The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947- 1957 - Victoria and Albert Museum

Went to see the Couture Exhibition at the V&A Museum. Well worth the trip the dresses, the manikins and the films were excellent. From a learning point of view I thought it consolidated my knowledge of the period and of fashion and gave a little detail of the main couture houses. Little on the dress owners, or the dress makers, and maybe not enough photos, or printed ephemera (fashion magazines).

The design was clear and stylish - and the use of film good, First room looked great with stunning dresses and an interesting film showing the padding the models wore. The second space was not so successful maybe because it was so crowded, the conceit was that it was a stylish shopping area - the cases were square, two sides revealed the objects backed by sets or photos and the other two sides were made to look like shops or buildings. It did not really work as it restricted the viewing opportunities and as so crowded that it made watching the screens, and seeing the objects difficult - so crowded was it that it was difficult to get through and the route way around the exhibition got lost. Film areas were too small too. After that there was a cat walk sort of area with a great number of beautiful dresses leading up to a film show at the end, but viewers blocked the procession along the dresses.

The show ended with a time line that was extremely interesting but impossible to take in and a Galliano exhibition which made his dresses seem very tacky after the elegance we had enjoyed.

To sum up the dresses were the stars of the show and they were displayed wonderfuly well - great mannikins too, good choice of film, clear labelling and panels. Spaces could not cope with the crowds but it was after all just after Christmas and just before the end of the shows run.

The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947- 1957 - Victoria and Albert Museum