fashion – Paper Places

Above are three portraits of Cecil Beaton. On the left is a very posed photograph showing his youthful beauty, in the centre is an impressive oil painting by Christian Bérard, which shows a kind of wistful self-confidence and on the right is a self-portrait in pen, ink, wash and pencil made in a New York hotel room in 1928 – a young man with a focus on his career, complete with camera on the right, behind the wine glass, framed by fashion photos and sketches.

Cecil Beaton was born at just the right time. Coming of age in the early 1920s he was fortunate enough to fall in with a crowd of creative, free-living and very wealthy young people who lived in fine houses and threw wild parties. They look extremely pleased with themselves in the photo above but they are having fun; and, after the horrors of the First World War, which they were too young to take part in but were no doubt affected by, you can see how that whoosh of expressive freedom must have captured these Bright Young Things and propelled them into a creatively brave new world.

The show begins with Cecil Beaton’s gorgeous photographs of lovely society ladies and celebrities. Who wouldn’t want to have been photographed in a sumptuous gown, surrounded by flowers, frills and frou-frou? What a wonderful record of beautiful youth.

Cecil Beaton was far more than a photographer. He was an artist, designer and fashion designer. I rather liked the swift watercolour sketch he made for Vogue (on the left) of Wallis Simpson. He didn’t like her at first but was impressed by her transformation into ‘all that is elegant’. And on the right is his frontispiece to Cecil Beaton’s New York in 1938. He adored New York and he was a stalwart photographer and front cover designer for Vogue magazine.

Of course the highlight of Cecil Beaton’s career was his work on the staged musical My Fair Lady. He created all the costumes and set designs for the theatre and, when the musical was filmed in Hollywood in the early 1960s, he won two Oscars for his work. The magnificent evening dress worn by Audrey Hepburn is on display.

And here he is in a photograph on the set of the film with Audrey Hepburn.

Well, this is a charming exhibition which transports you back to a world of late Edwardian opulence, manners and mores of ‘flapper days’ and the celebration of flattering fashion when women (more than men) could truly dress up for important events. Cecil Beaton’s naturally theatrical style fuelled ‘dressing up’ in its purest sense. What a fun time, and what a fun show.

It’s on at the National Portrait Gallery until 11th January 2026

Immortalised in many art forms and still celebrated in fashion and style, Queen Marie Antoinette’s influence is legendary. Mention her names and the words, ‘let them eat cake’ spring to mind, but it’s likely that she simply had no idea of the poverty of the French people in the 1780s which precipitated the country into revolution while she lived a life of palatial splendour with royal funds to indulge her interest in fashion.

She was an attractive woman who clearly understood the power of image. Judging from the number of portraits and sculptures on show at this brilliant exhibition, she was always eager to pose for artists. And artists clearly responded to her interest in fashion, eagerly capturing the details of her outfits.

it’s fascinating to see the black lace ‘collerette’ which featured in a portrait miniature by Francois Dumont – and was lent to the artist so that he could capture the details.

Oh, the costumes! There’s an amazing collection of gowns – not necessarily worn by Marie Antoinette but come from the 1780s and 90s and are very similar to many of the dresses and clothing featured in the portraits. It’s astounding to see the detail in the couture and opulence of these dresses.

The jewels and the shoe (above) were known to have been worn by Marie Antoinette and the embroidery was, apparently, a sample of an over-dress which a couturier would have presented to her for a potential gown. It’s very fitting that this show has been sponsored by Manolo Blahnik.

Anyone who watched Bridgerton – the total fantasy version of Regency Britain – will recognise the extreme wigs and hair dos. Clearly things reach heights (literally) of fantasy in the court of Marie Antoinette as hair was teased ever upwards and adorned with fantastical decoration.

Queen Marie Antoinette’s reign ended badly with the brutal blow of the guillotine in 1793. There’s this very graphic drawing of the crowd cheering as the decapitated queen’s head is held aloft by the executioner. And the death mask, we are told, was taken soon after her death by Madame Tussaud. It’s all such a brutal end and she was certainly not guilty of any crime other than representing an overblown, indulged and superfluous monarchy.

But her style lives on. It’s great to see how contemporary designers, in the years since her death, have found ways to represent her style using modern materials. I did love the Moschino wedding cake dresses designed by Jeremy Scott and Vivienne Westwood’s Marie Antoinette bridal dress.

The show is at the V&A until 22 March 2026.

Tag: fashion

Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World – well, there is so much more to this show at the National Portrait Gallery than fashion. Glorious to see so many photographs, drawings, illustrations, sketches and creative ideas which demostrate the breadth of this remarkable man’s abilities.