Hooray! It’s the Jubilee bank holiday this weekend so to kick start this much needed break I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum to see the Ballgowns: British Glamour since 1950s exhibition. The exhibition showcases loads of ballgowns ranging from the 50s to modern ones. The one I love most is the Elvis Pearl Dress worn by Princess Diana on her state visit to Hong Kong in the 80s. Unfortunately photography is not allowed in the venue so I can only show you the foyer’s snapshot.

V&A’s Foyer

Traffic cone canopy outside the V&A

One thing I would moan about the exhibition is that there weren’t much information about the gowns and most of the exhibits are inside glass boxes so you wouldn’t be able to see the back of the dresses. I thought I would buy the exhibition book but again it doesn’t say much about the construction of the gowns either so I bought the Grace Kelly Style book instead which is an amazing read.

Grace Kelly Style book published by the V&A

I always love Grace Kelly’s elegant style and sadly I missed the exhibition which took place in 2010. This book narrates her style from being the Actress, the Bride and the Princess. Other than the gorgeous wedding dress which I think is better than Duchess of Cornwall’s, I adore this lace dress the most. Its simple style and application of lace is unbeatable.

After the V&A I went onto Goldhawk Road near Shepherd’s Bush which is famous for good value fabrics. I got turquoise colour silk satin and plain white silk organza from A to Z fabric. Then I went onto Classic Textile to explore more!

Classic Textile at Goldhawk Road

The shop is filled with rolls and rolls of fabric, I didn’t know where to start! Customer service at Classic Textile is excellent as well. I heard from the lady in charge that they’ve just won the planning battle and the shops are here to stay! Good news to sewists, fashion students and designers!

Silk fabric inside Classic Textile

Here’s the results of the day: in addition to the silk satin and organza, I got some Liberty print silk, pale peach and mint colour silk crepe all for a very reasonable price (ranging from about £10 to £12 per metre!) which is probably half the price compared to the fabric shops in Central London.

Results of the day – gorgeous silk fabrics!

Liberty Print Silk for £12 a metre only!!

Inspired by the Kelly Lace Dress, I’m thinking of matching this beige tocca lace which I have in the stash with either the mint or peach silk crepe for a summer top.

Beige lace over silk crepe (peach or mint?)

Sewing pattern for the lace top is still to be decided but I’ll keep you posted!