Northern California Style

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The V&A

England- The V&A

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Before we left England I had one more thing on my to do list and that was The Victoria & Albert Museum. 

The V&A as it’s called, is lovely inside and out. It calls itself the world’s greatest museum of art and design.

The fashion area was of course first on my list and it did not disappoint. I left my guys for a while and enjoyed this.

Authentic frocks from the Austen period.

Sorry these photos are not so clear. Picture were being snapped all over which surprised me. I had my Iphone and so took a few as well. I do wish I could have shared the detail on these and the extraordinary fabrics. You just have to see them close up. People really were so much tinier in the past!

Some of the jewelry from these earlier periods was quite modern looking and fabulous. The antique chair, top hat and gloves all from this time as well.

The 1920s dresses were made of the most opulent velvets and silks. If I could just have this dress and fan… Love!

The wonderful thing about this exhibit is that they have authentic accessories to go along with each outfit. The real fans, necklaces, bags and shoes make it even more fun to see.

The lace on this wedding veil was beyond beautiful.

Tennis anyone? Knits were coming in style and look warm, but were moveable!

The precursor to today’s modern bathing suits were also made of sweater material. No quick drying there and don’t even think about supporting those cups!

Christian Dior’s New look from the 1950s is so feminine. These photos don’t show the lush fabric and it’s gorgeous drape.

This lovely evening gown was Balmain from the 1950s.

Givenchy from 1964. Can’t you just see Audrey Hepburn wearing this? The color was a vibrant red-orange that I wish photographed better !

These Roger Vivier pumps were shown with the Givenchy.

More 1960s. I believe the orange dress is Courreges. So would love to see more of those. The print dress is Pucci.

This 1980s display I could have sworn this sweater dress was Comme de Garcons, but I’m not for sure..

A view of where they are making casts of original antiquities from around the globe.

A wonderful stair structure.

The Asian art area is quite large and impressive.

Cameos (be still my heart!) were another favorite section and they have a fabulous collection through the ages.

This is the wrought iron area and though that sounds boring it was anything but. The gates, lamp posts and more from 1700s and even before were really something. Pretty and again it was the details!
The floors all over the museum are mosaics.
Even the orange juice stand was some form of art! My son loved this contraption.
One of the main reasons I wanted to come here was for the David Bowie Is exhibit. Tickets were sold out online, but supposedly they had 400 or more on each day. That didn’t really work out even though we were there at opening, the line to get the tickets was over 1 hour wait time and we still wouldn’t see the exhibit until very late in the day. . .Much later. I had to forget about it. 🙁
Yeah right.
So I had to sneak a peek into the Bowie exhibition and got to see the famous suit from his 1973 tour. That was about it.. What a suit!
Still I loved the V&A and I agree there is something there for everyone.

Londoners are so fortunate to have this space. The admission to the V&A and all the London museums is free and many take their lap tops and work here and relax in the outdoor spaces. It’s a very pleasant and unstuffy place to hang out in the middle of the busy city. Kids can play in the shallow pool (it’s not red just reflecting the buildings) and the wonderful cafe is connected to this so you can get a very gourmet lunch or tea and bring it outside.

The building itself is marvelous.

The day we were there they even had a big screen with Wimbledon on outside which was exciting.

The V&A cafe is special as expected. Look at the ceilings and walls and lights! Not even able to capture the colorfulness here.

Say no more! Two of my favorite word in the English language. Just another reason to adore the U.K.!

This was just a smattering of all there is to see at the V&A. I hope to go back again one day and get to even more of the galleries and all their treasures.

Upcoming we make our way to Belgium, Holland and Germany!

Thanks for reading!

Kim

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