September, with it's back to school mood, came and went in a flash of misty-ness. Turns out Misty the comic for girls is returning from the publication grave; while the Grain Chimney disappeared from the Estuary skyline on a frustratingly misty morning in a 'puff of smoke'.
The Estuary itself became the inspiration for an arts festival and the Vogue centenary celebrations marked by the NPG at the beginning of the year were revisited in a revealing documentary. I rewatched The 39 Steps and wondered what happened to Margaret in my own Wide Sargasso Sea moment. Plus, I attended the first in a series of talks held at Tracey Neuls’s shoe store-meets-schoolroom.
“Why don’t you cover a big cork bulletin board in bright pink felt, banded with bamboo, and pin with coloured thumb-tacks all your various enthusiasms as your life varies from week to week?”
Misty Lives! - '80s horror comic for girls returns
My mum used to buy me Misty annuals from the market. I loved the covers and their promise of gothic glamour, ghosts and age-appropriate gore. Pat Mills (of 2000AD fame) took the title from the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me; while his other inspirations were Carrie and Audrey Rose.
Last Moments - an Estuary landmark is blown up
Misty was also the outlook the day the tallest concrete structure to be demolished in Britain came tumbling down. One moment the 801 foot tall (244 metres) Grain Chimney was veiled in mist the next it was a languorous trail of dust. An eerie silence. Boom. Bewildered birds rose from the grey sea.
Estuary 2016 - a 16 day event inspired by the Essex / Kent coastline
Points of Departure featured 28 contemporary artists at the paint-peeling, pleather-furnished Tilbury Cruise Terminal. We watched John Akomfrah’s Mnemosyne a film fusing: Greek myth, Windrush newsreels and the bleak midwinter; and listened to a beautifully compelling audio, Waterborne, describing the decomposition of our drowned bodies while we contemplated the water; and men piloting boats waved at us...
Rebelliousness & Conformity - a lesson in standing up & out
London Design Festival heralded a series of talks held at the Marylebone Tracey Neuls store. Attendees sat at school desks, between suspended shoes, to hear Caroline McHugh, self-described “Glaswegian, Buddhist cult leader” (in style), TED speaker and Chief Emeritus of Idology, talk to Tracey about individuality and what a well designed shoe can really do for you.
The 39 Steps - rewatching Hitchcock’s classic
Richard Hannay, the 'Hitchcockian hero' caught in a web of intrigue and handcuffed to a furious blonde, has a brief interlude with a Scottish crofter’s young wife with a poignant yearning for ‘adventure’ she’ll never have: “Well, is it true that all the ladies paint their toenails?” she asks of London life.
Vogue Doc - celebrating 100 years of the British style bible
Brogue, as it was known, was established due WWI shipping restrictions and paper shortages. Documenting the lead up to the centenary celebrations / issues we got a sneak peek into UK Vogue life. The best bit? When Fashion Editor Lucinda Chambers compared her ‘Tigger’ working style to that of editor Alexandra Shulman’s ‘Eeyore’ - excellent.