🧭Cultural Compass #10
A round-up of culture influencing my navigation of life.
🖼 Fashion, Dahling
First up this week, a V&A double whammy. I mentioned back in June that I’d intended to visit the DIVA exhibition over summer, charting the power and creativity of iconic performers in various forms of entertainment over the years. Well, having agreed with a close friend that we’d visit together, it took us until October to find a Sunday we were both free, such is the ridiculous way of millennial living. A visit to DIVA on its own would have absolutely been worth the wait, but to capitalise on having a date locked in together (my productivity creep knows no bounds) we made a day of it with not one but two exhibitions, also visiting Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto. Energy levels were kept up with a brunch to start, coffee and cake between viewings in the museum courtyard, warmed by the afternoon autumn sun, and finishing the day with a parting glass of prosecco to toast the good vibes of good friends enjoying a Sunday full of culture and conversation.
DIVA surpassed my expectations in numerous ways. It had all the usual traits of a V&A fashion installation: carefully crafted historical context, displays of incredible handmade costumes and accessories, and interesting stories behind the pieces as well as those who wore them. But what really elevated this one for me was the clever use of personalised headphones. I’m usually one to skip any kind of guided tour listening device when visiting an exhibition or cultural centre, preferring instead to look and read and admire at my own pace in my own way. But as we entered the exhibition this time the the staff member assured us that taking the headphones would really add to the experience, and it was an excellent moment to take the advice of someone who clearly knew better than I.
As we made our way around the collection, starting in the era of 16th century divas breaking the mould and carving out a new definition of the term, through to the early 20th century icons I first came across when studying GCSE History, all the way through to the legends of today - from Rihanna to Adele to Billie Eilish - we were treated to an amazing musical accompaniment. Through the headphones, which sensed which area of the exhibition we were in at any given moment, we listened to those whose images and outfits we gazed at sing or speak into our ears, adding a sensory experience to the whole encounter. From Bette Davis to Marilyn Monroe, Aretha Franklin to Dolly Parton, as well as Mariah, Whitney and Tina, the voices of these iconic women (and a few men who have earned the diva descriptor) filled our ears with passion, anger, regret, hope. The way these rhythms accompanied a wonderful tour of silk, sequins and stilettos was a cleverly uplifting twist to the already impressive collection, and it left me feeling a mix of inspired, a little emotional, and even ready for a night on the dancefloor.
The ensuing coffee and cake break was a welcome interval for reflection.
Refuelled, we wandered through to Coco’s collection, which undoubtedly was another impressive feat by the museum, to have collated such a vast array of iconic outfits, set against personal stories and a reminder of the business acumen held by one woman and her ‘house’. I had some awareness of Gabrielle Chanel’s troubled childhood, and had read a bit about her influences on how and what she designed, but the vastness of her influence on society, on mainstream Western culture and beyond, reaching outside of just the fashion circles and spanning the 20th century while still being firmly embedded today, is really highlighted by this exhibition. Today’s 20-somethings, myself included, still put the iconic Chanel No.5 perfume on a pedestal (though am currently using Coco Mademoiselle, a well-chosen birthday gift from my partner), thanks in part to some clever marketing and an unforgettable response from the aforementioned Monroe to an interviewer in 1952. The tweed skirt suit (of which the exhibition has a room full - and I mean room full) still looks as on-trend in fashionably classic way today as it did on Jackie O and Lauren Bacall. And when we buy a knock-off of such an outfit in somewhere like Zara, isn’t that what we’re really after? That old school glamour; the feeling of someone who wears Chanel (or something that closely resembles it). When we spritz the perfume, whether at home or in duty free, is it not a feeling of luxury that we’re striving for, more than the scent? A feeling that Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel set out to create, and that the brand has managed to maintain.
Of course, the history of Chanel isn’t all sunshine and roses. The allegations made during WW2 around spying and questionable relationships did, and still does, taint her name. This is included in the exhibition though I personally would have liked to have seen more of the story - but in fairness the exhibition is presented as having a focus on fashion and not on intimate relations or personal politics. The era of Karl Lagerfeld also presents some challenges, due to comments he made and views that he espoused while still tying himself to the brand. I recently watched a BBC documentary about the man, the myth, the legend(?), which was a really interesting insight into his character as well as how he expanded on the earlier work of Chanel herself.
All this to say, both viewings made me feel a lot of things, peaked my interest in a number of ways, and, as with those exhibitions I’d visited earlier in the year, really took me out of my own head. Experiencing them with such a good friend who appreciates the V&A as much as I do only enriched this day of delights, leaving me feeling uplifted, encouraged and ready to face another week.
Might I suggest you find something that takes your fancy this autumn, and pair up with a friend or two to make a day of it?
📺 Bold and Beautiful
Speaking of friends and fashion, a few months ago I came across The Bold Type on BBC iPlayer, and have been hooked ever since. Hooked though in my sense of the term; I’ll sporadically watch an episode here and there without ever binging, but thoroughly enjoying when I do. This approach to TV watching is terrible for keeping up with trends, hence me only in 2023 discovering a show which started in 2017, and means I still haven’t made it through shows I started watching more than 10 years ago (will Harvey and Donna ever get together? I will get to that final season of Suits … one day).
But, it is an excellent approach to drawing out the pleasure of a series that gives you characters you enjoy spending time with, that offer company over dinner when your partner isn’t at home, and that absorb you in their goings on with the ease of knowing that their troubles will be solved, at least for now, by the end of an approximately 40 minute episode. Not only is The Bold Type a wonderful ode to working life in your 20s, making friends at the office through hangover coffees and late nights working to a deadline, but it is set against the back drop of a cool, edgy, fun and of course entirely unrealistic life in New York.
In many ways the show makes me glad to be in my (very) late 20s, feeling more secure than I did five or six years ago, but it also makes me want to be any of the three main characters, somehow in the glorious youth of 25 carrying fancy handbags and affording yellow cabs to navigate the city. The trio all work at a fashion magazine (at least they do where I’m currently at, just starting season three) with an editor who is a (much) kinder version of the infamous Miranda Priestly, herself an aspirational character I would be happy to grow into. Alongside much frivolity, the show tackles some serious issues in a way that’s accessible and awareness-raising (even if the episode format doesn’t necessarily allow for these to be explored in an ideal depth), adding a bit of high-brow-ness to something that is otherwise a very guilty pleasure.
Although, in any case, what’s wrong with that? Who says we should feel guilty about something we harmlessly enjoy?
🎬 Inbox Excitement
Another contender for guilty pleasures, I recently succumbed to the autumnal pull towards watching You’ve Got Mail, the 1998 rom-com that isn’t complete without tea and a blanket, and roped in my partner in an attempt to demonstrate why this movie is synonymous with this season.
In many ways I am Kathleen Kelly. I love my autumn wardrobe, dream of working in (letting alone owning!) an independent bookshop, and will always have a good read in my bag should I be left at a restaurant or coffee shop waiting for someone (thankfully they usually do turn up…). My approach to using tech is also not dissimilar; I am often told the way I use and even hold my smartphone is like someone from another (older) generation. But I digress.
The movie gave all the cosy feels I anticipated, though Kathleen’s jumper collection wasn’t quite as enviable as I remembered. But what steals the show is the New York backdrop which makes the movie as iconic as it is; those crisp orange leaves and the steamy windows of neighbourhood haunts against the skyline of the city that never sleeps is just something that gives a wonderful tingly feeling.
A delicious seasonal watch, whether with your partner, pals or pets.
PS…
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