Dior: Designer of Dreams Exhibition at the V&A, London

You may not be able to tell this from looking at me, in that I spend most days in leggings, but I love haute couture. I love its history, its creative expression and, well, I really love the dresses (and skirts, and suits, and all the other forms haute couture can take). Whilst the likelihood of me ever being able to wear any of these extravagant garments is very, very, very low, I always love to follow what various fashion houses are creating. And, without a doubt, my favourite house to follow is the House of Dior. Their very name is synonymous with all things style and class.

Needless to say, when details of the Dior exhibit at the V&A started appearing last Christmas I was more than eager to go (even if there was no ticket availability until August). And go I did. And gasp I did. And take many a photograph and dream about wearing many a dress I did.

Shall we get the boring stuff out of the way first? I travelled up by train, an interesting endeavour when using a wheelchair! Fortunately, everything worked out almost perfectly: I had called the day before to arrange ramps for the outgoing journey (for details on how to do this visit here) and then for extra security the attendants at each station would call ahead to the next, to inform them that I would be getting off and need a ramp. A few of the stations were a bit slow getting the ramps to us, but never enough to cause an issue. We hadn't booked support for the return journey as we didn't know when we would be done, which meant that we had to rely on the attendants calling ahead to the next station, which fortunately went off without a hitch. We also decided to avoid the tube (who can deal with that?) and instead got a taxi to and from London Victoria (although London Victoria is also a sensory ordeal).

We arrived at the V&A at lunch time, with plenty of time to stop in at the cafe for something to eat  (and it is the most stunning museum cafe you will ever see). And then: the exhibition. I honestly think that this was the best executed exhibition that I've ever seen. The concepts for each of the rooms complemented the displays beautifully, balancing plain black booths with decadent faux-seventeenth century displays. Without a doubt they kept the highlight for the end: the final room featured a spinning platform and changing celestial light arrangement projected onto the ceiling. It was enchanting. Alongside of this they managed to walk you through the history of the fashion house. 

If you, like me, love all things behind-the-scenes, the BBC have just aired a programme on the V & A which includes a section on preparing some of the dresses for display. I am very excited to watch it.

Wheelchair 4/5:

The museum and the exhibition are fully wheelchair accessible. The exhibit was very busy though, so there were a few issues regarding manoeuvring through the crowd and making sure that I could see everything as people piled in front of the displays.

Sensory Input 2/5:

There were, as I mentioned above, some rooms where interesting light displays played an important part in the exhibition, making the viewing quite strenuous. It was also an incredibly long exhibition; I kept thinking that we must have reached the final room and then there was more! This made it a very high-focus day and my cognitive symptoms flared up accordingly.

Food & Facilities 4/5:

The V&A has a few different eating spots (I must admit that I brought my own sandwich, as their menus are a little bit on the fancier side and I am quite a picky eater). There are accessible toilets dotted around the museum; some of them were quite nice, some were less pleasant.

Travel 3/5:

There is some Blue Badge parking on Exhibition Road. London Victoria is around a ten minute drive from the Museum. It is around a five minute walk from South Kensington Underground.

Overall 3.25/5: We spent between three and four hours in the V&A, and around an hour and a half travelling either way.

 *I currently have moderate ME, meaning I use a wheelchair pushed by someone else, and a walking stick. Please take into account your own physical capabilities when planning a trip, if you need to start small then start small. Look into what you can see nearby for when you're ready. Although, when at my best, I may be able to post every 1-2 weeks, that does not mean I am well enough to travel that frequently! Many of my posts come from a backlog of trips taken over the past few years.

  

Photographs by Emily Bailey