Friday 3 August 2012; 18.30-22.00
An event as part of the Exhibition Road Show, 28 July - 5 August 2012
Admission Free
On Friday 3 August, the V&A and Exhibition Road Show will host Utterly Elegant, an evening of free films, talks, workshops and demonstrations celebrating British elegance, style and creativity. Visitors are encouraged to come dressed in their finest attire to catch the eye of fashion photographers Marius Hansen & Morgan White, whose photographs from the event will enter the V&A’s digital collections. Milliner Noel Stewart will run hat-making workshops and fashion designer Deborah Milner - who has worked with Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy - will give lessons in the art of pattern cutting. Celebrity stylist Grace Woodward will offer her expertise on creating red carpet style in a talk demonstrating how it’s done and offering tips for elegant evening looks.
Performances include a special tour through the Museum led by experimental dance/theatre company dANTE or dIE and a live set from award-winning musician and artist, Bishi. Inspired visitors can take a twirl on the Road Show's outdoor Ballroom to the sounds of the London Banqueting Orchestra. There will be an exclusive preview of Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel, a documentary about the renowned American fashion editor. This screening will be followed by a discussion between former Vogue features editor Justine Picardie and V&A fashion curator Oriole Cullen on the legacy of Vreeland as a 20th century fashion icon.
Utterly Elegant complements the V&A exhibition Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950, sponsored by Coutts, which shows more than 60 ballgowns from 1950 to the present day. The exhibition traces the evolution of ballgowns, red carpet evening gowns and catwalk showstoppers from the 1950s to date, with examples from Norman Hartnell to Gareth Pugh. The exhibition is the first in the newly re-opened V&A Fashion Galleries.
Further highlights include late access to V&A exhibitions, bars and food, a programme of film screenings curated by fashion historian Marketa Uhlirova and live music in the John Madejski Garden from 1920s-inspired DJs The Shellac Sisters.
Utterly Elegant has been curated for the Exhibition Road Show by V&A curators Zoe Whitley and Cassie Davies-Strodder with Road Show’s associate producer (design), and author of The New English Dandy, Alice Cicolini and its music curator David Coulter.
Utterly Elegant full programme:
Repeated during evening; Exhibition Road Entrance, La Fille a la Mode, dANTE or dIE
18.30-21.30; Sackler Centre, Millinery Workshop: Noel Stewart
18.30-21.30; Sackler Centre, Pattern Cutting Workshop: Deborah Milner
19:00 & 20.30; Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, Screening: Diana Vreeland:
The Eye Has to Travel, With thanks to Studio Canal. Followed by An Elegant Q&A: Justine Picardie & Oriole Cullen on the legacy of Diana Vreeland.
18.30-21.30; Sackler Centre, Hochhauser Auditorium, Screening: British Elegance in True Colour; curated by the Fashion in Film Festival
20.00; Location TBC, Behind the Scenes: Creating a Celebrity Look: Grace Woodward
18.30-21.30; V&A John Madejski Garden, DJ: The Shellac Sisters
18.30-21.30; Outdoor Ballroom, London Banqueting Orchestra followed by Bishi
exhibitionroadshow.co.uk; @RoadShow2012
www.vam.ac.uk ; @V_and_A
by Lucy Walton
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