Today I had a day off work and, making the most of my month's travel card, spent the day exploring London a little more. I started off at the V&A with their Shoes: Pleasure and Pain exhibition (which, as a British Museum volunteer, I got into for free! #score), and finished in King's Road where I drooled over everything in Anthropology and the Free People pop-up shop. It was amazing to finally visit Free People. I've been in love with their style and ethos for a long time now, and I am so obsessed with their blog (blog.freepeople.com) - it's the perfect place for quirky DIYs, gorgeous boho-inspired styling, beautiful photography and art, new music to love, delicious recipes and so much more! A dream job would be working for Free People's social media; spending your days surrounded by such beautiful clothing, working with creative, like-minded people, and living in an amazing city... I don't think I'll ever be able to move to Philadelphia, but a girl can dream can't she?! As a student I can't afford Free People either so, for the meanwhile, their gorgeous lookbooks, videos and blog posts serve as inspiration for cheaper alternatives.
There's nothing I love more than wondering around a museum by yourself, captivated by an amazing exhibition or beautiful piece. Today, I got to spend the day working to my own pace, not worrying about dragging anyone behind (yes, I like to read everything and examine every piece, sorry not sorry). I highly recommend a visit to the Pain and Pleasure exhibition if you have few hours to kill in London. It's an amazing insight into the history of shoe design and use, and the world of cobbling today. As someone who is both very familiar to the museum world (my dad is an archaeologist, my mum a conservator) and is considering a career in fashion curation, I always pay special attention to the way exhibitions are structured and presented. It's something I've learnt from my mum, whose job it is to clean, help preserve and present archaeological finds, antiques and fine art pieces. It's a running joke that. every time we visit a museum, she will spend yonks examining everything around the artifact or piece: how it has been cleaned, mounted, protected, climate regulation etc.
I loved the presentation and structure of this exhibition especially - instead of grouping the shoes in time periods, countries of origin, materials, or any other superficial category, Curator Helen Persson instead opened the exhibition by introducing visitors to why shoes are so important. Namely, examining the importance of shoes in fairy tales; here a glass slipper from the recent adaptation of Cinderella was displayed alongside the red ballet slippers from The Red Shoes and footage of Dorothy clicking together her ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz. As this section explained, shoes are a powerful symbol of hope; they can change one's social status (as in Cinderella), give one hope of a different, better life (Wizard of Oz), or symbolize an important decision (The Red Shoes). The exhibition then went on to examine our obsession with shoes and their role as indicators of everything from gender and status, to identity and sexuality. With a section on the design and manufacturing process (with a video including Q&A with Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik), the exhibition then finished with an insight into the collections of avid shoe collectors. Not only was this an organic and intriguing way to structure the exhibition, but I also loved the fact that visitors could compare shoes from across the world, from different eras, and for designed both women and men.
Finally, a quick note on my outfit today - I am in love with this dark, burnt red crochet jumper from H&M. The sleeves are beautiful and they looked particularly amazing bunched around my wrist under my jacket sleeve. The pattern of this bodycon dress is also a dream, and its perfect for both dressing down during the day or up for the night.
I hope you've all had lovely Thursdays as well! After a long day (and not much sleep - damn flies buzzing everywhere) I'm looking forward to a good sleep and a nice long lay in.
- Esther
Outfit details:
Crochet jumper: H&M
Dress and bag: New Look
Moon necklace and boots: Forever 21
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