A day out at the V&A Museum

A friend and I went to see the Chanel exhibition at the V&A. Any visit to my favourite place on the planet is always a joy, but Tuesday’s expedition was truly magical.

With breathtakingly beautiful clothes, some over a hundred years old, yet so modern that they are still fashionable today. Garments that were exquisitely made, crafted with outstanding craftsmanship and divine dressmaking, with the tiniest of details that you know I love!

This was paradise! Gasps of pure joy and muttered “wows” were all we could hear as we travelled from glass cabinet to glass cabinet and room to room. We were lost in Couture. And lost in time.

I knew I really wanted to see Chanel’s earliest years, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Exquisitely made, with details so subtle that they enticed and completely enthralled me.

A blouse with a sailor collar in the finest silk jersey with a satin tie and a collapsible hat in a silk braid.

A deliciously simple layered chiffon gown, with perfectly stitched picot hems, seed pearl beading and roses cut from the top layer of chiffon and reapplied.

A coat in wool canvas with a diaphanous silk chiffon dress, with appliqué along the edge of the coat, a chiffon bow edged in picot stitching, and the coat is lined in the same chiffon.

Teeny, tiny pin tucks, immaculate bound buttonholes in silk crepe for shirt buttons, and perfectly stitched diamond seams. Wow!

Subtle applique on diaphanous silk chiffon dresses.

“Chanel Red” in velvet, and an extremely modern red leather jacket.

And we had just made it to a room full of graceful Little Black Dresses crafted from chiffon and French lace, with delicate beaded trims when…

We came crashing down to earth! “Ladies and gentlemen the exhibition will be closing in half an hour“. Oh no! We had completely lost track of time.

Excuse me, how far through the exhibition are we… “About halfway madam” came the cockney reply!

We knew we were most interested in Chanel’s earliest work, but had underestimated just how enchanting it would be. Two and a half hours had flown by!

We continued… past the story of Chanel No5 and into a room full of dazzling evening dresses with Chanel’s trademark attention to detail. We travelled at speed through avenue of gilded gold lame suits and then a gallery of Chanel Suits before a staircase of sophisticated evening gowns.

And then before we knew it we were out in the cold evening air and the hustle and bustle of Knightsbridge at dusk, with shop windows full of clothes influenced by the 100-year-old clothes we had just seen.

We were dazed and a trifle disorientated by our journey in time. Did Chanel design a Manifesto for fashion that is as relevant today as it was a century ago? Absolutely!

If you can go, GO! We’ll be back! We’ve still got suits to see!

Note - Tickets are now sold out, but you can still go if you are a member of the V&A. We went in the afternoon, the V&A website suggested that the exhibition would be less busy then, and it was. The exhibition is extensive so it’s a good idea to decide before you go which area of the exhibition you’d like to spend most time on.