where ya been?

where ya been, what'd ya do, who'd ya see???

been to england, went to the v & a, saw dior

oh my, oh my

in may we headed over to england and france, with the main reason for the trip our desire to take in the 75th anniversary of the d-day invasion of june 6, 1944

along the way there was a bonus or two of wonderful things to see and do, and today's post is part one of the first thing 

the dior exhibit at the v & a museum

i bought my ticket in february, a week after they went on sale and so glad i did - they were completely sold out for all dates just one week later

 it was beautiful sunny morning in london...

one of the first items in the exhibit was this:

a seed catalogue dior's mother ordered flowers from - he loved looking through them and the illustrations influenced his designs for decades

lovely florals, exceptional colour

the exhibit was wonderfully curated, the displays capturing your attention in the most unique ways - these dresses were very high up, well above my height, but the lighting allowed you to see them in all their gorgeous detail

one "room" flowing into another, beautiful vignettes, colour coordinated for maximum impact

the embellishments were as interesting as the fabrics, as well as the designs themselves - all the elements coming to gather in perfect harmony

I think most people might have been looking at these dresses with a wishful sigh "I wish I could wear that..." - I was wishing something a little different... "I wish I could have made that..." was what was on my mind as I went from area to another, the dresses always so entrancing

the one below was my favourite - of the entire exhibit

the colours are washed out here, but the top is a pale Wedgwood blue with white appliqué/embroidery and the pleated skirt, a soft, muted grey-green

it was beautiful and delicate but had structure and line and I stayed and gazed on it for so long I lost count of the people that passed me by...

the one below intrigued me as well - all those flowers

like wearing a garden

one of the rooms had a ceiling of paper(?) flowers hanging down, as well as more flowers and leaves on the floor, reaching up

the light diffused, the effect ethereal

the shadows created by the flowers dappled the walls with ever-changing light

it was magical

this was another favourite - truthfully, there were so many, but I realized afterward that I only took close-ups of a few, the ones that really struck me, and this was one of them

so beautifully embellished

and then there was this dress...

shadow applique

straight lines, simple, yet so beautiful with those large flowers showing through silk as light as air

I was so taken with this that I made sure when a month later, whilst fabric shopping with friends in London, I found some silk like this 

and what an adventure that was!

but that's another story for another day... there's more dior to show and other adventures in-between to tell you about

stay tuned...