If you were looking for an oasis of vintage cool within the pounding newness of London Fashion Week, and if you also wanted a rather excellent party, you could do no wrong with ‘Retrospective’, a vintage fashion show mounted by the excellent people at Bourne & Hollingsworth.
Retrospective by Bourne & Hollingsworth
Bourne & Hollingsworth had been on my radar for a while, largely thanks to their 21st century speakeasies and Blitz Parties. Despite being exactly the type to enjoy any party where cocktails are going to be drunk out of teacups, I’d somehow managed to miss out on B&H’s events up until this point, so I was very much looking forward to Retrospective once I heard about it. Essentially, the concept behind Retrospective is to produce a catwalk show using top quality vintage clothes from Vintage Modes, Lucy in Disguise, Violet’s Box, and Peekaboo, but in a way that reflects current trends, styling the pieces in imaginative ways and side-stepping the top to toe retro look.
Arriving at the Bloomsbury Ballroom, we stepped through the red rope and underground to the fantastic Art Deco space, taking in the long bar covered in champagne coupettes, the DJs, and, dare I say it, the exceptionally attractive staff. Settling down with Gatsby cocktails (champagne, vodka, raspberry and grenadine) we took our seats in the front row and enjoying a bit of David Bowie and waited for the show to start. Huge projections on the walls of the ballroom flashed up images of vintage style icons from Bardot to Taylor to Hepburn (Audrey), and as the lights came up on the runway the audience visibly craned forward to see what was in store.
The first collection was themed around the gothic look, featuring everything from velvet maxi dresses in plum to sheer black lace dresses over skimpy leotards, paired with raven black feather ruffs around the neck. What struck me most was the cleanness of all the looks – no fussiness, no outfits were cluttered or overdone. Everything was deftly styled by Violet Naylor-Leyland, with clever, modern makeup by Issidora and perfectly judged slightly messy updos by Nina Butkovich-Budden. The gothic look was followed by monochrome, an ideal partner. The clever styling kept each look very much up to date, and pieces could easily have featured in the latest runway collections instead of coming from the fashion archives.
We moved through ‘Wild’ and ‘Come to Bed’, all beautifully judged and wonderfully curated, until Sly and the Family Stone’s ‘Everyday People’ blared out, spliced up and repeating the same line over and over again, and then came ‘Showcase’ – a collection of the most unique and interesting pieces from the vintage collections. Special mention has to be made for the incredible shoes by Kat Maconie, which we spent much of the show openly lusting after.
As the show came to a close and the models took their final walk, the chorus of Everyday People kicked in, and as the audience started to sing along and dance in their seats, the show finished and the party began. Grabbing some Gin Fizzes, we had a bit of a dance, and soon the smell of petrol announced the arrival of something I’ve never seen before, and might never see again. While a group of dancers started swing dancing, a man rode a Vespa through the middle of the ballroom and out of the doors. We danced on wobbly benches, clinked our champagne coupettes, and looked out over the best dressed crowd I’ve seen all Fashion Week.
Bourne & Hollingsworth have earned their reputation as the best party-throwers in London, and while we could have stayed out all night with them and their gorgeous crowd, sadly Fashion Week duties called and we were good girls. We’ll be sure to make up for it in future though. To get up to speed with B&H and their latest ingenious parties, find their Facebook page here, where you can find out all the top tips on the heavy clambakes going on around London. I’d recommend you start practicing your Charleston.
