This new company has recently been set up to encourage women to make clothing again but in a highly finished way. The notions are pure looking and beautifully packaged in a traditional haberdasher style. It is a similar concept to Labour & Wait but more focussed. You can make the garments yourself. This is style rather than […]
Merchant and Mills – couture from home
Happy Table
Another new business with a very good idea: personalised placemats that you can change around at will. And they’re not just for children either. www.happytable.co.uk
Diaghilev & the Ballets Russes
Still on for another few weeks this exhibition was much more comprehensive than expected and certainly inspirational in the colouring and design. I was staggered to learn that The Rite of Spring, one of their most famous ballets was only actually performed 9 times. The costumes were all handpainted on quite heavy cotton and wool, making movement difficult […]
Christmas windows at Fortnum & Mason
The department store Christmas displays are always worth seeing. Fortnum and Mason rarely disappoint and this year’s Piccadilly windows are a glory of deconstructed classical paintings inspired by the National Gallery. I’m not sure you can tell that this is a 3D construction including real objects from the photo: I like the fact that they have […]
Christmas shopping
Now that it’s December I feel OK talking about Christmas. I was horrified in September to see a Christmas tree in a restaurant: my friend couldn’t understand the pointing and gabbling of ” Aargh, look, look!”. She thought perhaps that I’d spotted a celebrity but I’m not quite that pathetic. Anyway, back to Christmas and gift […]
Debbie Smyth – drawing with thread
Debbie Smyth is worth watching for her pin and thread drawings. Her graduation show memorably included pylons stretching over several screens. At Origin back in October she included smaller pieces more easily integrated into a domestic setting. Her depictions of often ignored everyday objects such as the supermarket trolley imbue them with unexpected poetry. The varied density of thread gives ambiguity to […]