Fashioned from Nature

When I heard about the V&A Museum's exhibition, "Fashioned from Nature," I immediately wanted to go, and last week I did.  The show looks at how Western fashion has been involved with the natural world over the last four hundred years, and it takes in a huge variety of garments, from labourers' fustian smocks to  gowns decorated with beetles - as well as quite the most awful earrings I have ever seen in my life.

I won't try to tell you about everything, but it was good to see that many of the beautiful items on display were simply celebrating the beauties of nature.  The embroidery on this evening dress from 1810 shows swirling vegetation and tree ferns, and is thought to have been inspired by exotic St. Helena tree ferns that had just been given to Kew Gardens at the time.

And this 18th century fine French waistcoat is also a celebration of nature, with African plants and Colobus monkeys (shown at the bottom) which would have seemed very unfamiliar to Westerners.

At least the Colobus monkeys weren't being made into fur coats. Along with the admiration for nature there has always been a seeming determination to plunder it, as we know, and any show on this subject will inevitably include quite a bit about fur, skins, pelts and feathers.  I found it rather depressing to admire the wonderful breast plumage of the huge albatross, only to see, (as the vintage label at the bottom said ) that this specimen had been "dressed and prepared for use in Ladies' Muffs, etc."

I'll spare you a picture of those nastiest earrings I've ever seen - in fact, thinking about it, they are too nasty even to describe. So if you want to see them you must go to the exhibition and look at all the earrings and see if you can guess.   There was something distasteful too about common birds which were "altered" to make them look into more interesting, expensive and imposing hat ornaments, although I know that DIY taxidermy appeals to some people. 

So I will move on to embroidery with beetle wing cases, as shown in the dress below. This was a type of white muslin dress that was often made in India for fashionable Westerners. It is stitched with iridescent dark-green beetle-wing cases of the jewel-beetle Buprestidae.  This particular dress is relatively restrained: there's far more elaborate beetle embroidery on Pinterest.  I believe the beetles discard the wing cases naturally, but these days you can get equally iridescent effects with certain types of sequins, although to be fair they don't look as if they are crawling all over you.   

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The show has examples of all kinds of unexpected natural fibres which have been used in fashion.  Forget about wool, linen and water-wasting cotton; I was more interested in more unexpected fabrics like glass and pineapple fibre.  Pineapple cloth is now made on a small scale as a leather substitute under the brand name Pinatex, but there was a much more elegant and time consuming use of  this tough substance in a wedding gown of 1820, in which pineapple fibres and silk were woven together. You might be able to see that the warp and weft of the silk was removed in part of the pattern, and only the see-through pineapple fibre remained.

(Or you might not be able to see that. I am sorry about the low resolution of the photos. I forgot both my camera and my phone,  and T kindly lent me his phone. But its camera doesn't appreciate low light levels. )

Another thing that caught my eye was this riding coat, not for its materials but for its shape.  I think it's for a young woman or even a girl, since is cut with space for wide skirts, but apart from that, it doesn't appear to be made for a human being at all. It is very tiny, and flat chested, with a waist that cannot be more than eighteen inches, and massive shoulders that must measure twice that. It is tightly buttoned and form-fitting so I suspect the unfortunate wearer would have been laced into a very weird shaped corset and stuffed inside before they climbed onto their pony and galloped off (side-saddle, of course.)    

Environmental issues and exhibits are a significant part of the show.  In the 21st century the major concern is the wasteful use of natural resources. There is so much throwaway fashion, and some of it, like cotton denim, takes incredible amounts of water to produce, so it is good to see that some major fashion companies are waking up to the idea of sustainability.  Here is a link to H&M's "Conscious" range (click the little square beneath the description of each garment to read exactly how it is sustainable). At present, though, the idea of eco-fashion still seems like a bit of a fad, so it would good to see it become more mainstream.  

All so different from the second world war, isn't it?  Then, just getting materials at all, of any kind, was a problem.  If you were a skilled craftsperson, though, you could create beautiful garments from used parachute silk, like this, fashioned by a clever London dressmaker in the 1940s. This might have been one of my favourite pieces in the show. 

Of course fashion comes up with all kinds of extraordinary ideas, and recent ones are just as impractical and probably just as uncomfortable to wear as that riding jacket. The shoes below are from the "Bird Witched" collection of Japanese designer Masaya Kushino.  I found them very hard to photograph, so I've manipulated the image so you can get an idea of how they looked.

In real life, the shoes were black and grey, with black plumage feathers at the back, and sculpted metal bird claws which are the part you actually walk on.  Since they stand several inches off the ground, anyone using them would need a wonderful sense of balance! 

 

Jean-Paul Gaultier, as ever, contributed one of the most amazing garments. This dress, from his "Russia Collection" is called "Cat Woman," but in fact it depicts a leopard.  It is not made from real leopard skin but is created with many thousands of beads, and the label said that it took over 1,000 hours to make. You will see that the "leopard" face forms the entire bodice of the dress, and to me it looked as if it was holding the model in a close embrace.

A bit creepy, as so much of this fashion is - but for me that's one of the things that makes it so fascinating. 

After seeing the show, we emerged, blinking, to soak up some rays in the Madjeski Garden, in the museum's central courtyard.  In the beginning, I suspect this garden with its calm lawns and shallow pool was originally intended as an oasis of serenity.  Well, it's anything but that, now, and all the better for it.  The museum seems to have decided that it should be a child friendly zone and added water jets to add to the fun, which I'm sure weren't there originally.   There's now even an  an icecream stand in the sunniest corner, where you can sit and watch the kids play and notice everything that is going on in the square.

On the way home, we stopped off by the Paddington Canal to see what was new.  More children, more water jets.   This little person below spent a while figuring how to catch water from the jets shooting upwards all around her. She was very persistent, and in the end she realised that her mug had to be right way up, catching the water as it fell.  It may seem obvious to us, but I thought that was a real feat of reasoning for a little tot. 

I know that the weather in some countries is pretty bad right now, so I hope you're getting some pleasant summer days where you are.  And, if you want to go to the "Fashioned From Nature" exhibition - which doesn't finish until next January - I do recommend it, and the details are here. 

Bradford

Life has been full with work, events and visitors, but a couple of weeks ago one of our daughters was giving a lecture at the British Science Festival, which was held in Bradford. We were very proud of her and took the chance of going up to Bradford to hear her lecture.

I'd taken a look at Bradford on Streetview and it had looked pretty depressing, so I wasn't expecting much. I was wrong, though. It is run down, but it used to be a big important city and gives the impression of being almost on the verge of turning the corner so it will be one again.  It really felt quite welcoming.  The station at Bradford Interchange was brightly decorated with flowers, and had helpful, friendly staff.

The city centre streets were clean and it was only a short walk to City Park. There, the City Hall dominates a new public space with an elaborate water feature/fountain/lights pool, which is surrounded by cafes and shops. 

Every time we passed this pool, we saw kids having a lovely time.  This little lad (below) caught my eye, he was enjoying himself so much, splashing with all his might and singing at the top of his voice.  Unfortunately he was wearing his everyday clothes....

Suppose it was a bit mean of me to laugh when his mother suddenly noticed 

We discovered that we had arrived during the few weeks of the year when City Hall opens its doors for self guided tours.  It's a fairly new initiative, with volunteer guides of all ages, and items from the city's museums on show.  So we went into the imposing front door....

 and almost the first thing I saw was a miniature City Hall made by a local resident. I'm a sucker for miniatures.    

The stained glass windows show Bradford's motto LABOR OMNIA VINCIT, "Work Overcomes All"- and the boar's head represents an old legend called the Boar of Cliffe Wood (click the link to read it).  There is more about the coat of arms here,  I expect the ram is a reference to Bradford's history of weaving. 

The City hall is in best traditional Victorian sstyle (although in fact some of it is post-Victorian) and  I am glad to report that it was obviously cherished - it was immaculate.  The rooms are grand and high, and the corridors are long, with lots of mahogany, tiling and well polished brasswork.  This fireplace in the banqueting hall must be twenty feet high, and the frieze above it shows various symbolic characters in life size.

I really did love this fireplace, very much the kind of fireplace you might find in Hogwarts. The marble looks like magical blue flames and that's the Royal coat of arms on the fireback. 

My eye was caught by a large multi layered tapestry hung on the wall in this room. It's too intricate to show in detail, so I can only show you a part, but you might recognise the Bronte sisters, who lived nearby, and David Hockney, one of my favourite contemporary artists, as well as that boar's head again.   It's a community effort made with all kinds of media by people of all ages, and it is called "The Threads that Bind Us." It was commissioned to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, and the people behind it are a couple of artists called Morwenna Catt and Lucas Stephens.  I liked the tapestry so much that I'd like to see more of their work.   

Elsewhere in the hall, the city plate and regalia were on display, among other interesting items - including one of the few death masks of Oliver Cromwell in existence - Bradford was a Parliamentary place in a sea of Cavaliers at the time of the Civil War.  Below is the Lord Mayor's Evening Jewel, although I have no idea if or why it is only worn in the evening.  

And below is the Lord Mayor's Parlour, a room which I would be very happy to have as MY parlour. The current Lord Mayor is in fact, a woman,so the Lady Mayoress's parlour opposite this one is occupied by her consort.

Bradford  was a cradle of the Industrial Revolution, so its heyday was in the nineteenth century. Its prosperity was built on wool and textile manufacture, and had about 130 spinning mills in its prime.  If I'd had a car, rather than coming by train, I'd have taken a short ride out to one of the most famous of these mills, Saltaire.  I've wanted to go there for years, and if I do  I'll post about it, but meanwhile here's a link so you can see why I want to go. 

 So there was a display about weaving in one of the rooms, where local weavers and spinners were demonstrating on looms of various types. I think this lady is weaving jute. 

Around fifteen years ago Bradford had race riots, but I have to say everyone we met seemed cheery and positive, specially compared to London.  I only visited the city centre, so it might be different in other places, but it was nice, anyhow.  When I left City Hall I came across these ladies from St. Vincent de Paul Society who had set up a living room tableau in the square.  It was created from donated second hand furniture and ornaments in order to encourage local people to recycle large objects to help others.  

One thing I have wanted to do for years is visit the National Media Museum (below)- which is free of charge and actually overlooks the City Park.   It contains, among many other wonderful things, the National Photography collection and a BFI mediatheque where you can dial up a huge variety of films. But I only managed half an hour in one of the galleries when I had to go out and meet people so that's another thing that I'll have to write about another time.

In the evening the City Park fountains light up, and although it's hardly Piccadilly Circus, the cheerful atmosphere attracted quite a few party goers all dressed in Mexican sombreros.  The atmosphere was fine, but there are a lot of pubs around - too many, in my view, for a city centre - and I'm not sure I'd want to be there by midnight.   

We went up a side street to have supper in Mylahore, which also served as an unofficial press centre during some of the British Science Festival week. It seems a very popular place.   West Yorkshire has become famous for its British Asian restaurants and Mylahore serves a mixture of Indian and modern western food in colourful, modern and cheerful surroundings.

However, all this sparkly modernity is only one aspect of Bradford. It is impossible to avoid noticing the large areas of dereliction and the neglect of so many bits of potentially wonderful cityscape.   Many of the mills are derelict.  The result is lots of beautiful wild flowers, but - !

It is sad indeed to see some of the ugly development that was inflicted on the city in the 1960s when many of the Victorian buildings were ripped down, The ugliest is a concrete monstrosity called Kirkgate, It was so hideous I didn't take a photo although I suppose I should have done. It's sad to see how neglected some of the solid well built Yorkshire stone buildings are which remain.  These would make impressive offices, don't you think?  

Too much of this, whole streets with crumbling shops, bookies, gambling parlours, pubs or low cost businesses, all built from this beautiful local stone. 

I discussed Bradford's problems with a few people at the university and a couple of people said that one issue is the lack of middle class jobs in the town. An even bigger issue was that for eight years the site for a Westfield shopping centre lay completely derelict in the city centre - although it's now being built and will open soon.  When that happens, perhaps footfall in the city centre will increase, and more of the old buildings  will be brought back to life. 

I was encouraged to see a bit of that already - this is the Wool Exchange, which has been re-used by a Waterstones bookstore. 

Here is an interior shot from ground floor level. 

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There's a cafe upstairs, and this is the view from that.

Managed to cut my hand and bought band-aids in a fascinating pharmacy.  This had been taken over by one of the chains, but  the area was so run down they couldn't make it pay.  It is now owned by a private individual who has turned it into something of a tourist attraction, as well as providing friendly service for prescriptions.   

The splendid old drawers are all intact, complete with names, but it's a bit of a lucky dip what you will find  - from fabulous expensive perfumes to cheap, cheerful ornaments, local products, and - yes, band aids.  

... with all kinds of items from the shop's history on display.  

I'm glad to say that it seemed quite busy and the staff were really delightful. 

I don't see myself returning to Bradford this winter - last time I visited in the winter I nearly froze to death - but when warmer weather comes again, I'll try to go back and see if the new shopping centre has attracted more people to the surrounding streets.  Bradford City centre has so much going for it, and at present it feels like a place that's just about to tip from the wrong to the right side of the tracks once more.  I hope I'm right.