Valentino: Master of Couture.

Somerset House is one of my favourite places because it's so peaceful in its grandeur. During Fashion Week last year I was handing out post cards to the public and one of them was a Valentino postcard. So when I saw this I was over the moon that Valentino was coming to do an exhibition at Somerset House! I would of taken photos for everyone to see because everything was so beautiful but there's no photography allowed.

So this exhibition was held in the Embankment Galleries, which is one of the larger gallery rooms at Somerset House. The ground floor is a display of hundreds of Valentino invitations and bits of memorabilia from the catwalk shows and from the designers life, presented in clear display cabinets. These cabinets are on top of suspended chairs that have been attached to the wall. There's a timeline painted on the wall showing all the main dates relevant to Valentino's career. and there's also a giant model of the famous Valentino flower hanging on the ceiling about the displays and overlooking the visitors. It's super cool to see all the photographs, letters and invitations that are usually kept private.

When you go upstairs it's very grand as you walk under the arch. Basically it's laid out to resemble a catwalk so there are seats to the left and right and the public take the place of the models on the catwalk. It's so strange because normally the people in the seating area are supposed to be looking at the models but in this exhibition it's the opposite way round. So to the left and right are seats (same design as the chairs used on the ground floor) and on some of the seats are invitations with names of famous guests. I thought this was a really clever touch, made you feel like the dresses you see have also been seen by the people on the invites. Amongst the seats are the mannequins sitting/ standing modelling the beautiful Valentino outfits. When you first go in you get given a booklet, it makes no sense with all these descriptions and numbers but when you get to this part of the exhibition you see that all the mannequins have a label with a number attached to their wrist. If you look in the booklet then you match the mannequin to their number and it gives you a brief description of the clothes. I remember seeing the beautiful dress Audrey Hepburn wore with hundreds of flowers detailing the hem and neckline. I also remember seeing Jackie Kennedy's green dress which Jennifer Lopez also wore to the Oscars in 2003. There was also the red dress with the flowers on the hem worn by Jennifer Aniston. Seriously impressive collection of outfits, the gorgeous dresses particularly made me wish that I could be lucky enough to wear one of Valentino's pieces.

When you get to the end of the runway you go down the stairs which takes you to the other side of the gallery. Here is an exquisite model of the Greek Princess Marie- Chantal's wedding gown. It's a simply gorgeous sight to see with a super long veil and train. The detail, not just on the gown but on every outfit, is amazing.

There is also a room where there is a video showcasing the designer's inspirations and descriptions of the pieces. It's like a dome room like a mini cinema going on but it was very crowded in there.

As you walk on there is a huge table with TVs installed into it on one side so you can see how the experienced seamstresses make the details on the dresses such as the roses and the pleating. It's all very fancy and complicated so I have a lot of respect for them because it looks like hard work. On the other side of the table are 3D clear cabinets showcasing the various techniques that are unique to Valentino. There is also a cabinet at the end of the exhibition with the finished Pagine technique jacket. Basically it's a jacket that has loads and loads of disks of organza used to create a page effect.

Before you leave there is the gift shop where you can buy Valentino books, t-shirts, tote bags, postcards and lots more. This exhibition ends 3rd March 2013 and I highly recommend buying a ticket and getting yourself down there. It's a bit pricey with tickets being £12.50/£9 concessions but it's so worth it.

Fashion Ganache.