Category: Fashion
Big Bucks Fashion: New Buckingham Palace Exhibit Showcases 18th Century Style
Glittering gowns of improbable proportions. Gravity defying updos that expand like marshmallows in a microwave. An obsession with implausibly pearly grins that are anything but God-given.
Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023
We’re not talking about celebrities strutting their stuff at New York’s Met Gala or the latest film debut. Rather, these are some of the 18th century trends highlighted in Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians, a new exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London.
Chelsea, London: Live Like a King–or Rock Royalty
Few countries possess a flair for pomp and pageantry quite like Great Britain. While gilded carriages and ermine-trimmed robes are only trotted out for the most magnificent occasions, like the coronation of King Charles III or the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, Chelsea–one of the poshest post codes in London–boasts spectacular styles, sleek supercars, and famous personalities in perpetuity.
Musical legends, including The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix, reigned supreme here in the Swinging Sixties, and Chelsea-based designers like the late greats Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood altered the fashion landscape forever.
Read more about how to roll like the Stones–or blue-blooded royalty–in my story in GoWorldTravel.
Vivienne Westwood is memorialized in a mural on Chelsea’s King’s Road. She gained renown for her punk and “New Romantic” fashions of the 70s and 80s. © Amy Laughinghouse
Notting Hill Carnival: London, England’s Most Outrageous Street Party
During the last weekend of every August, approximately one million punters rock up for Red Stripe and revelry at London’s Notting Hill Carnival. Originally introduced by Caribbean immigrants in the mid-60s, the event has evolved into one of Europe’s biggest street celebrations. Think of Mardi Gras…on steroids.
Comparing manicures?
When I lived in Notting Hill, I felt incredibly fortunate to have a front-row seat for the carnival, taking in the action from atop the porch outside my window. (My rear windows overlooked the dumpsters of a Tesco loading dock, but I tend not to brag about that so much).
While some folks boarded up their shops and ground floor flats, fleeing the crowds, I locked and loaded my camera, knowing that many of the year’s most memorable moments were about to unfold in the neighbourhood I felt fortunate to call home. (more…)