's recent posts
Life in Colour with Parks and Shabazz
Photography often failed to be recognised as a true art form, something that has resonated with the struggles encountered by many famous photographers nowadays. The medium’s strength was always recognised in its ability to accurately represent reality – nevertheless, even reality has numerous depictions. Gordon Parks is nowadays known to be one of the mostRead more
Redefining Luxury: What’s Left of Fashion Week?
As lockdown starts to ease throughout Europe, the Haute Couture Imperium has started to reopen slowly but questionably. With high-profile events gradually being cancelled for the rest of the year and customers now being followed by overly-eager-to-clean employees in department stores, it seems as if the world was settling into a “new” normal. However, overRead more
Four Wise (Wo)Men
It is hard to imagine that when Kodak initially introduced the portable camera, it was designed for women. Considered a ‘low art’ long into the 20th century, photography was given menial importance and seen as the perfect “hobby” for women who simply did not have the supposed ‘capacity’ and ‘skills’ to train in proper fineRead more
Dress in Film: We’re All in LaLaLand
Quarantine has made technological and cinematographic escapism almost obligatory, with fantastical and imaginative storylines, sets and costumes providing comfort to all of us stuck at home, daydreaming about the sky, the sea, the grass, or simply the pub. Although some have called this movie overrated, the fashion historian in me can’t deny having a softRead more
Remembering Peter H. Beard (1938-2020)
“The last thing left in nature is the beauty of women” – Peter Beard Peter Hill Beard rose to fame in the 60s when his infamous diaries were first published; combining his photographs with insects, leaves, feathers, transcribed telephone messages, quotes, bref – anything and everything that would inspire him – his unique documentation ofRead more
Dress in Film: Emma’s frills and macarons
Watching Emma (2020) is like spending 125 minutes in a Ladurée shop set in the 1800s. A real life Fragonard painting, the film’s soft-hued colour palette submerges the viewer in a modern vision of Georgian romance and the world of the Jane Austen is re-imagined with frills, pastels and macarons. Ostentatious bonnets and colourful spencersRead more
Dress in Film: Little Women on the Big Screen
As Academy Award season approaches, there comes a time to reflect over the films that strike us and I believe that many will agree with me in saying that Little Women’s spectacularly intricate and artistic costumes are worth discussing. The most notable thing about Jacqueline Durran’s costumes for Little Women is that they reflect theRead more
Saul Leiter: Abstracting the Ordinary
There is a man standing outside a deli in New York. His long khaki raincoat is drenched by the mushy snow, and a yellow truck rushes behind him. He seems to be occupied counting pennies, hoping perhaps to be able to afford his morning coffee. Pedestrians pass him by. He is just an ordinary workingRead more