I'm so sorry lovely readers, I've deprived you. You may have seen me tweeting a couple of weeks back that I was invited to Zandra Rhodes' house for dinner (there was a few of us, not just me!) and a look at her new collection plus some of her vintage pieces from her Paris retrospective show? Well I went. And it was FABULOUS!
I couldn't quite believe it when I received the invite. I think I called all my nearest and dearest to boast to tell them and scream. A couple didn't have a clue what I was talking about. The majority joined in with my excitement.
Off I went to the Fashion and Textile Museum on Bermondsey Street, which Zandra founded and opened in 2003. She lives above it. In the penthouse. And WHAT a penthouse it is!
Ornaments, rails of clothes, intricate artwork, Zandra painted, sculpted and moulded in various guises (see the ceramic head below). Mannequins displaying her new collection - bright pinks, blues and oranges with her signature squiggles everywhere.
In short, her home was a VERY GOOD attack on the senses. Including, may I add, a superb dinner prepared by her, served by and eaten by her. A 'Greek lemon and egg soup that you're going to LOVE' (her words, and very true ones at that) was the starter, and a veggie lasagna for me for the main.
We sat around, eating and drinking and laughing, whilst Zandra moved from one table to the other, checking up on her guests like the true host she is. It was surreal. I really felt like I had gone back in time to the 60s, and this is what it was like - random people in her house chatting, and her loving every second.
There was what looked like a table covered in a huge ornate throw. It turned out to be four metallic trunks that housed a lot of Zandra's back catalogue of pieces. It was all being photographed for a new project. Just so fascinating!
I want to live there, with Zanrda. She makes me happy.
Look...
Zandra's table, and the bottom of a huge mirror
A mesmerizing chandalier, made by Zandra's friend, and legendary artist, Andrew Logan. It had little ceramic 'Zs' hanging off it!
Zandra serving up, and her tidy kitchen, below
The 'dragon' jacket from her retrospective show, and her VHS collection, which included Steel Magnolias, Hocus Pocus and Tina: Whats Love Got To Do With It - MY KIND OF WOMAN!!