Schiaparelli at the V&A

I had some spare time in London, having had lunch with friends in Catford and going to theatre in Hampstead in the evening, so I decided to pop into the V&A. I am a member and like to get my money's worth on exhibitions, even if there is nothing much that appeals, as is currently the case. And I could always enjoy the members' lounge.

Ignoring the contemporary art exhibition, which looked particularly rubbish, I went to see the fashion exhibition (fashion exhibitions seem to do very well at the V&A so they put a lot on). I feel the V&A fully recognise how crap the contemporary art exhibition is from looking at their website. Other exhibitions have photos of highlights from them. Not that one.

Now I am not exactly a fashion consumer, and the name Schiaparelli means nothing to me. It seems she worked from late thirties to early fifties. And the exhibition is entitled "Fashion Becomes Art". As I say women's fashion (or indeed men's) doesn't much interest me, so I think of other things. One was noting how during the War haute couture survived.

Secondly, while the early costumes from the late thirties looked stylish and above all wearable, she seemed to do what a lot of luxury brands have done this century - attach their brand to other items, and indeed to other brands. Hence collaborations with Dali and other artists. And branching out from relatively sober dresses and suits to perfume, jewellery and accessories. 

So above is what I would describe as sober and stylish. Below, stylish but far from sober, and of limited wearability. And here is my issue with the exhibition as a whole. The costumes below are not dresses by Elsa Schiaparelli, but by someone who bought the rights to her name after her death and is continuing to produce designer clothes. Basically this exhibition is partly a clothes advert. And its hardly a continuation of Elsa's designs. There was a long hiatus. And these things aren't really for wearing. They are for being photographed in. For tottering down a red carpet.

This is an original design. And its not a shoe exhibited upside down. It is a hat designed to look like a shoe

Below is one of the perfumes she branched out into. Apparently the only perfume she "produced" for men. And very much of its era - the bottle designed as a pipe.

Something more feminine

The more ridiculous modern designs - a sort of space age monkey attached to a dress

Striking, but is it even a costume? You see what I mean about it being something to be photographed in? It is just for posing

So having gone through the exhibition, which I did enjoy, I went is search of the members' room, only to be told that it was closed because the upper floor was too hot!

I wandered around the Renaissance and plaster cast galleries - familiar territory, but stunning nonetheless.

 

Lightning Seeds at Somerset House and a world cup final

A rather different gig. Somerset House is certainly the grandest of surroundings for a concert. Rather more salubrious than the back room of the Finsbury pub. But a more enjoyable experience?

Well first this gig cost me £40. And I had to travel to it without the Piccadilly line, the northern section of which is out of action this weekend. So this involved a lengthy walk, one overground and two tube trains.

But main gripe was the lack of a support act for an hour and a half between gates open and the Lightning Seeds. Now the organisers would say there was a support act - this lady. Who is apparently a DJ with Radio X called Sunta Templeton. But all she did was play popular nineties Brit Pop tracks. There was no clever melding of music. Just tracks. You could have replaced her with AI. All gigs play music between acts. This was all this was. Indeed while she was "playing" the bloke next to me on the barrier asked the security bloke when the acts were on and he said "the support is supposed to be playing now, and the Lightning Seeds are on at 4." So both of them assumed this couldn't be a support act. Oh well, I suppose it is cheap. But definitely felt short changed.

But what of the Lightning Seeds? Well this was a greatest hits compilation, which of course is precisely what the crowd had come for. Ian Broudie was suitably genial, although he (and his audience) are all getting on a bit. This is not a band with a new generation of fans. The few youngsters here were clearly brought by their parents

And the young man on rhythm guitar is Ian's son, Riley, about whom their best song, Life of Riley, was written.

They also gave us a rendition of their most successful song, the football anthem Three Lions. Only now it is 60 years of hurt. Rarely could a song be more topical.

They also did a great rendition of You Showed Me, which is not actually a Broudie written track, but a cover of a 1960s song. But he also managed to get the lyrics of Imagine and All You Need Is Love into it, all to the tune of You Showed Me. Like the I'm Sorry I  Haven't a Clue game of One Song to the Tune of Another.

 

A finish just after 5, no encore, a set of just a little over an hour. Plenty of time to get home for the World Cup Final. 

My prediction? A 1-0 win for Spain. Result? A 1-0 win for Spain. But such a complete anti-climax after the 3rd place match. 

All the pressure on, but Spain were just so much the better side. But unlike England, they didn't score until much later on, second half of extra time. At which point, like in the England semi-final, Argentina suddenly started to play football rather than just cheat and defend. Even down to ten men they showed more attacking intent in the last ten minutes than in  the almost two hours that preceded. There can rarely have been a more one sided, or dull, World Cup final.