Diary – 7 February 2019

‘There is no other country in the world, besides my own, whose way of life I like so much,’ enthused the great French couturier Christian Dior. ‘I love English traditions, English politeness, English architecture. I even love English cooking.’ And that was in the 1950s. If pre-sales for the V&A’s Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams are any indication, the English seem super keen to return the love. Though I say so myself, this is a stunning exhibition, from the post-war New Look — condemned by Stafford Cripps for its anti-austerity ethos (a rather different Labour party in those days) — to the clean, sculptural chic of Maria Grazia Chiuri. Perhaps the popularity is down to the need for some Brexit-induced escapism — a dream world of Normandie gardens, Versailles picnics, and Belle Époque balls. But I like the British story: Dior helped to fund the Fashion Museum in Bath, and his work with Midlands corset-makers means that some of our best loans have come from the stores of Leicestershire County Council.

With Princess Margaret’s 21st-birthday dress a star attraction, the show is opened by her son, the furniture maker David Linley, who explains how much the House of Windsor came to admire the House of Dior. The Queen Mother asked models to ignore protocol and turn their backs on her so she could inspect the haute couture. Some exhibition visitors comment that Princess Margaret’s dress itself now looks, ahem, somewhat yellowed. This is not down to the effects of any hard partying, but rather Cecil Beaton’s shameless bleaching of the original 1951 portrait of Princess Margaret, as he sought to photoshop that post-war Phoenix moment.

On the sweeping banks of a very choppy River Tay, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive to open officially V&A Dundee.