The Divine Sophia

Many happy returns to the glorious Signorina Sophia Loren, 91 years old today!

Enjoy your jellied eels.

Farewell, the Rajah of Rhinestones

Very sad news - the most glittering of all costume designers, beloved of "our kind of Diva" for generations, Mr Bob Mackie has departed for Fabulon - where, no doubt all the dearly departed doyennes of showbiz will be mobbing him for bugle beads and shimmy frocks for eternity...

He certainly led a charmed life - an outrageously camp man, he made his fortune designing outrageously camp frocks for a pantheon of divas, as well as for numerous Vegas burlesque extravaganzas, and even Carol Burnett's TV show (which was a huge hit in America but never made a dent here in the UK).

His client list reads like a roll-call of Patron Saints here at Dolores Delargo Towers: Judy Garland, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, Shirley MacLaine, Mitzi Gaynor, Celia Cruz, Ann-Margret, Agnes Moorehead, Carol Channing, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Chita Rivera, Joan Collins, and many, many more.

Of course, his most enduring - and possibly most outré - of all professional relationships was with Cher. A marriage made in heaven!

"If a woman is going to do an hour and a half onstage, and she’s just in a little black dress, she’d better be Judy Garland. You’re there to see her, you’re not just listening. So there needs to be something visual. At the same time, if you don’t make them look good, you’ve defeated the purpose of putting something on them. It’s all about making them look thinner and taller and fabulous. "

“We live in a jeans and T-shirt world but we all want to live in a palace ... We're not trying to attract the masses here. We're looking for a special person who's looking for something special.”

"I've been called the Sultan of Sequins, the Rajah of Rhinestones and the King of Glitz. I probably have more titles than any other designer."

RIP, Robert Gordon "Bob" Mackie (24th March 1939 – 14th September 2026)

Rubens with jokes

It's the centenary today of the birth of that most beloved of British artists, the wonderful, quirky and humorous Beryl Cook!

Described by Victoria Wood as "Rubens with jokes", Beryl Cook's work was just so instantly recognisable that it is no wonder that the public took to her work in such a big way - whether in greetings cards, calendars or prints. Vulgar, always larger-than-life, and uplifting, Beryl's fat and jolly characters are very British - like a smutty seaside postcard, or a Hattie Jacques innuendo in a Carry On film.

The big, fun-loving characters featured in her work were largely inspired by people in Plymouth's pubs, including the long-gone gay pub the Lockyer Tavern [haunt of the youthful Madam Arcati]. In fact, Beryl was a well-known and admired character on the gay scene in the city over the decades, often popping up in the back bar of The Swallow or in the locally fondly-remembered Mr Harry's nightclub.

There was nobody quite like Beryl! Beryl Cook (10th September 1926 – 28th May 2008)

Fashion’s house of surrealism

The exhibition Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art that we went to see yesterday at the V&A museum was - as ever, with the expert curation they have always employed - a superb, comprehensive, and utterly dazzling display of the creative talents of Madame Elsa Schiaparelli, the couture empire she founded, and its legacy today [the fashion house was revived in 2013 after almost 60 years, with Christian Lacroix as then creative director].

Myriad original Schiaparelli designs on show, from the "formal" to the frivolous, were a feast for the senses [click any photo to enlarge, or right-click and "open in new tab" for even greater detail]:

Her playfulness extended to the minutest details - trims, patterns, and in particular the buttons (a whole room of which were also there to view in all their spectacular glory):

Speaking of accessories...

Inevitably, amongst all the beautiful gowns on offer, it's the rare survivors from her famed Surrealist collaborations - with the likes of Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau - that are the stars of the show:

The output of the relaunched House of Schiaparelli was no less impressive, of course - pieces have featured everywhere from catwalks to red carpets to the Met Gala - and whole galleries of those were there, too:

However, if I really have to make a choice among my favourites of the whole collection, they would have to be these...

A splendid way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

If you can, book tickets today! Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art runs until 8th November 2026.

Don't get strung out by the way I look

More sad news.

RIP, Mr Tim Curry (19th April 1946 – 25th August 2026)