The Silver LiningAll hail Bowie
Posted on May 21, 2013
Wanting to do something a little different to the usual gallery hopping, we jumped at the chance to see the David Bowie exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum (or V&A for short) in London. Come on! An exhibition about one of the greatest music and fashion legends of all time that’s sponsored by Gucci and Sennheiser – haw yeah!
I have to admit, my ardent love for Bowie was something that crept up very gradually over the years. I’d hear songs on the radio or on TV shows and be like, “Woah, that’s so good”, then I’d google/Shazam them, and I kept coming up with a common theme – they were all by none other than David Bowie! This made me explore his back catalogue more and more, and I just kept striking gold.
Not only is Bowie a groundbreaker and major influence in the music world but he also never failed to make a massive statement with his fashion choices, constantly remaking himself to smash down new boundaries. He mastered androgyny with his 70s alter-ego Ziggy Stardust and has often collaborated with avant garde designers to create his outlandish stage costumes.
The V&A hosts a large collection of Bowie’s actual onstage outfits, instruments and even snippets of original lyrics – it was simply amazing to see them in real life. The exhibition also allowed us a greater insight into his early days before he finally “made it” and we learnt interesting trivia such as the fact that one of his pupils is permanently dilated after a fisticuff-related injury! And here I always thought he deliberately wore some kind of fancy contact lens!
After spending a couple of hours immersed in the fantastical world of Bowie, we recharged our batteries with hot chocolates in a courtyard overlooked by a number of the museum’s lovely red-bricked facades. If you happen to be traipsing around London any time soon, this exhibition needs to be added to your must-see list! The online tickets have long sold out but you can still buy tickets at the museum. We arrived at opening at 10:00am and managed to get tickets to the 10:30am admittance, and I highly recommend you do the same!
The Victoria & Albert Museum / 10:00 – 17:45 daily / 10:00 – 22:00 Fridays / David Bowie Is exhibition / Adults £15.50 / 23rd March – 11th August 2013
Wearing – Marcs dress (high end or affordable styles), Wolford merino tights, Madewell boots
He’s wearing – TopMan shirt and blazer, Urban Outfitters trousers, Converse shoes, Ona camera bag
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The zebra and the Shard
Posted on May 15, 2013
Wearing – Gorman jumper (love this bralet – perfect for Broome!), Madewell shirt, Urban Outfitters skirt (a faux leather option), Wolford merino tights, Camper shoes, Kate Spade necklace
Just shortly before going on holiday, we watched a Doctor Who episode that featured this glass-clad skyscraper as the headquarters for an alien organisation that was trapping people in its WiFi and converting them into energy (make sense?). It was quite an exciting episode and I can’t quite seem to translate that into plain words, but that might have something to do with the pyrotechnics and motorcycle ride straight up the side of the Shard that made it more thrilling.
I was half expecting to see Matt Smith aka the Doctor during our visit to this glistening modern day pyramid. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, but we still had a great view over the centre of London city – we were so high up that even large structures such as the Tower Bridge were dwarfed! See if you can spot some landmarks in our photos below! Also, I’m not quite sure what possessed me, perhaps I was having such a good time or it’s quite possible that the cold had cut off all circulation to my brain and I’d become delirious – but I decided that it was perfectly appropriate to have a little dance around the viewing platform. The incriminating evidence is below!
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Red letter day – Hyde Park
Posted on May 13, 2013
Wearing – Marcs dress (this season’s version), Wolford merino tights, Madewell boots
This red dress is one of my favourites. Gorgeous colour, great shape and fabric, and a skirt that falls just so. So why does it often hang neglected and overlooked in my closet? Well, this dress has “history”. I bought it last year for one express purpose – for an exam. And not just any old exam. For the single most scariest exam I’ve ever done in my whole entire life. No joke. Just thinking about the whole process leading up to it and the day itself is giving me the heebie jeebies. Thank God I passed, but even so the entire experience was so traumatic that my hand would try not to linger over its hanger whenever I came across it in my wardrobe, and I’d always find an excuse to wear something else.
Well, it’s been eight months since that-day-which-shall-no-longer-be-mentioned and I decided that it was time that the curse be lifted. And once I slipped this dress back on, I realised what a fool I’d been to let it languish behind lesser dresses. It’s effortlessly elegant, can be dressed up or down, and is so so soooo comfortable.
On another note, this was one of the few days during our holiday that I could venture safely out without a heavy coat in tow. We’d just eaten at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (for free!) and just hopped across the street into Hyde Park to enjoy the snippet of sunshine and admire the daffodils and giNORmous white swans. They’re twice the size of our black swans! The sunshine, the greenery and the sugar high we were still on made for a lovely, laughter-filled afternoon (probably more like giggles and snorts) and off we trotted on our merry way.
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InstaRecap – London + Edinburgh
Posted on April 23, 2013
As you can see we’ve been tearing around London like lunatics trying to soak in all the sights and eat as many pastries as possible, all whilst resisting the urge to curl up into a small but very warm ball, especially when some nights have been just one little degree Celsius! And remember I’ve been basking (sweating) in 35 degree Broome weather up til now! Jinn organised a sneaky birthday surprise for me and reserved us a room at the luxurious Langham Hotel which was just beautiful and also dangerously close to all the shopping on Oxford St. He knows me too well…
There will be many many more posts to come, I promise. But whilst there are that many things to see and numerous cupcakes to eat plus a wedding in France this Saturday (eek! So soon!), I’m afraid the posts will be a little sporadic. That, and I may possibly lose a finger or two if it gets any colder!
Ciao for now 🙂
1, 2, 3. Being spoilt by Jinn at The Langham.
4. Watching Matilda at Covent Garden.
5. At The Victoria & Albert Museum for the David Bowie exhibition – it was phenomenal.
6, 7. Paying Heston a visit…Meat fruit!
8. Strolling through Hyde Park (and attempting to burn off that meat fruit :P)
9, 10. View of the Shard and from the Shard.
11, 12, 13, 14. The Borough food markets which we just happened to stumble across near the base of the Shard.
15, 16, 17, 18. Being a bit touristy.
19. Lichtenstein at Tate Modern.
20. What I did whilst Jinn waited in line at Record Store Day. Ate (and delivered) cupcakes!
21, 22, 23. More wandering.
24. Reliving our past with a quick zip through Edinburgh. (We were last here seven years ago for a month as medical students!)
The Silver Lining 