Marilyn Monroe: A British Love Affair, National Portrait Gallery, London

I went to the National Portrait Gallery in London initially to just see the Marilyn Monroe exhibition but stayed and took two and a half hours to have a walk around.

First the Marilyn exhibition - it doesn't include many photos but looks at her time filming and promoting The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier.

It has some beautiful photos taken by Cecil Beaton,  Larry Burrows and Jack Cardiff. I also found out that one of my favourite photos of Marilyn on a Geshia print blanket holding a rose was taken by Beaton.

It just shows her natural beauty and it is free.

If you have never been to the gallery I cannot recommend it enough. I really enjoyed walking around the portraits. Paintings range from The Tudors to the Victorians to modern day.

It was great to see a sketch of Jane Austen drawn by her sister Cassandra Austen. I nearly missed it a couple of times but found it eventually and I'm glad I did.

There are so many recognisable paintings of Queen Elizabeth I, King Charles I and Queen Victoria. However, one of her after her coronation is actually a replica as the original is in Buckingham Palace.

At the moment they also have photos of the current Royal family taken by Mario Testino. It includes the two engagement photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - Prince William and Kate Middleton.

There are paintings of Paul McCartney, photos of the Queen after her wedding and her coronation again taken by Cecil Beaton. 

I also paid £2 and saw the exhibition from Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2012 which has some beautiful photographs including one of Mo Farah and one of Victoria Pendleton. Worth the £2.

I went round a couple of times soaking up every painting and photograph. It also had the film of David Beckham sleeping done by Sam Taylor-Wood...
A beautiful museum and on the whole free. Well worth it.

Also I had a cup of tea and the most delicious walnut and chocolate brownie in the cafe down stairs, amazing!

Hollywood Costume Exhibition - V&A London

I love my films so when I saw that the V&A, my favourite museum, had an exhibition of Hollywood Costumes I got on the internet and booked tickets straight away.

It was simply amazing the costumes they have on show include some of the most recognisable costumes through the history of film.

Over 100 of the most iconic costumes from across the century of film-making.

It was mesmerising two dresses from Gone with the Wind - two Scarlett O'Hara dresses which were beautiful. Indiana Jones' iconic outfit was slightly different from what I was expecting but instantly recognisable.

I was surprised just how small some of the stars were, Robert DeNiro was very narrow and short, Russell Crowe's Gladiator suit was also smaller than I was expecting.

There were costumes from Matrix, Twilight: New Moon, Moulin Rouge, Chicago and Atonement. Just so many that it is hard to recount them all.

My favourites include a Marilyn Monroe dress from Some Like It Hot, which was just beautifully made.

The black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's was really simple and if not made by Givenchy and worn by Audrey Hepburn would not be that amazing but the fact it is makes it breathtaking.

The two major pulls of the exhibition are THE white dress from The Seven Year Itch, which looks quite small when you think Marilyn was meant to be a size 14 and also I never realised that it has a bow on the band.

The other is Dorothy's dress from The Wizard of Oz worn by Judy Garland. It was quite small and very prim, nothing special but like the Holly Golightly  dress what it was in and who wore it madke it amazing. It also had two pairs of ruby slippers a replica pair and also the actual pair. Now The Wizard of Oz is my all time favourite film and I was a little disappointed in the slippers but also a little fascinated. They are covered in sequins I don't know what I was expecting though, actual rubys.

One of  best costumes I think is the black ballerina outfit worn by Natalie Portman in Black Swan, I didn't really like the film but the craftsmanship and detail in that dress makes it look beautiful.

My one criticism though is in relation to the Batman, Catwoman, Superman and Spiderman outfits. They were placed high up so you couldn't really get a good look at them something I would love to have done to the Batman outfit from The Dark Knight Rises.

The exhibition is on until January 27 for more information check out http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-hollywood-costume/ if you love films you will love this.

Everyone needs a Little Black Dress

Portsmouth City Museum currently has an exhibition on the famous LBD.....

I wrote a piece for etc magazine about it, check it out here....

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&refresh=2j0Mf1H41R6c&PBID=cdbd86eb-0ed9-41e5-a590-031651c44a1c&skip page 104

Icons: "I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people's minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing."- Audrey Hepburn

Icon is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as the following: 

                  Noun

1 (also ikon) a devotional painting of Christ or another holy figure, typically executed on wood and used ceremonially in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches.

2 a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration: this iron-jawed icon of American manhood



3 Computing a symbol or graphic representation on a screen of a program, option, or window.

4 Linguistics a sign that has a characteristic in common with the thing it signifies, for example the word snarl pronounced in a snarling way. 
(http://oxforddictionaries.com)

Now, I am a massive fan of iconic women, I have shelves of books about interesting women that have done something in the world or been a fleeting popular culture icon.

Over the decades there have been a whole host of iconic women, including: Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, Queen Victoria, another who I have a biography waiting to be read, Coco Chanel, Oprah Winfrey, Cleopatra, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Amelia Earhart, Edie Sedgwick and Billie Holiday to name a few. As well as I think my idol Kylie Minogue, Madonna and of course Lady Gaga. All of which have contributed to society or popular culture, or changed people’s perspectives on issues.

I have countless books on Marilyn Monroe, her short life fascinates me. Every book I read highlights a new area that I have never seen before or a new fact that has recently come to light. Some might argue that she is not an icon but a blonde bimbo who didn't have a clue what she was doing, but the fact she was known as a dizzy blonde with a curvy body that women imitated surely highlights her iconic status. She is someone who is referred to as an inspiration for artists or actors. Also the fact that if you dig a little deeper you realise that she was not a dizzy blonde but a very smart woman who wanted a career on her own terms.

Before she died she was in the process of starting up her own production company so that she could be seen as a serious actress rather than a comedy piece of fluff. In a savvy and potentially dangerous move, she had it added to her contract that she could ask for script changes and choose the films and the directors she worked with. Something that was unheard of in the Hollywood studio system, which saw actors tied into contracts with one studio doing as they were told.

In a time when women were largely seen as either sex goddess or homely wife, with not much in between, Marilyn Monroe was trying desperately to push these boundaries to give herself a better life. As she said "An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like one, money making machine."

I have said in a previous post how I am reading a biography on Jackie Kennedy Onassis, another woman who is seen as an icon of her time, but to be honest I can see why she was a fashion icon but reading the book I am on the fence. I haven't finished it yet so I suppose I should wait but Jackie Kennedy is not what I was expecting, the book implies she knew of Kennedy's indiscretions and seemed more concerned with spending money on doing up the White House. Although on foreign visits she seemed to shine, getting on with foreign prime ministers and kings but other than that I'm not sure.

I suppose in many ways she became more of an icon after the death of her husband as this gave her the opportunity to step out of his shadow. So for now I'm undecided but will let you know what I think when I have finished the book.

It makes me wonder looking at the definition if all these women are icons. It does make you question the term, they all represent a time and a place, but then I suppose it's not the definition that counts but what the women did that matters. As long as people are still interested, reading up on or making films about them they are icons, especially if they influence future generations. 

My recent so called life...

So, since the last September post, other than starting my course, not a lot has been happening really. I have been to a couple of gigs; I saw We Are Scientists, McFly (I went with my sister who is a big fan...), and I will be seeing Paul Weller tonight. Gigs next year so far are Beady Eye, Glee, Kylie, Katy Perry and Take That. Very excited for all of them, next year should be good for gigs.


I’ve seen some good films, The Runaways, which was fantastic. I really admire what Joan Jett and Cherie Currie achieved. I was a little freaked out that they were only 15 or 16 but what they did in the music world, being the first girl punk band, it was a man's world and they burst through it was really interesting. Saw Toy Story 3 as well, which was pretty immense, not as good as the other but still good.

I am still trying to get through my Jackie Kennedy biography; I’m not finding it difficult to read, it is just trying to find time to read that is the problem. It is a really interesting book though, te way her dad was a serial womanizer and put her mum through hell, and yet Jackie knew about J.F. Kennedy’s indiscretions and just let him get away with it. I am only up until to when John is voted in as President and he has already cheated on her loads. It’s funny what some women will put up with for love.

I have a lot of fiction books to read, most of which I have borrowed from friends. Then I need to read the biography on Queen Victoria, which I have had for ages, ever since I saw the Young Victoria and thought she was really influential and interesting.


As Christmas approaches I have noticed an array of Marilyn Monroe books hitting the shelves and they have all gone on my list. People have said that I already have too many, but can I help if new books come out with new things in them!

New article: http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&refresh=Cg419Q0ai6N0&PBID=898dcbba-75b6-419a-989f-aa69bed7582e&skip=

I also will have my Weller gig review in the paper tomorrow.

That's all I think, I am going to try and post more often.

So in the words of one of my favourite films "thanks for stopping by."*





*Anchorman in case you were wondering.