Valentino Exhibition

If you follow me on Instagram [@ashleyagedah] - don't worry, I don't regularly upload "selfies" you would know that last month I went to the Valentino exhibition at Somerset House! The exhibition has now ended unfortunately, I'm so sorry that I didn't blog about this sooner! I visited the exhibition on the last day and I know this is an irrelevant post but when I look at my blog in a few years, I'd like to look back on posts like these and smile in a nostalgic way that I documented the event in some way or form.

I arrived at Somerset at around 11.a.m. two hours after the exhibition opened because I understood from the website that if people wishing to see the exhibition arrived too late, then the sessions could be sold out- they organised the exhibition so that only a certain number of people at a time could visit the exhibition. I actually preferred the fact that they had organised the exhibition in this way, because there were fewer people staring at one piece for thirty minutes and causing less congestion. Now, I don't like to begrudge people that really appreciate pieces, because I myself can probably spend ten minutes awestruck by a specific piece, but I stand in one spot for maybe five minutes of that time BUT THEN I'LL MOVE ALONG TO ANOTHER SPOT and stare it from a different position so that other people can have the chance to look at it from that angle. Personally, I think that exhibitions should have a plaque with "rules of common courtesy in exhibitions"...

Moving on, here's my review of the exhibition:

At first, you were met with a large dimly lit room with various holy relics from the Valentino archives ranging from show invitations to friends of the designer, letters from Karl, Donatella, Anna, Glenda and an array of other designers and editors, and sketches. In the back of the room there was a large flower on the wall that changed every few seconds to reveal a different print- very Valentino. After milling around the room for a while you then had to queue for maybe five minutes at the most before you were allowed to enter the runway and view the couture pieces. I liked how people were able to walk down the centre and the gowns were on either side of the runway, but the way in which they'd numbered the gowns was slightly irritating because you would have to look at the gowns on the right and you'd have reached halfway down the aisle but then would have to go back to the beginning and look at all the gowns on the left hand side if you wanted to follow the system properly and refer to the guidebook. The gowns on display were beautiful for the most part, but even the ones that probably weren't meant to actually be worn had the most exquisite details. The detailing on each gown was probably what struck me the most and what I loved about the exhibition. What was also incredibly useful was the companion that listed the techniques used on each of the gowns, which meant that I really learnt a lot from the exhibition and when I need Valentino to create a work of art for me to wear on a red carpet one day, we will be able to work together create a work of art- GOALS! I thought that after you finished walking down the runway and looked at the gowns, that it was the end of the exhibition, but instead there was more! Apologies in advance for the overly poetic language I am about to use to describe what I saw next, it is the best way for me to express my feelings, being a future A-Level English Literature students and all. As I walked down the stairs, I was met with the aerial view of a lace masterpiece that was a veil and almost started crying when I saw "The Wedding Dress". I've never seen a gown in real life that has looked more beautiful and had so much detail on it. There was also the opportunity to watch a short film on Valentino and previous exhibitions!

The thing that I appreciated the most about the exhibition, was the craftsmanship and hours it takes to create couture gowns, and different techniques they use. It also slightly irritated at how so many celebrities that claim to love fashion so much [with the available funds] don't advantage of these couture gowns and always wear such safe options on the red carpet. Now I really understand why the general public are so infatuated with events such as the MET Gala, because we actually get to see some real fashion on the red carpet.

 The only thing that really disappointed me about the exhibition, was the lack of red gowns! When I first saw the poster advertising the exhibition, the words that instantly popped into my head were "RED" and "RUFFLES"  and I only saw one red dress... [I think I only saw one, but only two or three at the most!]

Enjoy the pictures I secretly took on my iPhone!

Nicola Formichetti leaves Mugler

Nicola Formichetti has left fashion house Thierry Mugler for Diesel.

Thierry Mugler has never been a brand that I have felt passionate about, but having only recently discovered some of the beautiful Haute Couture pieces from their archives on Tumblr, it's a brand that I do take some note of during PFW.

Mugler is one of those brands that the average person/style blogger will tie to their Angel fragrance and nothing else- meaning their clothes in recent years have not garnered that much commercial success and put it this way, Harrods is the only shop in London to stock their woman's collections.

For a brand that shows at Paris Fashion Week, something is clearly wrong.

Now I'm not going to compare Formichetti's collections with past Mugler collections under a different direction I'm just going to analyse them as they are.

March AW 11/12- His debut collection



The collection didn't excite me but I liked the cutouts in the shape of waves that contoured the dresses, the over sized structured jackets paired with the tight dresses- very feminine and sexy, the heavy accents on the shoulders elongated the silhouette and made the look more sophisticated overall. Not a terrible debut collection at all and the eye makeup was beautiful. However, people that watched that show probably won't remember the clothes that were sent down the runway, but instead who walked down the runway. None other than Formichetti's partner in crime Lady Gaga! It leaves a very bad taste in my mouth whenever celebrities someway try to be at the forefront of anything to do with high fashion because it tends to distract from the most important part- the clothes! I'm pretty sure, that many people are much more excited at the prospect of seeing Kanye West at Margiela, than the clothes themselves. Moreover, not only did Lady Gaga walk down the runway, she walked down the runway twice and took the bow with Formichetti- not cool in my opinion! If an editor in anyway said anything bad about the show, they would be guaranteed a spot in Gaga's next diss song about how THEY know nothing about fashion [or how to review a collection properly à la Cathy Horyn in Cake Like Lady- the diss song]- OH THE IRONY! But seriously, Vogue's description of the show before you've even watched the show is "Lady Gaga makes her catwalk debut". Already, it sounds like a farce and it's not good to judge a collection beforehand!

S/S 11/12 Formichetti's second collection



This collection was a lot more well thought out, the clothes were more practical, the garments were sexier, I liked the colour palette except for the sequined/sparkly green accents! Those accents in some of the looks were vile. The shoulders were again dramatic, but the much sharper tailoring and variations on the classic suit made the collection so much more mature. In conclusion, a much smarter and better collection.

A/W 12/13- Formichetti's third collection



A stronger collection- you can never go horribly wrong with an all-white or monochrome look AND Formichetti did just that but for practically every look. This collection was a lot more conservative than the last A/W collection and there was not a grotesque display of flesh in almost every look, so that for me was another improvement! I liked the use of crocodile, it screamed "luxury" and the fact that it was in black and white, made it all the more tasteful. Sending out the models in pairs and groups of three added more of an impact to the show and made it seem more like a theatre production- the theatrics distracted me from the clothes slightly, but it did achieve a pretty strong visual impact.

S/S 12/13 Formichetti's fourth collection



Very rich colour palette. The pleats on that dress that opened the show were remarkable. I could see the references to the Japanese culture in the clothes, which was down nicely with the jackets that folded over the body to look like robes and the mix of texture in the looks was also very nice. A collection mainly made up of dresses and I felt that these would be easy to translate into stores to sell, but would be better targeted at the much more fashion conscious crowd due to some of the very extravagant cuts on the garments and not just people with a lot of money.

A/W 13/14- Formichetti's final collection



All in all, this collection was boring and largely dire. Pastel coats have been way too many times and the first few looks reminded me of clothes from COS and Reiss- not Mugler. That's not to say that they were bad, they just reminded me of things that I've already seen before! I liked the orange fur wrapped around the midriff very much and with a pair of long leather gloves and if the sleeves on the top had been taken up a bit, then the look would have been very Parisian [throw in a skirt with over exaggerated contours around the knees and we would have seen a much more classic Mugler look with a vintage Parisian vibe]. The cutout fur jumpers did not seem like they would be practical to wear, the shoes were vile and the headgear that the models were wearing was very questionable. A very dissapointing collection for Formichetti to depart with.

To conclude, Nicola Formichetti has served Mugler fairly well by producing collections that would generally be considered nice but not outstanding. I think that a change in creative director for Mugler will benefit the house greatly so we can see some new life being breathed into the clothes that many more women of today can wear. At first, I question Formichetti's move to Diesel, but a very youthful brand will serve him well and it will help the company's image if his best friend Lady Gaga starts to wear their clothes around without looking like she's trying too hard and Diesel would have a much better outreach with it's demographic.

On a final note, I'd like to wish Nicola Formichetti a very happy time at Diesel and hope he can leave some kind of impression on the fashion world, unlike how he did at Mugler! Buona Fortuna/Ganbatte Kudasai Nicola! [Both Italian and Japanese for good luck since the designer is half Italian and half Japanese]


Thank you!

Peace and Love 

-Ashley xoxo

[Le Style Kon-Uh-Sur]

Outfit of the Day

Oh wow, TWO outfit posts in one week! *reader should pretend to feign some sort of interest HERE* I don't post as many pictures of what I wear these days because my blog was very quickly becoming a personal style blog and not a FASHION blog, so I'm trying to discipline myself and write a lot more articles instead!

Enough about me and my blog identity "crisis". I've been meaning to wear this outfit for a while now and the reason I bought the shirt and necklace, was so that I could try the denim on denim look  and channel my inner Southern Belle-meets-Ralph Lauren chic. It was also a topic of discussion during the #stylechat last Wednesday I would consider joining the chat if I were you, it's really great and you meet many smart people that are actually passionate about fashion! The Sun also decided to make an appearance on the weekend- hence why I'm wearing the hat, but I'm actually glad that the weather hasn't been amazing because I have to stay inside and revise anyway, so the Sun acts as an evil temptation to trek to Covent Garden and not revise. 

I hate pictures of me in my glasses but these were one of the few pictures that my outfit was fully shown. 

Denim Jacket: Levi's Shirt: Bella Dahl Necklace: J Crew Hat: Jack Wills Bag: Louis Vuitton Shoes: Chloe

Have a nice week!

Peace and Love 

-Ashley xoxo

[Le Style Kon-Uh-Sur]