Last Chance To See

Guest post by Ruby Wilson

As the New Year draws closer we take a look at a range of exhibitions worth paying a visit to before they close...

At the Victoria and Albert Museum we have the ‘Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion’ exhibition that examines the work and legacy of influential Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga, with over 100 pieces crafted by ‘the master’ of couture, his protégées and contemporary fashion designers working in the same innovative tradition. The exhibition closes on the 18th of February.

The ‘Lace in Fashion’ exhibition taking place at the Fashion Museum in Bath is well worth seeing before it shuts its doors on New Year's day. Lace has represented style, elegance and femininity since the 16th century. The exhibition reveals the techniques and names that have allowed lace to become one of the world's longest enduring fashion trends. A particular highlight of the exhibition is the navy blue lace dress worn by Lea Seydoux in the latest Bond film ‘Spectre’. Also included in the catalogue is a lace smock dated circa 1580, and the Silver Tissue Dress dated circa 1660.

For our more artistic readers, Selvedge recommends the ‘Klimt & Rodin: An Artistic Encounter’ exhibition, displaying in The Legion of Honour in San Francisco. This exhibition marks the first survey of Klimt’s work in California. Sharing the gallery walls with Rodin works will be examples from Klimt’s oeuvre on loan from public and private collections in the United States and Europe, including the artist’s estate in Vienna and the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, which holds the world’s largest collection of Klimt paintings. The exhibition is showing until the 28th of January.

In addition, there is also the ‘Louise Dahl–Wolfe: A Style of Her Own’ exhibition on show at the Fashion And Textile Museum in London. Recently reviewed in one our previous blog posts, the exhibition ‘provides a great insight into textiles caught on film throughout the 1900s. The museum has been quite creative in their approach to adapting the space, as the show comprises of a ceiling covered in hanging parasols; a simple layout with a huge focus on the photographs, giving the viewer a strong sense of the artist's work and life.’

So with the closing dates of these wonderful exhibitions drawing closer, we strongly encourage our readers to take a visit.