The White Cliffs of Dover

I have loved England, dearly and deeply,

Since that first morning, shining and pure,

The white cliffs of Dover I saw rising steeply

Out of the sea that once made her secure.

I had no thought then of husband or lover,

I was a traveller, the guest of a week;

Yet when they pointed 'the white cliffs of Dover,'

Startled I found there were tears on my cheek.

I have loved England, and still as a stranger,

Here is my home and I still am alone.

Now in her hour of trial and danger,

Only the English are really her own.

-- Alice Duer Miller, excerpt from The White Cliffs

Fashion in Motion

The other night I had so much fun attending another Fashion in Motion event at the V&A.  The runway show was put on by fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto.  I had never heard of him before, and I'm not particularly familiar with Japanese fashion.  But I thought it would be neat to check out something new.

The show began with techo-like music in the background with a live flute playing and the fashion designer himself doing a mixture of living singing and chanting.  All the while models walked down the runway, expressionless.  The effect was haunting.

Midway through the show, the above model walked out, slowly dancing.  She stopped at the end of the catwalk and danced languidly for two or three minutes, while models continued coming up and down the runway.  The music became quieter and all the attention was on the dancing model.

 

When the model stopped dancing, there was an outburst of cheerful music and models began coming down the runway skipping, doing cartwheels and dancing happily.  The colorful clothes mixing with references to traditional Japanese clothes heightened the effect.

I particularly liked the above dress from Yamamoto's collection.  One of the first types of art I fell in love with was Japanese woodblock printing at the Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C., and I loved seeing Yamamoto's references to artists such as Hasui and Hiroshige as seen in the above dress.

I Essentially Had Dinner with Colin Firth

The Victoria and Albert Museum hosted another fantastic lecture the other night featuring Colin Firth's wife, Livia Firth, who is the founder of the Green Carpet Challenge, which is an organization that works to create sustainable fashion that is made ethically.

Livia Firth said that she was not into fashion until her husband was nominated for several awards for his role in the movie, The Single Man.  She realized that she would be featured on the red carpet a great deal and wanted her evening gowns to have more of purpose than just a regular red carpet dress.

One focus of the Green Carpet Challenge is to avoid materials that are sourced from sweatshops.  Firth pointed out that while it may seem democratic for a consumer to purchase a $2 t-shirt, it is not democratic for the person who made the shirt.  Above, Meryl Streep is wearing a Lanvin dress made out of fabric that the Green Carpet Challenge considers sustainable.

The Great Carpet Challenge also focuses on production processes that are environmentally sustainable. Some fashion designers have made clothing made out of recycled plastic bottles, such as the dress Viola Davis is wearing above.

Livia Firth is doing incredible work and is making an impressive impact on the fashion world.  Industry heavyweights such as Stella McCartney, Alice Temperley and Anna Wintour have all supported the Green Carpet Challenge in various ways.  But some questions were left unanswered.  What about poverty-stricken people who can afford only a $2 t-shirt?  Additionally, while it is commendable to stop purchasing clothing made in sweatshops, how do we address the underlying issues creating poverty for those people who do work in the sweatshops?

The Quiet of London Parks

Yesterday morning, I had planned on going out to the Yorkshire countryside, but I woke up to a dozen different text messages and emails telling me that Ike Skelton had passed away.  I spent the morning watching online videos of Ike's old speeches and reading former colleagues' Facebook tributes to him.  By the time I left my flat, it was too late in the day for a trip out to the countryside to be worthwhile.  But London is loud, and I needed some quiet.

So I trudged deep into Kensington Gardens, past the Palace, past the Serpentine lake, past the formal gardens.  I watched birds flit around the tall grass and dogs stalk squirrels amongst the fallen tree limbs.

I walked over to Holland Park, made my way down paths lined with red and yellow leaves, and wandered past bench after bench inscribed with tributes to deceased loved ones.

Then I found my way to Battersea Park and got lost over and over again in its towering trees and overgrown bushes.  Eventually, I popped out of the park, practically on top of the Thames.  As I stared at the swift current of the river, racing eastward, out to the North Sea; I wondered, did Ike know how deeply we admired him, how profoundly he shaped our lives?

Ike Skelton

"In 1956 a political career began, and it's been wonderful, wonderful years.  From the time I was prosecuting attorney, practicing law, state Senator and now Member of Congress for 34 years.  I might also say that for my entire life, I have had a love affair with the state of Missouri.  That love affair continues."

-- Ike Skelton, (December 20, 1931 - October 28, 2013)

London Street Fashion - Week of October 20

Snippets

"I supplied Filofaxes to the Mafia - yeah, I was involved in very organized crime." - Milton Jones