I was privileged to meet Vivienne Westwood when I reviewed exhibitions for the Weekend Magazine of The Oxford Times. I was at the press day for her crowning glory –the retrospective exhibition at the V&A in May 2004. I‘ve just watched Marie Antoinette and it reminded me of how she was inspired by fashion history especially when she moved from grunge to glamour.
On the Today programme, Bjorn Ulvaeus of Abba was the guest editor. There was talk of the platform boots he wore on the Eurovision Song Contest. Inspired by Vivienne – pics on my review?
My journey to becoming a freelance writer and novelist began when I wrote for magazines mostly about art and antiques but also about fashion. From 2001- 2018, it was my privilege to review exhibitions on behalf of The Oxford Times Weekend magazine. My first review was of the Armani at the Royal Academy. I watched with a wry smile while Norman Rosenthal introduced Georgio Armani. Rosenthal had said that there would be fashion at the RA ‘over his dead body’ but he looked pretty alive to me. Georgio had given the RA a large donation, which I’m sure had nothing to do with the U-turn!
Unlike many writers, I tried to shine a light on exhibitions not given enough publicity including Black British Fashion and Africa Remix and the Indian textile culture.
The joy of writing about fashion is how it can look on the page.
