« Alexandra Palace Knitting and Stitchery Show 2008 | Main | A Pretty Big Dog »
Sunday October 19, 2008
Supreme
Lyn and I finally arranged our outing to the V&A to see the Supremes exhibition - we had been promising it to ourselves since May (before it opened) and just made it before it closed (today).
We enjoyed it as much as we expected - I learned a lot - and it struck me that even though I know what was happening in America at the time of the emergence of Motown, it is not possible to really understand how it was for them. It was similar environment in England, but not the same, and I was too young to understand. Indeed I vividly remember seeing my first black bus conductor during a trip to London when I was about 5 years old - I was utterly fascinated (he was very understanding, and chatted to me for a bit.).
In addition to what we saw, they had family events and sessions offering, for example, "Motown Moves" (which I think we would have loved) which examined "the iconic choreography of Motown moves - from hand gestures to simple dance moves, exploring how the 'look' of Motown evolved".
We saw how these young women evolved from the Primettes ... to the Supremes.
The stars of the show were, of course, the costumes. The ones shown above were by Michael Travis - a striking 1960s black and white pattern - all in sequins - spectacular for television. His designs were notably flamboyant and included the famous 'Butterfly' dresses, which were even more lovely to see close up. The "wings" were diaphanous patterned fabric, somewhat besequinned, but the shaped dresses were entirely covered with sequins, forming the same fabric pattern.
See the extended entry.
Most of the outfits of the period were lavish with beading and thousands of sequins (sewn by hand) and costing between one and two thousand dollars each in the 1960s ($13-26,000 at today's prices).
Posted by Christina at 4:00 PM. Category: Days Out
Comments
They just look wonderful. I would have liked to see that show.
Posted by: Alison on October 20, 2008 5:08 PM
