Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Fashion icon Mary Quant is the subject of a new V&A exhibition, opening on Saturday. Toyah is quoted on the V&A’s The Story Of Mary Quant make-up page:

In this edited extract from the Mary Quant exhibition book, Beatrice Behlen explores why Quant’s make-up range was as revolutionary as her clothing.

Singer Toyah Willcox was only eight years old and living in Birmingham when Quant’s cosmetics hit the market. Unsurprisingly she was’t allowed to wear make-up, but her older sister:

would bring home beautiful round Mary Quant bottles of nail varnish in amazing colours such as canary yellow, shimmery green and night time black. I could stare at these beautiful bottles for hours, the design was one of the best things I have ever seen. Mary Quant celebrated colour in all its spectrum and this had a huge influence on how I saw make up as an instrument of self-discovery and self-expression. Toyah Willcox, 2018

• Continue reading at the V&A website. See further info on the Mary Quant exhibition here.

Toyah was a guest at yesterday’s V&A Summer Party. The annual party took place last night at the famous museum itself in South West London. Here’s a couple of press reports featuring photos of Toyah. The Telegraph reported: Singer Toyah Willcox opted for a summer floral midi dress, which she paired with a cobalt clutch.

Great photos by Damon King from Toyah Willcox and the Great British Panto, the festive event held at the V&A, London last Tuesday evening. Click below to view more photos from the discussion between Toyah and Simon Sladen. (Photos © Damon King)

Toyah guests at the V&A on Tuesday, as part of their Christmas festivities for 2016, discussing panto with Simon Sladen of the British Theatre Guide.

• Discover South Kensington: Christmas in South Kensington: Join Toyah Willcox as part of the V&A’s Christmas Festivities as she celebrates one of her and Britain’s best loved artforms: the pantomine – Continue reading…

• All About London: December events at the V&A: Join actress, singer and celebrated pantomine performer Toyah Willcox as she celebrates one of her and Britain’s best loved artforms. Toyah will be in conversation with Senior Curator and Pantomime Editor of the British Theatre Guide, Simon Sladen – Continue reading…

• Toyah Willcox and the Great British Panto: Further information on this V&A Christmas event, and ticket booking are available here…

Oh Yes It Is! Toyah Willcox and the Great British Panto

What: Evening events
When: Tuesday, 13 December 2016
Where: The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre

Toyah Willcox’s career has encompassed chart-hits, novels and roles on stage and screen, from working at the National Theatre to cult-classic Quadrophenia. She is also a celebrated pantomime performer, having spent many a season playing a variety of roles from Principal Boy to Wicked Queen. Join her as part of the V&A’s Christmas Festivities as she celebrates one of her and Britain’s best loved artforms.

Toyah will be in conversation with Senior Curator and Pantomime Editor of the British Theatre Guide, Simon Sladen.

Tuesday 13 December: 19.00 – 20.00 (talk); 20.00 – 20.45 (refreshments)

• See further info at www.vam.ac.uk.

A comprehensive article on yesterday’s Shakespeare 400 event has been published by The New Criterion.

Shakespeare 400 at the Victoria & Albert

The day ended on a warming note: a strong cup of tea, a ginger biscuit, and a genial chat between the poetry editor Paul Keegan and the singer/actress Toyah Willcox, who played Miranda in Derek Jarman’s film of The Tempest (1979). Willcox’s costume of rags is held by the V&A, and was too delicate to be released for this symposium. The film has aged similarly: part camp period piece, part inspired dismantling of the play. Jarman, Willcox recalled, started with “design.” He broke the final image of the play into its components, and then reconstructed them in his fashion. If he did not build a smoothly working machine, at least its coughs and rattles add to the chorus of interpretations and images.

While filming Jarman’s Tempest, the cast and crew chose to sit out a snow storm in their remote set, a derelict abbey. “It was fantastically wild,” Willcox recalled of working inside a real tempest. “We were living the dream.”

• Continue reading at The New Criterion.

Toyah has been confirmed as a panel guest at the forthcoming Shakespeare 400 at The V&A: A One Day Festival, taking place on 22nd April 2016.

‘O brave new world!’ – The Tempest

Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with the stuff that dreams are made on. Hosted by the V&A and led by Shakespeare scholar John Pitcher (St John’s College, Oxford), we invite you to a festival of art, poetry, music and on-stage discussions devoted to his final, and most magical play, The Tempest. It will be a day, in the words of Caliban, of ‘sounds,’ ‘sweet airs’ and ‘a thousand twangling instruments’, as represented in the V&A’s collections.

Prospero’s art – the imaginative world of wizards, spells and demigods banned by the Elizabethan church but alive in people’s fears and fantasies – will be looked at alongside the physical realm of windmills, water power, and sailing ships. The poetry of the play, and the way it lives on stage and in film, will be discussed by poets Alice Oswald and Alicia Stallings, the novelist John Lanchester and the actress Harriet Walter. The many mental states The Tempest evokes and occupies – revery, stupor, frenzy, vengefulness, and wonder – will be explored and experienced by you, the participants.

• Further information/Book tickets at the V&A website. More details also at toyahwillcox.com.

Photos, by Damon King and Jeff Agar, from Friday evening’s Club to Catwalk “In Conversation” V&A event have now been added to Dreamscape’s Gallery. Click below to take a look. (Thanks again to Damon & Jeff for sharing their great photos)

Great photos from last night’s Club to Catwalk V&A “In Conversation” event, with Toyah, Caryn Franklin and Karen Binns (replacing Brix Start-Smith) discussing women who developed, fused and influenced fashion and music in 1980s London. As you can see some of Toyah’s iconic outfits were also on display. I’ll add larger versions of the photos to Dreamscape’s Gallery soon. (Thanks to Damon King & Jeff Agar for the photos)

• Club To Catwalk: Caryn Franklin, Toyah Willcox & Brix Start-Smith: In Conversation: It looks like this V&A event, taking place at The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre this Friday evening, has sold out – View details here…

• Club To Catwalk: Browse all of Dreamscape’s Club to Catwalk news here…

• Toyah Live 2013: Here and Now Mediterranean Cruise: A selection of excellent photos from one of Toyah’s two shows onboard the Oceana, while sailing from Barcelona to Gibraltar, on 29th October (she later tweeted: “Gibraltar port. NOISY! 2 great shows. 2 standing ovations. Fab time“) – View here…

• Official Instagram: Toyah tweeted on Monday: “Darlow, Caroline Redman Lusher & myself in studio writing 4 @TheRockChoir“. View the photo at Instagram…

• 991 Sleevenotes: Wednesday’s Top Three including Toyah, Duran Duran & Weather Report: TOYAH Sheep Farming In Barnet Rare 1979 UK AUTOGRAPHED Safari 11-track vinyl LP, glossy picture sleeve. The vinyl and sleeve remain in excellent condition, plus the front of the sleeve has been signed and dedicated ‘To Harry Love Toyah’ in gold marker pen 1C064 – View here…

Details of, and booking for, the V&A Caryn Franklin, Toyah Willcox and Brix Smith-Start: In Conversation event is now available at the V&A website.

What: Evening events
When: Fri 8 November 2013 18:30 – 19.30
Where: The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre

Evening Talk: Join Caryn Franklin, Toyah Willcox and Brix Smith-Start as they bring their thoughts, ideas and experiences to a discussion on women who developed, fused and influenced fashion and music in 1980s London. Plus enjoy an exclusive look at some of Toyah’s original 80s performance costumes.

A few more recent online reports about the V&A ‘Club to Catwalk’ exhibition, including more great shots of Toyah’s Melissa Caplan outfit:

• Hardzine: Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 80s – Review: Playing homage to the eccentricity of 80s fashion and the eclectic inspirations behind it, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Club to Catwalk exhibition captured in essence the radical theatrics of 80s design – Continue reading…

• Chinti & Parker: ‘Club to Catwalk’ at the V&A Museum: Chinti and Parker’s perpetual love of outlandish prints and zingy colour combinations has meant that we’ve been dying to get down to the V&A’s ‘Club to Catwalk’ exhibition since it opened in July.  A retrospective on how London’s vibrant Eighties club scene sparked a new wave of design inspiration – Continue reading…

• House of Helen: V&A Club to Catwalk: 1980s Fashion Exhibition: Last month, the iconic V&A museum opened their Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s exhibition. The 1980s was a poignant era in fashion history. It saw the birth of London Fashion Week and institutes such as the British Fashion Council – Continue reading…

• Club to Catwalk: In Conversation: Toyah is participating in a special event with Caryn Franklin and Brix Start-Smith on Friday 8th November. The details have yet to be added to the V&A event schedule but not doubt soon will be.

• Dreamscaping @ Club to Catwalk: View all of our Club to Catwalk news updates here.

• BBC News: How ’80s club culture came to the catwalk: A new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looks at how clubbers’ style in the 1980s transferred to the world of fashion. Was it the point at which the underground went mainstream and is there any equivalent today? (This includes a photo of Toyah’s Melissa Caplan outfit – Thanks to Giddy Gavin) – Continue reading…

• V&A Museum Instagram: In the club with a Melissa Caplan dress worn by Toyah and a Sue Clowes outfit worn by Boy George in the 80s! #clubtocatwalk – Continue viewing…

• V&A Twitter: London’s 80s fashion was a result of the fusion between club and catwalk. #ClubToCatwalk – Continue viewing…

• V&A Facebook: Would you let yourself in? Clubbers, fashion designers and pop stars from the 80s and today were out in force at the V&A last night to celebrate the opening of the summer fashion exhibition Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s – Continue viewing…

• Fashion Loves Photos: You Spin Me Right Round: On Monday I was lucky enough to be invited to a private view of the V&A’s new Club To Catwalk Exhibition (includes a photo of Toyah) – Continue reading…

• Clash: Club To Catwalk: London Fashion In The 1980s: The exhibition everyone’s talking about is here. ‘Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s’ is the exhibition likely to take the ‘must see’ title from ‘David Bowie Is’ when the latter ends in August – Continue reading…

• Sanrizz: Sanrizz Styles Wigs For Victoria & Albert Museum Exhibition Catwalk to Club: London Fashion in the 1980s (includes a photo of Toyah) – Continue reading…

• You Tubing with Club to Catwalk: My visit to the Club to Catwalk Exhibition at the V&A, La mode des années 1980 exposée à Londres,

• i-D: Club to Catwalk, V&A: The V&A’s summer blockbuster Club to Catwalk celebrates the way club life has influenced the fashion scene from the 80s through to the present day, as reflected in early issues of i-D – Continue reading…

• Club to Catwalk | Blitz Kids: Fearlessly experimenting with sex and drugs and fashion, the story of the Blitz kids is an alternative history of the eighties when style was all, and how you looked was who you were – Continue viewing…

• Statigram: Club to Catwalk Photo feed – Continue viewing…

A couple more photos from Monday’s Club to Catwalk launch, including a great shot of Toyah and Clare Grogan. Please click on these to view larger/fuller versions.

A recreation of the info board that accompanies Toyah’s Melissa Caplan outfit at the, just opened, Club to Catwalk exhibition at the V&A. Click below for a larger version, view all of Dreamscape’s news on the exhibition here, and stay tuned for more coming soon!

A new show at the V&A celebrates the creativity of the 80s clubbing and fashion scenes in London. We find out what inspired the decade’s cool kids. We asked those who were there about dressing up, making images and dancing till dawn.

Toyah Willcox on the pop wardrobe: “Melissa Caplan made my costumes from the 70s to the mid-80s. I was very influenced by futurism and reading a lot of Marge Piercy. Look and image were very important – there was already incredible pressure to look feminine and sexy but I wanted to look individual and strong. I didn’t have any role models except Little Nell from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I remember stepping out on to the stage in 1981 at Hammersmith Odeon and seeing row after row of people looking identical. Every image I created was like setting a fire off in someone’s mind.”
Toyah Willcox is a singer and actor

• Continue reading at The Guardian.

• London Evening Standard: They were there: partying along to the decade that fashion forgot: From Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s is the story of how the club scene influenced fashion in the decade that some consider one giant fashion faux-pas. Toyah Willcox was there, along with the likes of Zandra Rhodes, Andrew Logan, Steve Strange and milliner Stephen Jones (Photo © Evening Standard) – Continue reading…

• Now. Here. This.: The Time Out London Blog: Last night, we went down to the V&A’s glitzy private view for the their new exhibition ’From Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s’ which opens to the public tomorrow, July 10. The cream of the 1980s club culture crop were out in full force (and make up); the show was officially opened by Spandau Ballet guitarist and Blitz club regular Gary Kemp. He was joined by other key music and fashion figures including Duran Duran’s John Taylor and Nick Rhodes, Toyah Willcox, Zandra Rhodes, Stephen Jones, Lulu Kennedy, Pam Hogg, Patrick Cox, Betty Jackson and Steve Strange – Continue reading…

• Toyah tweeted a photo taken at the V&A today and said: “Absolutely thrilled/surprised by presence of my Melissa Kaplan outfit at brilliant #Clubtocatwalk Exhibition @ V&A“.

• Tatler: Club to Catwalk private view: Talk about Culture Club. The V&A has curated an exhibition of clubbing fashion from the Eighties and all the scenesters were at the private view – Continue reading…

More great photos from last night’s Club to Catwalk: London Fashion In The 1980s press launch at the V&A in South Kensington. Toyah, Giddy Gavin and Steve Strange all looking fabulous. See another of Gavin’s photos of Toyah at our Gallery. (Thanks to Gavin | Photos © Giddy Gavin & V&A)

Toyah attended this evening’s launch of Club to Catwalk at the V&A Museum in London. The other photo is of the Melissa Caplan outfit, included in the exhibition, that Toyah only wore once and subsequently donated to Sheffield Rock Museum in 1987. Toyah also tweeted a photo of herself and Helen David at the launch, and the Official Toyah Facebook posted another photo of Toyah with the outfit. (Thanks to Andi)

BA High Life has ten pairs of tickets to give away for Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 10 July—16 February 2014. Featuring more than 85 outfits, it showcases new looks from the decade’s most experimental designers.

Club to Catwalk explores the creative explosion of London fashion in the 1980s, how the impact of underground club culture was felt far beyond the club doors and reinvented fashion worldwide. More than 85 outfits by designers such as John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Katherine Hamnett will be on display together with accessories by designers including Stephen Jones and Patrick Cox.

• Enter the competition at BA High Life. (Closing date: 31/07/13)

The V&A Club To Catwalk: London Fashion In The 1980s exhibition opens on Wednesday, and runs for the next six months. Time for some related newsy bits:

• The Guardian: 1980s Throwback: Clubland’s charming impact on fashion examined at V&A: Curator of Club to Catwalk says Dynasty shoulder pads kept to a minimum in show that includes Adam Ant’s pirate outfit… The subcultures explored include familiar ones like New Romantic (see that pirate shirt and stagewear worn by Toyah Willcox), Goth and Rave.

• Charlie Porter: Club To Catwalk: London Fashion in the 80s opens soon at the V&A. A tour of its amazingness with curator Claire Wilcox: On Wednesday, an exhibition opens at the V&A titled Club To Catwalk: London Fashion In the 1980s. It’s taking the space previously occupied by the Ballgowns show, in the centre of the fashion room, split over two levels. Lower level is catwalk. Upper level is club. Both levels are amazing… “And then we have an outfit worn by Toyah by Melissa Caplan“.

• V&A: Club to Catwalk: About the Exhibition: Discover the creative explosion of London fashion in the 1980s in a major exhibition at the V&A. Through more than 85 outfits, Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s showcases the bold and exciting new looks by the most experimental young designers of the decade.

• The Wall Street Journal: King’s Of The Wild Frontier: Club Culture and fashion collided head-on in 1980s London. As the city’s new nightclub scene became ever more frenetic and fantastical, young designers such as Rifat Özbek, Betty Jackson and John Galliano sought inspiration for their collections in the basements of West End venues.

• The Telegraph: From Club to Catwalk: Back to the Eighties: It was the ‘weird and wonderful’ clubbers who decided what we wore in the Eighties, says designer Wendy Dagworthy.

• Grazia: Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s – An AMAZE New Exhibition At The V&A: If you enjoyed the V&A’s most recent block-busting exhibition, David Bowie Is, then there’s a strong chance you’ll like the next thing to pop up at the revered West London museum.

• Ultravie: From Club to Catwalk | Spandex and Sparkles at The V&A: Lycra pants, over-sized tees and form-fitting knits are coming out of the closet for the V&A’s fashion exhibition this summer.