Hello Fashion | Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams

Hello lovely people and welcome back to a fresh blogpost with a new content. This blogpost is categorised as a fashion blog (by myself), because after two years of blogging, it is about time to speak/ write again about one of my forgotten passions… Fashion.

I definitely grew up with fashion and trends, finding out what my style was during college and the jobs that I had back then over the years. I know I went a bit overboard with the fashion trends in my twenties and I got a bit suck into that poisonous addiction of fast fashion and more is more! Four or five years ago, I started to buy less and less… but I had still a lot of crappy cloths at home that I did not wear or wanted to throw away.

When I moved to London, I had to get rid of so many clothing I bought over a period of twenty years. (Not kidding, it was a LOT!) I decided then and there to be more conscious about fashion, more focussed on what my style exactly is, now I am in my thirties, what to buy and choosing quality over quantity. I am quite proud that I am so much more better in my choices regarding buying clothing than years before. I do enjoy wearing the pieces that I buy now much more and I do actually wear them all. All of this is for another blogpost as the title of blogpost is the Dior exhibition, so stay tuned for that!

This blogpost is my first fashion related one. It is dedicated to the one and only mesmerising exhibition (so far) that I ever saw here at the Victoria and Albert museum London; Christian Dior, Designer of dreams.

Miss Widjaja

I had no idea what to expect until I was at the exhibition. I realised then and there, that this exhibition is completely sold out until the end, so if you got some tickets, you are very lucky! Also if you still need to go to the exhibition, you might want to read this blog afterwards. Spoiler alert all over!

So for everyone who could not get a ticket to the Dior exhibition… I got you covered with some beautiful pictures of this exhibition. (At least I hope so) I can honestly say, in realtime it is hundred times better than a picture of course. I did hear that if you go early in the morning to the V & A museum around 10 am-ish. Each morning they will release some daily tickets last minute, but I can not guarantee anything unfortunately. There might be some great news that I read via TimeOut London. V&A is going to release the next batch of Dior tickets on the 15th of April 2019.

So Ladies and gentlemen, grab your usual glass of Prosecco I would say (It is appropriate today) , sit back and enjoy this experience I had with me at the Dior exhibition at the V&A 2019.

First impression

The very first impression was that it was super busy. You just cannot deny how many fashion minded people we have in London. Probably all the fashion bloggers, vloggers, influencers and people from the fashion industry had a ticket to see this exhibition. There was quiet a queue in front of the exhibition entrance, but the minute I was in… it was already worth the long wait. Each room is so wonderfully displayed with those beautifully crafted clothing. You can really see how beautiful the cloths are crafted and preserved.

The mesmerising ball room
Mesmerising displays and settings

Going from room to room, it is getting better and better. In the ballroom you almost want to cry of happiness. The Dior fashion house produced so many beautiful clothing through different designers from 1946 till now. It is like walking through a fashion magazine and a fairy tale at once. To walking through a palace, a white forest with a mesmerising ball room as the grand final.

The mesmerising ball room
Designer of the Dior house

The creative directors that are highlighted in this exhibition and from whom you can see the creations that they made for the Dior house are the following;

Christian Dior – 1946–1957

Christian Dior was born in a seaside town called, Granville in Normandy, France.

He was a master at creating shapes and silhouettes; Dior is quoted as saying “I have designed flower women.” His look employed fabrics lined predominantly with percale, boned, bustier-style bodices, hip padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats that made his dresses flare out from the waist, giving his models a very curvaceous form.

Wikipedia
Christain Dior
Yves Saint Laurent – 1957–1960

Yves was picked out by Dior to be the first and only Head Assistant of the company.

The clothes were as meticulously made and perfectly proportioned as Dior’s in the same exquisite fabrics, but their young designer made them softer, lighter and easier to wear. Saint Laurent was hailed as a national hero.

Wikipedia

Saint Laurent left after completing six Dior collections.

Yves Saint Lauren for Dior
Marc Bohan – 1960–1989

Bohan’s designs were conservative, but wearable and elegant. His collection was well known by prominent social figures. Elizabeth Taylor ordered twelve dresses from his 1961 Dior collection.

Marc Bohan for Dior
Gianfranco Ferré – 1989–1997

This Italian designer who studied architecture left behind the traditional Dior concept of flirtation and romance, and introduced concepts as “refined, sober and strict.”

Gianfranco Ferré for Dior
John Galliano – 1997–2011

It was said by Arnault the CEO of the DIOR house that Galliano has similar creative talent very close to Dior himself. They both have an extraordinary mixture of romanticism, feminism and modernity.  Seeing his creation here at this exhibition, they are very extravagant.

John Galliano for Dior
Raf Simons – 2012–2015

Belgium designer Raf Simons is known for his beautiful simplicity and minimal designs.

Raf Simons for Dior
Maria Grazia Chiuri – 2016–present

This is the first woman in the Dior house as creative Director. Chiuri is from Rome, Italy and worked many years for Valentino.

Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior
Celebrity Ambassadors

In the beautiful ball room, where you really need to take it all in and enjoy what you are seeing. (next to taking lots of pictures of course)

Here you will find some dresses that some ambassadors wear at one of the awards shows.

I saw a dress that Jennifer Lawrence and Rihanna wore, I can’t remember to which award show exactly, because the ball room has so many beautiful pieces that I forgot unfortunately. I am not that it to fashion at the moment.

The gallery below will give you an impression of the exhibition. Just click on each picture to see the full size.

Final thoughts

It is definitely one of the best and well thought exhibition that I saw so far. Each room is carefully thought through, from Dior his own creations, to the craftsmanship of the Dior house, to the creative designers over the years.

You really get a sense of who Christian Dior is. Through his many classic designs and the designs that were carried out through different creative directors over the years, this fashion house still stands strong as one of the World’s top fashion houses today. You can really see why if you are at this exhibition.

The Dior exhibitions at V&A definitely gets a 10 /10 for the mesmerising experience each room will take you to. I am really happy that I went to this exhibition and I did learn a bit more about Christian Dior and the Dior house.

I hope you enjoyed this blogpost as much as I love writing it. Finally, I wrote my first fashion related blogpost and I know for sure, many more will follow.

If you liked what you have just read, please rate this blog with a few stars. I really appreciate the time and effort you took to read my blog. Thank you all!

HELLO LONDON| Recap of March

Hello hello Lovely people here in London and around the world. So many wonderful experience and people I met last month that I just didn’t had the time to update you guys through my blogposts. I know. I started the year great with posting regularly, but don’t be disappointed. I am working on a few blogposts to catch up with you guys!

Without any further delay, grab your glass of wine and sit back to enjoy reading my blogpost about the many wonderful things I did last month.

I was lucky to participate in a project where I met so many kind and lovely people from around the world. At the moment I can’t tell so much, but when I can I will let you know how life changing this experience was for me. Stay tuned for this one!

Another fun experience was spending time with family. One of my cousin came over for a weekend with her friend and we had a blast. It was a short weekend and way too fast, but we did a lot of fun things that are now mentioned below. Thanks for that ladies !

Last month, I went to many restaurants, bars and exhibitions, so I will just put them in categories with a small review and the relevant links for you all below. There are definitely tips for you here, even if you are living in London for years. At least that is what I hope.

Drinks and Food

The lighterman

This is a lovely British gastro pub near the canal at Granary Square. Huge windows and a terrace outside makes this place a really cosy place for food and drinks with friends and family. I did enjoy the homemade burger with chips and the many beers that they serve.

Beigel Bake

This is the best Beigel with salty beef and gherkins in London. Who does not know them! Too be honest I forgot a bit how delicious the beigels are. I brought my cousin and friend there and it was like a stairway to heaven. I really did forget how GOOD it is and enjoyed every bite of it. I still don’t know why I do not go more often as I live here in London. Might be that it is not so close from home and the weather here in London has not been with us last few months. The Saturday that we went (Brexit Saturday) it was super sunny and chill to stroll around Brick lane and Shoreditch.

German Gymnasium

This place is great for dates. Once inside you will forget about the outside world. We had some delicious and fancy cocktails at the bar. The baristas there are amazing! This place makes you almost feel like James Bond. (for real) Definitely going back for a drink or dinner anytime soon.

The Grocer – Market Tavern

While strolling around with the gang, we came across the Spitalfields Market and we went for a drink at the Grocer. Lovely casual and relax place to have some beers in the afternoon. If you are around, have a drink here. By the way many delicious foods available on this market.

The Ice Wharf

This is the Wetherspoon in Camden Town. Great place for some casual drinks. This is the place to try different beers and just chill with friends or family. Also very affordable drinks and snacks, why not.

PERGOLA Paddington

I think this a great place if you are with a large group of friends and in the summer. It feels like you are on a veranda or terrace chatting away with friends. Nice thing is you can get food and drinks from different stands.

Exhibitions 

Christian Dior exhibition at V&A

Unfortunately, this exhibition is completely sold out. So if you did not get a change to see this exhibition, wait for my next blogpost. It was so worth to see this exhibition and I am happy I bought my ticket a month before. The day that I went it was super busy, but so mesmerizing. A designer pur sang. When this blogpost will be online, you are able to click HERE.

Barbican Conservatory

Check the website to see when it is open. I thought it is only a few Sundays per year open from March till end of April. We decided to stroll around the second largest conservatory to take some fun pictures with our vintage cameras. I recently bought, out of the blue, a Yashica minister 3 and a Praktica MTL3 camera to practice the use a manual camera. So much fun to use a real film again, can’t wait so see the pictures developed.

Renaissance Nudes @ RA

This exhibition is till June, so plenty of time to see this one. If you like the renaissance, you will like this one. This is really the baby steps of the nudes in paintings. Here you can see that the artist didn’t had much experience with nude models and it is slowly developing around that period.

Fun Times 

Spitalfields Market

I had no idea that this market was not too far from Shoreditch and Brick lane. We were strolling around and BAMM, just came across this lovely and creative market. A lot of food and drinks. We went for some sweets and we had some drinks at the Grocer. A lot of creative gifts at this market if you are looking for some unique gifts.

Alexandra Palace

It is a bit far, but definitely worth a visit. Most likely in summer or at least when the weather is warm and dry, so you can sit in the park and enjoy the view. It is almost as nice as the park near the observatory in Greenwich.

Comedy Club Castle

I think through EVENTBRITE UK you can find free tickets to go to this comedy club in the Castle. It can be very busy, but great way to see many stand up comedy acts in just 2 hours. I think I saw around 9 or 10 in just two hours time.

Camden Town

Camden Town is super touristic and overpriced. We all know. Still it is fun to stroll around once in awhile. Check out the stables, food stand and just have drinks at the Wetherspoon. Always something strange and crazy to find here in Camden Town.

Shoreditch Street Art

Almost the reason why everyone like and stroll around Shoreditch is the street art.

Fun fact is that they change the street art once in a while. I saw some new pieces this time. Love the atmosphere in this area when the sun is up and the weather is hot.

M&M store

Something I would not visit by myself, but happy I did because of my cousin. It is really an experience that M&M is trying to sell in their huge London store in Leicester square. Luckily it was not super busy as we went in the morning, so plenty of time and space to walk around the three floors that they have. Just for the experience it is super fun to see all the different colours and flavours that they have and all the merchandise that they sell. The staff is also super friendly. You can smell the M&M’s from outside the store.

St Dunstan Church

This is the empty church I was trying to find for a while now and finally I DID FIND IT. It is in the City of London. Between Bank station and Tower of London. Beautiful to see an empty church in a garden in between skyscrapers. It is worth a visit in the summer, so you can walk around and see so many wonderful sights around this area.

So this is it for now. As I did mention, it was a wonderful March. Many thanks for the people who could enjoy it with me.

I hope you did enjoy reading my blog and I hope you got inspired to visit at least one or two places from my blogpost, even if you know them already.

MissWidjaja

If you liked what you have just read, please rate this blog with a few stars. If you really know someone who is going to be in London or loves London, please share on Facebook.

I really appreciate the time and effort you took to read my blog. Thank you!

Hello London | Valentine Edition

Good afternoon lovely people and welcome back to another Hello London blog. You know what time of the year it is. It is Valentine’s Day! Does anyone has plans already? I have to be honest, I am not really a big fan of Valentine’s Day, because we all know it is super commercial and cheesy.

Nevertheless, on this day or even any other beautiful day in February, I got you covered with some great (day) trips to do here in London.  So as usual grab a cup of hot tea and enjoy reading these great trip tips for this month. I didn’t do any of these suggestion yet, so I will let you know on the Instagram stories if I manage to do any of them or in a new Hello London blogpost. All three options are definitely on my list to do for the next two upcoming months.

1 Kew Orchid festival 

Who doesn’t love a beautiful garden and especially with lots of colourful Orchids. This festival is from the 9th of February until the 10th of March. The tickets are a bit expensive, but it is definitely worth to see. It will get you into the tropical spring mood, the biodiversity of Colombia with a colourful display of many many colourful Orchids. Did you know Colombia had 4,270 species of Orchids? Crazy right? I have never been to the Kew Gardens before and just found out it is London’s largest UNESCO World Heritage site. Now we all need to go!

2 Marvel Avengers Station

Get to know more about these Marvel super heroes. Might be cheaper to buy your tickets through the website groupon, click HERE if you are interested.

It is an interactive experience with all your favourite Marvel characters. This event is available until the 31st of March. If you are a comic enthusiasts or slightly a bit of a fan, this might be just for you!

3 Barbican Conservatory

This is the second largest conservatory here in London and the best part, it is for free. Whoohoo! They have a lot of exotic fish and more than 2,000 species of tropical plants and trees. Is that even possible? I guess we need to check this out at the Barbican Conservatory. For the tea and sweet lovers, try the afternoon tea in the middle of this forest and breath in some good fresh nature.

WOW! This was really a short blog for you guys, with some upcoming things you might like to do while here in London. They are all temporary, so if you are around in the city this month, give it a go and let me know.

As usual please spread the good vibes around if you like this post or if you know someone who is going to visit the city anytime soon.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

For the Valentine lovers among us and everyone else of course… HAPPY VALENTINE!

Ciao Danielle

Hello London | January Blues

Hello lovely readers and welcome back to my first Hello London blog of 2019. Thank God the January blues is over and I am happy we all did survive the first month of the year. Is it me or does anyone else feels a bit depressed in January as well? Might be because it is a very very long and cold month after a nice Christmas Holidays am I right? If you did miss the Italian Christmas travel blogs, click HERE for part one and click HERE for part two. Especially if you are planning to go to Rome or Basilicata anytime soon.

Even with this feeling of being a bit depressed with this cold grumpy weather here in UK, I did manage to do some cool stuff this month that I would like to share with you all. Believe me, it even surprised me!

So sit back, get really cozy, grab a hot drink (we all need it these days) and enjoy reading my first Hello London blog of this year. Let’s do this!

ART | National Gallery exhibitionMantegna and Bellini

As you know London is full of art, exhibitions, museums etcetera. Since we have the ART FUND card, which was a really nice gift, we get some discount if we go to exhibitions here in the UK. It is really worth to get this card, because mostly you will get a 50 percent discount for exhibition tickets. 

Of course that is not the only reason I like to go to an exhibition, but a ticket for an exhibition here in London can be very expensive. Might be justified by the free admissions a lot of museums offer, so each museum will have their own paid exhibitions, which you will need to purchase a ticket.

Because most museums are free to visit, the exhibitions are really worth to see. Especially in the National Gallery. I went to one about Caravaggio a few years ago, to see my favourite museums back then; click HERE.

This month we went to the Mantegna and Bellini exhibition in the National Gallery. Two Renaissance masters who are in my opinion mind-blowing masters of art. Especially Mantegna who created a lot of magical paintings. Check out this painting, if you somehow get another opportunity to see it; MANTEGNA: TRIUMPHS OF THE VIRTUES. Just like a fairy tale, so much happening if you look at it.

I am really sorry to say to you guys, unfortunately this exhibition is finito. It was open until the 27th of January 2019. I would recommend to see an exhibition during the week, maybe because it was the last weekend when I went and it was crazy busy.

ART | Lates at Science Museum 
Planet Mars @ Lates Science Museum

Apparently also the Science Museum is open till late once a month. If you are not aware, every museum has a day in the month, where they are open till late. For the Science Museum it is on the last Wednesday of the month.

I had a great experience here, unfortunately there were no tickets available for the Fly 360 experience. It is a simulator that turns 360 degrees for a full experience like if you are in a red arrow yourself.  Next time for sure I will go and book it in advance.

Late night at museums are great for catching up with friends, see some exhibitions and you can also dance (silent disco) and have a bite. I would recommend it for a date as well, I saw a lot of lovely couples wondering around that night. How romantic a date in a museum at night!

ART | The Wallace collection
The Wallace Collection

The Wallace collection is something else. They have beautiful (some brilliant Dutch masters as well) paintings, a lot of armour and a nice courtyard where you can have a high tea and something sweet. This is the place where I had my first tetsubin tea and fell in love right away.

Tetsubin tea please?

If you like the Rococo / Baroque style, the Wallace collection is definitively worth a visit. Free of admission like many museums here in UK.

The Wallace Collection
ART |Dior Exhibition at V&A

I just found out about this Dior Exhibition and it is magical (from what I see in the media). So FYI, tickets sell out fast, if you want to go, book your ticket well in advance. I got a ticket for somewhere in March, can you believe that! Click HERE if you want to book it now.

FOOD | Cattle and co

I think I did mention this one before in a previous blog, Click HERE to see that blog. They have great happy hours with cocktails just for £6,-. This time we went for food as well. Surely not disappointing. Hipster burgers and Margarita cocktails.

Cattle and Co
FOOD | Woody grill 

Woody Grill in Camden is worth a try. They serve quality food, restaurant looks super clean, staff is super fast and friendly and best of all, Super Cheap! 100 times better than a regular kebab shop that you usually try in the middle of night. Probably this one is open till late, so if we are somehow going out in Camden, this is the place to be afterwards.

Woody Grill

If you like good Turkish – Middle Eastern food, then give this place a shot or is it try!

Delicious Turkish food
ENTERTAINMENT – Welcome to the forest

This was a weekend event in Walthamstow with lots of outside light – visual installations by artists, some music and food. It was very cold the day we went, but the event was not too bad, great for a nice evening walk.

If you want to try something else than wondering around the city center, go to Walthamstow and stroll around on the high-street. It is only 30 minutes from Euston station.

Turtle Bay Jamaican restaurant

While you are there, try the Turtle bay Caribbean Eating and Drinking. It is a Jamaican restaurant with a lovely atmosphere and delicious Jamaican food.  

Inside Turtle Bay
CULTURE | Stargazing in London 

I have to be honest. This is mainly a note to myself, but if you are like me and love to stargaze where ever you are, then I got you covered! Check out the following spots to go to here in London for a proper stargaze evening.

CULTURE | Regent’s Park Hub

Meet some fellow city astronomers who join together to see the beautiful galaxy. Everyone is invited, experience or not, (sounds good right) to see some constellations through the telescope.

CULTURE | FOOD | Rooftop Astronomy – The Culpeper

This sounds very nice, first some food and wine and snug in on the rooftop greenhouse where an astronomer will explain a bit about the cosmos. A big extra, you will see them through the telescope as well. Of course the weather needs to co operated a bit. You need to book well in advance of course. Unfortunately, it is fully booked until May 2019. I will do my best to get tickets when there are new dates available.

CULTURE | Observatory

Next to the Royal Observatory, there is also the Kenley Observatory in South London. Click HERE for details. And the Black Heath Observatory, click HERE.

Beautiful sky @ St.Pancras

So guys this is it for now. Not many new things, but like I said before, I am surprised of what we did do, even when feeling not the best.

Happy to start a fresh new month of February, the month where I add a full year to my existents.

Till next time and as always if you like what you have read, please spread it around! Any tips for here in London are more than welcome and well appreciated!

Send your suggestions by clicking Contact.

Ciao Danielle