London Exhibitions: Ballgowns, Hollywood Costume, Valentino and Tim Walker.

 Phew, that's a long title! I thought it would be a great idea to visit four exhibitions in one day. Let me tell you now, it wasn't! I had a great time but it was so tiring and, even now (24 hours later), my shoulders feel like stone! 

I started at the Victoria & Albert museum and was greeted by this incredible Christmas tree. It was at least 12ft tall and just crammed with baubles, candy canes, lollipops and all things Christmassy!

I'd booked tickets online for Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 but, to my dismay, there were no tickets available for Hollywood Costume. Luckily, it turns out that if you get there around 10am, you can buy them at the box office so I managed to get one little solitary ticket. Phew!

Of course, there was no photography allowed within the exhibitions so I'll just have to describe them to you.

Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950
This exhibition was beautiful! So many amazing couture gowns from the past 60 years. They included classics such as Diana's Catherine Walker "Elvis" dress and Ossie Clark as well as more modern beauties by Alexander McQueen and Erdem. My favourite was a jaw-dropping latex fishtail gown by Atsuko Kudo that looked just like it was sewn of vintage lace. It was a wonderful exhibition.

Afterwards, I had a little bit of time to spare so I walked around the permanent exhibition where I was allowed to take photos.

Look how beautiful this Christian Dior set up is! I would do anything to have this in my wardrobe. Wait, it gets better!

Dior beaded shoes! Don't they look like they're made of sugar? Like something from a fairy tale!

Beautiful dresses from the 1920s and 1950s. 

Then it was time to head to Hollywood Costume. I was insanely excited about this one!

Hollywood Costume
Unfortunately, the badly-designed layout of this exhibition significantly hampered my enjoyment. It was so crowded and the first room was designed in a zig-zag configuration. This meant that there was barely any room in the "aisles" and we had no choice but to form a queue in order to see everything. There was a girl in front of me who wanted to sketch everything (which was explicitly forbidden, may I add!) so I was stuck behind her for ages until an opening appeared for me to squeeze through.

Thankfully, the two other rooms were a lot more spacious, but there was still no choice but to queue in order to see everything. I was in the exhibition for 2 hours! I'm sure you can imagine how I felt after essentially queueing for two whole hours.

Having said that, the actual costumes on display were definitely worth it. I saw Jack Sparrow, Sweeney Todd, Charlie Chaplin, Scarlett O'Hara, Darth Vader, Black Swan and so many others. There were over a hundred costumes there, including Judy Garland's Dorothy dress and Marilyn Monroe's infamous white dress. It was so much more beautiful and intricate than it looks on screen.

It was also really informative. I had no idea that so much work went into costume design. I had a brief desire to be a costume designer when I was younger and it made me a little sad that I never went through with it!

After a brief sit down, I trekked over to Somerset House, weighed down by two exhibition books.

There were two exhibitions on- Valentino: Master of Couture and Tim Walker: Story Teller. The Tim Walker exhibition is free! 

Valentino: Master of Couture

As I arrived at Somerset House, I was greeted by this amazing huge Valentino flower:

How beautiful is that! It was such a great introduction to the exhibition. The layout was really interesting- It was a really long room, with chairs either side, designed to look like a fashion show. The dresses were either side of the catwalk so it felt as though I was the star of the show!

The 137 dresses- yes, 137!- were absolutely beautiful and so inspiring! I have a newfound desire to wear embellishment all the time. I mean, I've always loved embellishment but this has given me the push I need to go for it! 

At the end, we were shown samples of the trademark Valentino flourishes and videos of how they were created. Fascinating stuff!

Tim Walker: Story Teller

Unfortunately, by this point, I was exhausted and aching all over so I pretty much rushed right through this although, as it was free entry, I don't feel so bad. It was very interesting though. I'm a huge fan of Tim Walker's photography. The surreal props appeal to me so much, so it was amazing to see them up close.

The props are all huge! They have such an amazing scale and it's just incredible to think that so much work goes into creating these beautiful images. The show-stopper was most definitely the 12ft ringletted dolly. Adorable. I want one in my living room! 

I had such an amazing day. Exhausting, admittedly, but fantastic nonetheless. Plus, I've scratched four exhibitions off my to-see list!