Return to 1997 SUMMER Index
by Anita Hunter
London seems to be swinging again and is the cultural capital of the world.
For the low down on fashion shopping, Mimi Spencer's The London Fashion Guide (Evening Standard Books 1997 £9.99) is recommended. It's a shop by shop guide to the best places to buy everything from club clothes to couture. There are good chapters on Second-hand/Vintage and Designer Discount Shops and coffee bars to crash in when you're all shopped out.
For a more general guide to shopping of every sort in London, The Time Out Shopping and Services Guide is truly brilliant. (Time Out Magazine Ltd 1997 £6 ) Updated annually, it's an excellent reference guide and covers an exhaustive range of shops from Aarong to Zwemmer. If you want to find out where you can buy or hire anything from a skip to a swimming pool, this is the place to look. Chapters on Health & Beauty and Fashion are comprehensive and there are helpful sections detailing discount outlets.
For an insight into the workings of the British fashion magazine business, try Nicholas Coleridge's book With Friends Like These (Orion Publishing 1997 £16.99). At the head of the Conde Nast empire, Coleridge uses his own extensive knowledge of the business to provide an insiders view of the Machiavellian world of fashion copy.
Several exhibitions on or including fashion are well worth a visit this summer. '50 Years of Fashion' at the Victoria and Albert museum runs until 27 July 1997 and charts the diversity and excellence of British design with over 250 outfits. 'Forties Fashion and the New Look' runs to 30 Aug 1997 at the Imperial War Museum. There are Vivienne Westwood corsets amongst a whole range other erotica at 'The Power of Erotic Design' at the Design Museum, Butlers Wharf until 12 Oct. 1997. Entry into the special exhibitions is included in the normal admission price to the museums.
For free entry into public art collections and galleries (including the V&A, Kensington Palace and The Imperial War Museum), Art and Fashion lovers can become members of the National Art Collection Fund. It's a registered charity that helps galleries and museums to acquire works of art of every kind. Membership is only £25 per annum (£35 for joint membership) and membership benefits include free or concessionary entry to numerous galleries, museums and temporary exhibitions. For further details and an application form call Kate Porter on +44 (0)171 225 4800 or write to the NACF at Millais House, 7 Cromwell House, London SW7 2JN.