FASHION Because I Feel Like It.

Chanel, Haute Couture, S/S 2012

Oscar de la Renta, RTW, A/W 2012

Alexander McQueen, RTW, S/S 2007.

Love Magazine S/S 2012, 'The Origin of Monsters', Photography: Tim Walker, Model: Kristen McMenamy, Stylist: Katie Grand

Tomorrow a flock of fashionistas will descend upon Somerset House for London Fashion Week, and I have absolutely no doubt I will marvel at their long limbs and ability to eat absolutely nothing and still remain composed in 8inch Louboutin's on the relentless cobbles outside. So with 70 pages of reading for my fashion module in front of me, it only seems appropriate then that I should turn my attention to fashion: a subject I struggle with more and more as I try to understand it. 


Fashion is "an expression of yourself", a slogan I whole-heartedly believed until three months ago. Admittedly, this subsequently led to many a faux pas, including stripy black and yellow leggings and a purple and lime green "GAP" hoodie I donned during my awkward pre-pubescent years. Now with three solid months of Walter Benjamin, "pastiche", and a showing of "The Age of Innocence" behind me, fashion as "an expression of yourself" seems laughable. Despite my new fashion enlightenment, I would quite like to go back to a simpler time when I dressed because I liked that item, on that day, never because it was "comfortable", but because I felt like it. So as I'm feeling nostalgic today, here are some bits and bobs that have caught my eye, because I feel like IT. 

MONDRIAN || NICHOLSON: IN PARALLEL

It's not everyday you come across a Mondrian when you're walking to your lecture. Anything is possible at the Courtauld. 

Piet Mondrian in his studio, 26 rue du départ, Paris. 1933. Charles Karsten © collection RKD, The Hague

MONDRIAN || NICHOLSON: IN PARALLEL 16 February – 20 May 2012.

"This exhibition explores the largely untold relationship between Piet Mondrian and Ben Nicholson during the 1930's. At this time the two artists were leading forces of abstract art in Europe.

Their friendship culminated with Mondrian moving to London in 1938, at Nicholson's invitation, where the two worked in neighbouring Hampstead studios at the centre of an international community of avant-garde artists. 

The exhibition brings together an extraordinary group of major paintings and reliefs to explore the parallel paths Mondrian and Nicholson charted during this exciting decade. It reveals how each was driven by a profound belief in the potential of abstract art to create new forms of beauty and visual power. 

This is a unique opportunity to experience some of the greatest works ever produced by these two exceptional artists." 

[WORDS, COURTAULD.AC.UK]