, but just like empires, colonies, and kingdoms, fashion has its own swirling history. Fashion is affected by wars, influenced by revolution, and an accomplice of social change. Where textbook history has figures such as Napoleon, Hitler, and King Henry VIII, fashion history has Chanel, Dior, and Balenciaga. They are not equatable in their actions, but in the size of their impact.

The now classic trench coat originates from the horrors of WW1, the mini skirt invigorated the equality and female liberalism campaign of the 1960s, and fair trade clothing companies such as People Tree highlight a growing social awareness of the need to end human exploitation. Fashion acts as an indicator of widespread societal movements and discontent. 

Cristóbal Balenciaga as a couture figure is one of the greats. As a trained tailor, he re-defined the silhouette of women's clothing, and then did it again, and again. He is quoted as saying, 

"A couturier must be an architect for design, a sculptor for shape, a painter for colour, a musician for harmony, and a philosopher for temperance."

The result? Freedom for women. Tunic dresses, sack dresses, baby doll dresses which effectively eliminated the waist,  peacock tail dresses (now known as dropped hem), the empire line: he created them all. He gave women choice. 

The current exhibition in Calais provides an insight into the relationship between Balenciaga and lace. It traces how Balenciaga explored the charm and potential of lace, incorporating it as both decoration and as the main fabric. The curator of the exhibition, Catherine Join-Diéterle, notes the designer's enduring love of lace; '“It was consistently present in all his collections, even during his first in 1937 and his last in 1968.” 

Baby Doll Dress, 1958, courtesy of  the V&A

Balenciaga  by Boris Lipnitzki, 1927

Balenciaga did not court the hype that Christian Dior did, or make proclamations as Coco Chanel was wanton to do. He was a quiet revolutionary, who quite literally re-shaped fashion forever and will always be revered in haute couture history. 

Balenciaga Sack Dress

Balenciaga Peacock Tail Dress  

"Almost since the first day he launched his salon in 1937 he has been acclaimed as the great leader in fashion; what Balenciaga does today, other designers will do tomorrow, or next year, by which time he will have moved on again." 

Vogue, 1962

Pictorial Picnic Perfection

As a girl who loves the outdoors, good food, and good fashion, picnics are my pictorial perfection. They're more relaxed than afternoon tea, more civilised than camping, and more fun than a cafe. The only result of a picnic is undiluted joy (and not just because the champagne goes to your head!). 

Loose clothing and shoes that slip off easily so you can wiggle your toes in the grass are essential. Add a medium size bag that is just roomy enough to hold your essentials (suncream, sunglasses, wet wipes) and your picnic dressing is complete! 

Pink lace top - Sacai @ The Outnet, Culottes - Three Floor, White bell sleeve top - Glamorous @ USC,
Full skirt - Oasis, Necklace - Les Nereides, Espadrilles - Valentino @ Browns, Tote - Dolce and Gabbana @ mytheresa

I scrutinise the contents of my picnic basket with just as much diligence as I do my outfit. When catering solely for yourself and a friend, selfishness is more than acceptable and personal favourites can be thrown into the basket without hesitation. I always include bruschetta (Jamie Oliver's recipe reigns supreme), M&S olives and feta, Fentiman's Pink Lemonade and macarons. 

I recently learnt that macaroons and macarons are not alternative spellings, but are in fact different things. Macarons are your pastel coloured Ladurée-esque delights and macaroons are your coconut concoctions à la Mrs Crimble's. I discovered this when my knowing boyfriend sent me a box of these moreish bites from Macarons & More by Tom Kinnaird. They were the best I have ever had and arrived miraculously in one piece thanks to the bakery's careful packing. I would definitely recommend sending this as a gift (you can order online via the website) if you have a friend who lives far away, or even just ordering yourself some as a treat to take with you on a picnic this month! 

Have you got any picnic basket favourites? 

Leeds Festival: Avoiding the Fashion Fads

Leeds Festival is not for the faint-hearted. I've been several times and revelled in its anarchic and primal hedonism. I've had my tent set on fire, my belongings graffitied with indecipherable strings of letters which could only have been inspired by banned substances, and witnessed fights which are reminiscent of Gladiatorial contests. I even inadvertently contributed to the frenzy one year by mistakenly boiling half a litre of vodka for a friend's Pot Noodle (in my defence the vodka was in a plastic water bottle).

What all of this means is that when it comes to festival fashion, Leeds Fest is in a category of its own. Like the music, your wardrobe must be cool, eclectic and not an adulation of populist trends. If you genuinely like Hunter wellies then wear them, but they're not an unwritten entry requirement like at V Festival and T in the Park. Leeds is about looking good without losing yourself in the hysteria of festival fads.

Deichmann - £15

First and foremost are the basics: wellies and raincoats. It will rain, it will get muddy, and you will fall over. My tactic for wellies is buying cheap ones that I throw away on the Monday afternoon when I get home. 

ASOS - £18

ASOS - £18

Pretty wellies always get compliments (as oppose to the knowing nod that Hunters garner) so go as bright as you like! 

When thinking about raincoats, I'd rather stay dry and look good underneath for when the rain stops. So listen to your Mum and take that Regatta waterproof coat you've had since your were 15, you'll thank her once the rain begins! 

Regatta Waterproof - £20 

Now that the formalities are finished, let's focus on the main event: 

• Avoid skirts that are susceptible to a gust of wind and embrace shorts (you want to be able to dance/maintain some dignity when you slip in the mud). 
• Pack t-shirts and long-sleeved checked shirts (great for colder nights). 
• Leave the nostalgic old gig/festival tops to people over 40. 
• Forget anything crocheted/fringed/cropped: you're not a clone. 
• Accessorise to the max: jewellery, hairbands, glow bands, face paint.

Festival fashion is about exaggerating the quirks of your normal individual style, don't feel pressured to morph into what fast fashion has dictated to be 21st century festival attire. Here are some pieces which I'll be heading into the chaos of Leeds Fest with:

Striped knit top - Dorothy Perkins, Floral shorts - Miss Selfridge, Checked shirt - H&M, Wellies - As above,
V-neck top - H&M, Striped shorts - Topshop, Bomber jacket - The Hut, Socks - ASOS

Sailing through the Summer Sales

With the summer sales in full swing, I've trawled through hundreds of pages and bypassed the residual festival attire in order to find sale buys that won't spend the next 5 years living at the back of your closet before being sent to the charity shop with a mixture of regret and guilt. When buying something from a sale online, it's always a good idea to save the page and go back an hour later to make your decision. Treat sale buys like you would men: don't compromise on your standards and always have a little breathing space before you take the plunge! 

The great thing about the summer sales is that they're starting earlier and earlier every year, so if you have an August holiday booked, here are my picks for you: 

Floral top & shorts - £15, £18 Oasis, Blue top - £15 Oasis, Trousers - £25 Osais, Hat - £53 Paul Smith,
Shoes - £63 CP Charles Philip Shanghai, Cape - £15 Topshop 

And if you're the organised type and are looking ahead to autumn: here are some great transition pieces for your wardrobe: 

Jacket - £160 T by Alexander Wang, Boots - £27 Pier One, Crop blouse - £7 Miss Selfridge,
Shorts - £77 DKNY, Earrings - £55 OAK, Tights - £26 Falke

Happy sale shopping! 

Digging into Kate Spade

On both of my last two visits to Bicester Village, I have left with a Kate Spade handbag. For those of you who are yet to delve into the delights of Bicester Village, it is a designer outlet village located in Oxfordshire and home to brands such as Valentino, Oscar De La Renta, Prada, Bally, and Mulberry. Although its main focus is fashion, it also hosts homeware stores (Ralph Lauren Home and Le Creuset), a cosmetics store and an electronics outlet (Bose). 

There are handbags aplenty in Bicester Village, and yet every time it is a Kate Spade handbag that I lust after. They're not the most high-end handbags or of an especially luxurious quality, but they're just delightful. There are pretty floral patterned ones, pastel coloured ones, straw ones, classic cream and black ones, and purses to match. Each colour or pattern also comes in a variety of shapes and sizes so whether you're a tote or a shoulder bag kind of girl, you'll find something in this shop. 

The Kate Spade shop at Bicester is as lovely as its collection. The bags are arranged in complimentary colour sections, with a jewellery section to one side and clothing interspersed in the midst of all of this. The shop assistants are also fantastic, they are friendly and don't hover around you, but are always there if you have a question. The prices in this outlet shop are equally appealing, I picked up this rose patterned shoulder bag below for £48 (down from £120)!

Enjoying summer with my new Kate Spade bag!

Although we're always paying over the odds for designer items here compared to the US, Bicester Village goes some way to relieving the damage that designer shopping can do to your bank account! These are some of my favourite finds of the day:

Oscar de la Renta - Spanish Mules, £230-250

Oscar de la Renta - £550

Mulberry

Mulberry

If Bicester Village is beyond the realms of practical possibility for you, check out the Kate Spade website to bask in handbag perfectionism. I love the Emma Lane Fabric Maya!