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London

Vogue 100

Hot on the heels of last week’s visit to the V&A, this week I took myself off to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Vogue 100 exhibition.

The show celebrates a hundred years of Vogue, through the photography and portraiture of the magazine. When you enter the gallery at first it seems strange that the collection starts at 2016, with the familiar faces and fashions of now, but as you move through the rooms and down the long gallery you realise that it’s perfect to be going ‘back’ in time, overwriting the familiar, and finally ending with wonderful evocative images from 1916 and the twenties.

I’ve never bought a copy of Vogue, so if you’ve never actually read the magazine it doesn’t matter. This show is all about the amazing imagery, and often also the subject matter. The wall size shot of Alexander McQueen as you go in hits you right between the eyes and that is followed by shot after mesmerising shot.

There were two things that in particular I loved. The first was the planning room, a small area that shows a series of slides from different shoots and then finishes with shots of the front cover or spread that the final images appeared in. The transparencies where also available to view on light boxes in the room – I wished I had a loupe to be able to really study them close up. They were captivating.

The second favourite area was a room that had a timeline on the wall and representative front covers from each decade. The changing styles of layout and type over the decades was clear to see and seeing the shots that you’ve seen in the exhibition then placed in the graphic design format of the covers, with the masthead and type, was great.

Obviously, the imagery speaks for itself and there’s a mesmerising piece of motion art on 2 huge walls – videos from shoots and other footage, which I could have stood and watched for ages. The show is beautifully curated and it’s a large body of work. We went in the evening and it was a perfect antidote to a busy Thursday.

Again, there was no photography allowed in the show so I’ve used some here from the Vogue website. On the way out I bought the accompanying book, which is wonderful. Rich and luxurious and something to pore over – which I shall be doing a lot of this weekend!

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14th May 2016

Design

Undressed at the V&A

Undressed, at the V&A is a show dedicated entirely to underwear, and I had a lovely time seeing it yesterday.

With 140 men and women’s pieces from around 1750 right up to the present day, the collection features not only the history of undergarments but also the role of underwear in fashion. There were some amazing exhibits, in particular a gold crochet dress from the 1930’s and an Alexander McQueen gown. The detailing on both was stunning, as was the design and construction of some of the corsets. There is one piece in the show which had been made for Dita Von Teese, which was lovely but also quite shocking – I think the waist size was probably smaller than the size of my thigh. It was teeny tiny, which I know is kind of the point with a corset, but I couldn’t actually imagine how anyone could have a waist that small!

I loved some of the 1930’s – 1950’s pieces, sexy champagne coloured girdles and this blue one, that looks modern today.

It’s not a large exhibition, so you can easily get round it all in a hour, and then do what we did and disappear off for a lovely lunch in the sun after!

Unfortunately the V&A are not allowing visitors to take any photographs of the show so I wasn’t able to take any shots. The ones used here all come from the V&A site.

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7th May 2016

Design

Getting geeky about type

This week I had the very great pleasure of listening to a talk about my favourite design discipline – type.

Legends Bruno Maag and Vincent Connare came into Friday to talk to us about why type matters, how they create new typefaces, the impact of their font for Kindle and how Comic Sans was created.

I was in my element, listening to these guys talk to us about the process and craft of creating type and I’ve rarely seen Madge so animated or fired up about a lecture subject matter. I could have listened to these guys talk all night, and they even left some lovely takeaways for us. My Dalton Maag notepad is so nice I probably won’t ever actually use it.

Big thanks to Jo Simmons and Alex Mecklenburg for organising this.

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19th February 2016

Play

Gibson Bar

There’s a new(ish) cocktail bar opened on Old Street, called The Gibson. In the place of a previously old and dark pub, it is based around the Gibson cocktail, a variant of the Martini – made with gin, vermouth and an onion.

It was the perfect place to meet my pal Joe, who I hadn’t seen since just before Christmas. I’d been ‘warned’ that this wasn’t your average cocktail bar, and that advice turned out to be very right.

The inside of the bar is gorgeous, harking back to 1930’s New York, with mirrored tables and low seating. The staff are fab – attentive, without being overbearing and keen to help you choose the right thing. The challenge is, the menu is very diverse. There are barely any straightforward mixes on the list, everything seems to have tons of ingredients and it takes quite a while to choose.

I went for a classic vodka martini to start, followed by the more adventurous Gibson Girl. It was nice, but I couldn’t have had two as it has quite a strong flavour. I then plumped for something I can’t remember the name of. It came served in a ceramic onion, and to be honest I had to give up and send it back, as it wasn’t to my taste. The bar were great and didn’t charge me for it (I’d happily have paid, after all it was my choice) which was very generous. They also did the same for Joe, who had ordered something that appeared to be more akin to a desert than a cocktail (let’s just say, it had a ‘chocolate rim’!!)

We had a great night, chatting about anything and everything and I would definitely go back to the bar, for the staff the ambiance and the atmosphere, but I would most likely stick to a classic martini or be very careful about my next adventurous choice. Check out the menu.

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14th February 2016

Eat

Whitecross Street food market

When you are on a restricted diet, making sure you get plenty of variety is essential. If you are basically eating meat and veg and fish and veg then you’re going to get pretty bored pretty quickly if you don’t mix it up a bit.

I’m lucky to spend a lot of time in London, in the Clerkenwell/Barbican area so I get to go to Whitecross Street food market a few times a week. Many moons ago I nearly rented a flat in Whitecross Street and then it was a bit of a run down dingy street with a few average restaurants in. Now, it’s completely changed. It’s actually one of the oldest markets in London, dating back to the 17^th Century, and at one point was known as ‘Squalors Market’. After some investment and regeneration it’s now a must-visit for anyone working or living in the area.

If you go down to Whitecross Street any weekday lunchtime you’ll find some of the best takeaway food vendors in London. You can eat your way round the world with curries and tikka boxes, burrito’s, Thai, sushi, Italian, Turkish and everything in between. A walk down the street is a mouthwatering delight and the hardest thing is to decide what to have. There up to 50 stalls on a Thursday and Friday, but there is a pretty good selection all week, from 10 – 4pm.

Everyone knows about Borough Market, but in my mind Whitecross certainly gives it a run for its money on takeaway, and prices are still reasonable for London. This week I’ve had a fantastic tikka box and a bun-less burger with salad, and I’ve got my eye on the Brazillian chicken skewers for later in the week.

The Market opening times are 10-4pm Monday to Friday , with many more food stalls on a Thursday and Friday.

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20th January 2016

Live

December madness

December is always a crazy month – client drinks, work drinks, friends drinks, parties, shopping. This year I tried to be organised but it still got pretty bonkers.

: My solitary decoration

: Shopping with Mum

: Father Cheesemas

: I wonder what it could be?

: Bubbles

: Client drinks

: Double trouble

: Hello Mr Redbreast

: The Prodigy, Wembley Arena

: Christmas before Christmas

: Lift full of party

: Christmas party

23rd December 2015

Live

White City, London W12

Now that my Nan is in residential care, we had to begin clearing out our home in order to return it the the council. It’s odd to think that I will probably never go there again, unless anything more needs doing to help with the move, especially as it is a place I spent much of my childhood. A house as familiar to me as my own home for many years. And an area that became more familiar as I got older, with my first job at the BBC being based in White City as well.

White City was farmland until the beginning of the 20th Century. In 1908 the stadium was built and it was used as the site of the Franco-British Exhibition (and subsequently other exhibitions) and then for the 1908 Summer Olympics – the last time before 2012 that London hosted the games. When I was young the olympic stadium was a greyhound racing track and also used for athletics. It even hosted one match in the 1966 world cup. In 1985 the stadium was demolished and is now the site of a BBC building – not the one I worked in, which was just the other side of the Westway.

The housing estate was built in the late 1930’s and finished in the early ’50’s and both my parents grew up there. The streets were all named after the countries that had featured in the great exhibitions and my Mum was born on the White City, overlooking the football ground of Queens Park Rangers. I’m not much of an active football supporter these days, but given that my Nan lives/lived about 500 yards from Loftus Road (the home of QPR) the superhoops have always been in the blood, and during the 70’s when I was a child I would regularly go to matches with my Dad. More often than not with a colouring book and pens, a treat of a Bovril and a pie at half time, then back to Nan and Grandad’s for dinner and Doctor Who. There was a match on while we were there working in the house, and with the noise and the floodlights it took me back instantly, evoking lots of memories.

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7th November 2015

Eat

Chambers of Flavour

Last week we went on the most amazing ‘multi dimensional dining experience’ – the Chambers of Flavour, run by Gingerline.

I was really looking forward to it, even though the whole premise of the concept is secrecy, so I didn’t know what to expect. I’d been told it was ‘Secret Cinema for dining’, and looked at the website, which doesn’t give much away!

So, once the booking is made, you have to wait until 4pm on the day of the booking to find out where the venue is. You know it is going to be somewhere on the Overground, but that’s it. At 4pm the text arrived and we were told where to head, and to be there for 5.30pm.

On arrival we were given a welcome drink and our entrance tickets and waited for our turn to go through.

Because the whole concept relies on secrecy I can’t say anything about the experience itself, other than the fact is was amazing. An absolutely fantastic night out, with good food and great company. I have not laughed so much in ages and the minute I came out I wanted to do it again!

If you can get tickets for this or any of the Gingerline events do – I’d definitely go again.

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7th October 2015

Eat

Dinner at Foxlow, Clerkenwell

We stayed in London on Wednesday night and decided to try Foxlow in St John Street. I didn’t know anything about it other than its owned by the same people that own Hawksmoor, and was attracted by the fact they serve cocktails!

We had a quick drink at the bar (disappointingly stand-up only) while we waited for a table and were soon seated at a high bench, which felt a bit bar-like, so that was good.

The restaurant feels really comfortable, with a bustle-y atomosphere and an open kitchen, bare wood tables and white tiles. It was busy and pretty lively and there was a lot on the menu to tempt us.

I chose the beef short-rib, with a side of oh-so-bad-it’s-good macaroni cheese and @madgie had fried chicken with chicken salt fries. The fries were astonishingly good – apparently the chicken ‘salt’ is crushed chicken skin. All washed down with a few Cosmopolitans. Somewhere to go if you want something substantial to eat – though you have to order all side dishes separately.

I’d go back, though wouldn’t necessarily rush and if you drink cocktails all night it can get a bit pricey. It’s such a shame I don’t drink beer ☺

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30th July 2015

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