The new exhibition at the V&A, Ballgowns, British Glamour since 1950, has got the Working Frocks’ brain whirring overtime.
Glamour is not only yards and yards of tulle in a Belville Sassoon ballgown, but is also the simplicity of a pared-down design, executed to the highest standard. Archive sketches from Belville Sassoon show a design eventually worn by Audrey Hepburn:
Although we don’t all have Albert Finney to zip us in, the fact remains that simplicity is extremely glamourous. That simplicity is at the core of the Working Frock design ethos:
Belinda Belville was channelling that simplicity in working dress even in 1962. Simple, elegant working frocks win out every time:
The Chanel suit is, of course, pared down glamour. When her suits first appeared, ‘their radical simplicity immediately outclassed anything evoking faux chic’ (Chanel, Collections and Creations by Daniele Bott)
Hard to believe this suit is from one of the 1965 collections:
We say, think simplicity in all its glamour. This brown silk number from the current Spring Summer collection is glamourous in its simplicity:
Everyday glamour, simpler than you think.
