THE QUEEN BY CECIL BEATON AT THE V&A

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne. For me, and for most of you reading, we've always known her as the head of the Royal Family and a stalwart of British life. I can't quite imagine life without her. But as a 24 year-old, I only know a few 'versions' of Her Majesty. Growing up in the 90s, she was just 'The Queen'- a distant, almost unreal figure. Later, I started reading my Mum's Hello! magazines and she became a matriarch, quietly looking over the dramas which were playing out in the lives of her children and grandchildren. Of course, the Queen is a real person with a real family, but hers is a unique situation because millions of people feel a kind of claim over her. This means that the Royals have to develop a way of communicating who they are, or who they should be, to the nation. Official photographs are a pretty key way of doing that, and tomorrow the Victoria and Albert Museum in London celebrates the Jubilee by opening the doors on Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton. 

The Official Photo released yesterday to mark the Diamond
 jubilee, by John Swanell (image from thediamondjubilee.org)

The image above is the 2012 way of doing an official portrait, but in the early years, Cecil Beaton was one of the family's favourites for that job.

Cecil Beaton by Curtis Moffat, 1930

The shows curator Susanna Brown splits the 100-image exhibit into several sections, and in so doing demonstrates how Beaton adapted his imagery from fantastical, fairytale portrayals of the young Princess to relatable, intimate images of the Queen as a Mother. These are yet more 'versions' of the Queen for us to compute. 

Brown pointed out that Beaton's images served a very particular purpose as 'great PR images' for the Royals. These are not simple photos like those that you and I might take to record the birth of a child or a special family occasion. No, these were published in papers to be be lapped up by a public who, in a pre-internet age, were made to get their fix from a few carefully selected portraits. There were no pap shots as there are now of Duchess Kate shopping on the King's Road or Harry on the lash. The Royal family had a great deal more control over how they came across. Although, the exhibition notes do mention that the press would often break the embargoes which they were given, such was the demand for a new picture of the Queen and her family. 

A proper Princess- The Queen at Buckingham
Palace, 1945, by Cecil Beaton (image courtesy of the V&A)

Beaton's talent as a photographer  was to 'rise to the occasion', as Brown puts it, knowing the appropriate mood for the sitting. Indeed, perhaps he knew what the public wanted from their royal family a little better than the family themselves. A letter from Queen  Elizabeth, The Queen Mother suggests that they were quite aware of that fact, 'as a family we must be deeply grateful to you for producing us, as really quite nice and real people'. I got the impression that the Queen Mother might have been the real driving force behind the Royal Family's relationship with Cecil Beaton. On the day of the coronation, Beaton wrote in his diary 'All at once and because of her, I was enjoying my work’. She was also the one who initially recruited him.

Beaton's cuttings book

In fashion, things move fast. Working with Vogue and Vanity Fair meant that Beaton was acutely aware of that. The exhibit describes how Beaton befriended David Bailey in the early 60s. That could be quite surprising given that by then, Beaton had a well-established style which now so beautifully recalls the fantasia and escapism of the post war period. The decadence and sweetness of his floral backdrops (put together with cuttings from his own garden) and demurely posed women in the most ostentatious of ball gowns became the antidote to real-life rationing and austerity. But Bailey called Beaton 'Rip Van With-it' because of his willingness to try a new way of doing things once the 60s ushered in a less stylised approach.

The Queen's coronation, June 1953, buy Cecil Beaton (image courtesy of the V&A)

Vogue's coronation special is on display at the exhibition

After the grandeur and obvious royal-ness of Beaton's portraits up to the coronation,  the images of Her Majesty with her two younger children, Edward and Andrew, highlight how Beaton responded to a new hunger for seeing the royals as real. They are more simple, allowing the emotion of the subjects to take centre stage rather than the paraphernalia of props and costumes.

The Queen with Prince Andrew in 1960 by Cecil Beaton (image courtesy of V&A)

Despite Beaton's apparent ability to move with the times, his relationship with the Queen seems to have come to an abrupt end. Before he took the iconic portrait of the Queen in the admiral's boat cloak in 1968, he wrote in his diary, ‘the difficulties are great. Our points of view, our tastes are so different. The result is a compromise between two people and the fates play a large part’. It seems like a sad end to a partnership which produced so many images which will become some of the most enduring of the 20th century.

Cecil Beaton's last portrait of the Queen, in 1968 (image courtesy of the V&A)

Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton is on at the V&A from tomorrow, 8th February until 22nd April. It will also be touring to Leeds, Newcastle, Norwich and Dundee. Another 'version' of the exhibition is going to Australia and Canada

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FW11 TREND #3: HERITAGE

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large.

Next up on our menu of FW11 trend reports is Heritage- think blue-blood, aristocracy, crumbling stately homes and wholesome country pursuits. This trend encompasses a lady in two very different, but equally glamorous and elegant guises. In the first, she is hunting, riding and shooting thus requiring riding coats with practical elbow patches, a warm polo neck and some jodhpurs. When the horses are stabled and the guns stored, the skirts come out, but are still tweed-centric, and the addition of a decorative silk shirt  transforms the gutsy equestrian to Lady of the Manor. This is our muse.

Celine's riding inspired opening look for FW11(Image from catwalking.com)

Margaret Howell FW11

Two women who sum up this trend are Wallis Simpson and The Queen (we are very sorry Your Majesty, to mention your name in the same sentence as a woman's we can imagine you are not mad keen on but fashion needs must). The Queen is the ultimate country pursuits poster lady, always resplendant in custom made riding jacket and neatly knotted silk scarf. Even at 85, recent pictures show she is still able to pull off this look with aplomb.

A young Princess Elizabeth riding with her sister, Princess Margaret (Image from telegraph..co.uk)

Softened with a silk scarf. A lesson for Ronald Reagan from The Queen (Image from wikipedia)

 There is a great deal of buzz surrounding Wallis Simpson at the moment. Most notably, Madonna is preparing to release her biopic W.E which examines the life of the woman who remains somewhat of an enigma; there is still great intrigue surrounding her relationship with Edward VIII and the reason why he would choose this woman over the God, country and duty he had been brought up to believe in. Sartorially, Wallis represents our archetypal Lady of the Manor. A legendary hostess, Wallis always dressed exactly as the occasion demanded and her look was invariably accessorised with a cigarette.

Wallis with Edward. Her suit is ladylike AND tweedy (Image from englishtap.com)

Let's not forget that not so long ago, Madonna herself developed quite an obsession with all that is English and Aristocratic. She rode, she shot, she had the Gloucestershire acres and she wore the tweeds. The manifestations in her look and lifestyle may have now worn off, but her involvement in W.E indicates that something of this story had a great resonance for her. To celebrate the film, Vanity Fair's September Issue features a shoot with the actors playing Edward and Wallis, James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough respectively. Arianne Phillips has done a sterling job collaborating with the likes of Dior, Dunhill and Stephen Jones to create bespoke pieces for the shoot. Very handy too that they also provide perfect inspiration the Heritage look.

Lady of the Manor does evening in Dior and Cartier (Image from www.fashionista.com)

Andrea Riseborough wears a brilliant Dior twist on tweed  (Image from www.fashionista.com)

Dashing (Image from www.fashionista.com)

So those are the muses... How did the catwalks do it? Here are some of our favourites.

A careful concoction of tweed, elegance and modernity at YSL (Image from catwalking.com)

Gucci. Perfect for Afternoon Tea. The stole adds glamour and keeps you warm in blustery big houses! (Image from catwalking.com)

Tweed, deconstructed. Modern day Girl of the Manor at Erdem (Image from catwalking.com)

Mulberry make it modern with crinkly socks and long hair (catwalking.com)

Celine's Pre-Fall collection pre-empts this trend. The trench is a good transition alternative to full on tweed (Image from style.com)

Celine makes riding the tube as elegant as riding a stallion. (Image from style.com)

Now, do it yourself. As we have previously said, don't take these things too literally otherwise you may end up looking like a walking anachronism. That said, I have been fantasising about my own riding coat from Savile Row and some custom made riding boots. Equestrians and Ladies of the Manor alike are all well catered for. Here is our curation of what's available NOW.

Fedora £55 from Reiss

Skirt £170 D&G at Net-A-Porter

Shirt £270 See by Chloe at Net-a-Porter

Riding Pants £64 American Apparel

Elbow Patch blazer ASOS £65

Chelsea boots £62 Topshop

Pretty, pretty dress £175 Whistles

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THE SHAPE OF BAGS TO COME

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

In the words of the Black Eyed Peas, "we got a feeling" that bags are going to take on a whole new shape come AW11. The massive, slouchy carry-alls we have grown used to over previous seasons are starting to look a little tired, and our backs have suffered serious damage from swinging these sacks from the crook of our arms.

The time is most definitely right for change, and our fashion instincts tell us that the medium sized, hard frame, top handle bag is about to have a resurgence. These ladylike numbers cropped up on various catwalks:

 Louis Vuitton AW11 (above and below)

 Marni AW11 (above and below)

 Prada AW11 (still ladylike, just held in an abnormal way. Only at Prada)

Of course, this style has been around for an awful lot longer than last season's shows, with famous handbag icons the Queen Mother, The Queen and of course Margaret Thatcher (whose man-beater Asprey bag sold for a measly £20,000, rather than the expected £100,000) all big fans of the box bag look. The hard frame hand bag is a key element in the power play of these strong women; it is a style synonymous with English heritage, quality and tradition.

HRH at some minor event on 29th April, with her Launer bag

It's not surprising, then, that our boredom with big bags is driving us to rediscover our roots. Along with Vuitton, Marni and Prada, there is one brand leading the way for ladylike, and that in Launer. We were not really aware of this company until it was brought to our attention that they make the Queen's iconic handbags, according to the email recieved by Fash Ed sales of the above bag shot up 55% following the Royal nuptials, and that many of the buyers are women much younger than HRH. I always wonder what on earth she keeps in her bag (the keys to Buckingham Palace? though the Fashion Editor at Large hears she keeps a golden gun and lipstick in there) but nevertheless, she is rarely seen without a Launer design.

 The classic Launer 'Adagio' £770 from http://www.launer.com/

We've now swotted up, so here's the brief Launer 101:
Founded in 1941, the company quickly became a favourite of The Queen Mother, and later on, her daughter.Margaret Thatcher was often seen with her Launer handbag during her rise to the political top. In 1983 they were granted the Royal W arrant, only a short time after the business had been saved by Gerald Bodmer, who recognised the importance of British heritage manufacturing and preserved it doing the Eighties move towards all that was cheap, fast and mass produced.

The Lydia bag is £615 and comes in pink..

At the moment, there is another move towards the preservation of heritage techniques, and all of Launer's production still happens in Walsall, near Birmingham, England. It's always good to discover that there are small British companies still producing beautiful fashion pieces in their homeland; long may this continue!

So there you have it, a tip for AW11: carry whatever bag you want, as long as it is ladylike.

Images: Style.com, Daily Mail, Launer.com

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