British designer, the late Vivienne Westwood. Exhibition at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand

 Hi there

I went to see the Vivienne Westwood Exhibition at Te Papa this week.  Jewellery and fashion. She came to fame from about the 1970s, in the punk era.  

Her papier mâché tiara.  Stock photo

I am a friend of Te Papa, so I chose to listen to the curator's talk.  I was surprised to discover that 80% of the accessories on display were only worn on the runway, and never for sale.  They were put together probably at last minute out of papier mâché, and any other sort of stuff that was on hand, like elastic, buttons, paint, glass, sequins ...   Up close it was noticeable that some of the accessories were made hurriedly, but it would have been spectacular watching models sashaying down a runway, wearing the  Westwood makeshift jewellery

We saw a papier mâché tiara that Vivienne appropriated for herself after it had been worn on the runway.  She was invited to a posh affair where titled people were wearing genuine tiaras.  She proudly wore this fake tiara to the do.  It did look tacky at Te Papa.

above:  That's a picture of Westwood in the background

above:  Westwood originally tried making bustiers as seen in old masterpieces, but customers complained they were too tight.  She solved the problem by being the first designer of bustiers to put in elastic sides.

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Westwood strongly believed that designers should look to the past for ideas.  She haunted art galleries searching for designs that she could change to a more modern concept.

This time, it's Scorching Bay

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I decided I'd go over the Seatoun Hill to Scorching Bay today (Saturday).  It was a beautiful warm day. So many people turned up at the beach.  Even the lifeguards were present and I haven't seen them there in a long time.

above:  inter-island ferry in background, passing Scorching Bay, making for Cook Strait to cross to the South Island

You can see the ferry approaching Scorching Bay from around the point.  

Shows I've seen over last few months

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Last week I went to see Jack and Michael Whitehall - The Whitehalls Live - in Wellington.  These two are father and son from the series "Travels with my Father" on Netflix.  Jack is a stand-up comedian and you can see him on many You Tube clips and, of course, Netflix, with his full-length comedy shows.  I adore his type of comedy.  It's very theatrical and quite physical.  He has a posh background, calls his father "Daddy" and went to boarding school with Robert Pattinson (his arch nemesis).  

Jack  bounces around a lot on stage. His full explanation about the hotel conveyer belt toaster has me always in giggles.  You Tube clips of this tend to cut off the toaster skit just before the finish. 

Michael is the droll father.  At the show, there were people in the audience with "Michael Whitehall Appreciation" tote bags. 

Jack talked about his new-born baby and how we never see first photos of babies immediately they're born.  Because the image is so horrendous...  The babies' first pix always show them cleaned up and spiffy-looking.

She wasnt advertised as being in the show, but everybody knew that Michael's wife and Jack's mother would make an appearance.  Hilary came on stage replicating Australian Raygun's Olympic breakdance performance, Aussie uniform and all.

But ... Australia?  She did realise she was in New Zealand?  I guess Australia had the majority of stops included in their Southern Hemisphere tour. 

The second half of the show was where the three Whitehalls sat on a sofa and talked through hilarious back stories.

There was an absolutely full house ..

Last November I saw the live show "Kingdom of Bling", a satire musical written by "Rocky Horror Show" writer, Richard O'brien, who was the narrator in this 'bling' musical. The show also starred half-a-dozen well-known kiwi actors and comedians.  It was treated as a radio show with each person coming up to a microphone.

The plot was about a couple of kids discovering a magic land that was run roughly along the lines of the USA elections with an evil Trump-like overlord.  

Richard O'Brien wrote brilliant rhyming to this musical.  So nice to see Richard in person.  He has retired back to New Zealand.  

You know I'm a terrible photographer?  Here's Richard O'Brien taking his bow.

Underwear, Lingerie

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When I was a kid, about ten years old, my mother told me that only Ladies Of The Evening wore black underwear (and also bracelets around their ankles!  Oh, and tattoos). 

All underwear that mattered was white in those days.  When we went into McKenzies store in Palmerston North, Mum rushed me past the underwear counter, lest I lay eyes upon the black unmentionables.

And then - horror!  Red underwear came into shops, and Mum was beside herself.  What was the world coming to: red and black!  I do remember thinking that, heavens, prostitutes had really interesting taste. Even at a young age, white knickers to me were soooo boring.

If she suddenly came to 2025, via a time machine, my Mum would be stunned by all the patterns and colours of ladies' underwear.

Do you, my four readers, remember when your mothers used to tell you to always wear good, clean, matching underwear in case you got run over by a bus?  Goodness, just imagine the mean chatter at the hospital if it was discovered that your bra, petticoat, knickers and roll-ons were ripped, or grubby, and - tut-tut - not even saintly white.

I'm a little bit fuzzy over the memory but didn't perhaps Monty Python or The Goodies do a skit where a guy was about to be run down by a bus when he suddenly realised he wasn't wearing good underwear?  He stopped the bus, raced home, changed his underwear, then laid down in the road in front of the bus, and signalled the driver to go ahead and run him over?

above: a Bendon advert.  Tut-tut, red underwear.

Hataitai Beach on Wellington Anniversary Day, Monday Holiday

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What a nice day today.  Too warm, actually.  After about only ten minutes at the beach, I felt the sun piercing right through my skin to my bones.  I had to cover up.  At least the crummy so-called summer weather appears to be changing for the best, and the sea has warmed up, somewhat.  Tomorow is going to be hotter, just when the last Christmas/New Year stragglers will be back to work....

above:  Hataitai Beach.  Wellington Anniversary Day Yacht Race

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PS.    I got sunburnt.  So much for sunblock!

Shop Assistants and street hustlers smooching up to me (again)

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You know by now that I adore it when shop assistants go into raptures about something I'm wearing.  They learn to do it in shop assistant school, I'm sure of it.  Find something to admire on a customer and you could make a sale - 

Remember my favourite?  It was the street hustler trying to sell me a raffle ticket :  "I like your ..."   There was a long pause while he frantically looked me over.  "I like your ... TAN!" he shouted triumphantly.

I'm not ashamed in the least that shop assistants and street hustlers take quite a while to find something about me that they like.  The whole experience for me is fun.

Last week I had two cute occasions.  One young shop assistant in a boutique came up to me -

"I like your watch strap," she said.  "It's red."

Like, I didn't know that...

The next day, a street hustler called out at me from way over the other side of the pavement.  He was selling raffle tickets.  "I like your pendant", he shouted. 

My pendant was of a tiny silver cow jumping over a crescent moon.

I hid it with my hand.  "What's on my pendant?" I asked.

He didn't have a clue....

I love the little Asian dragon on my watch.  and the gold bars, with sparkles, top and bottom. The red strap is not too bad either...

Hataitai Beach roadworks

 Hi there

There's building works going on and beside Hataitai Beach.  The road is reduced to stop-go one lane for traffic.  And it's going to last for up to 6 months.  And note that this has all started during the summer school holidays.  Getting to the beach is like working your way through a maze, whether on foot or driving.  The first day of the works I had to park down at the marina's main entrance (south) or up by the French cafe (north), long ways from the beach. 

The second day of the works (yesterday) I took the bus to the beach.  I didnt think the Hataitai Beach bus stop would be operating, seeing it's right in the middle of that stop-go one-way sole traffic lane.  But it was operating.  And sorry I couldnt say the same thing about the bus stop for my going back to Miramar.  It was blocked by road cones.  The bus driver had to signal me to run behind and catch up with him as he stopped further south.  And note that before my bus journey I had rung both the council and the bus company to check on the stops.

They are building a sea wall (south), and we presume north end may be a cycle lane, either to share with a wider footpath or a lane reaching out into the road. Plus more sea wall. Car parks will be reduced.  Many beach people sent in submissions re the reduction of carparks but, of course, nothing came of it.  You would think the council would have taken notice after they'd cut out the street carparks at Balaena Bay; beach-goers stopped going there and came to Hataitai Beach instead.

above: sea wall being built.  Photo taken from what was supposed to be the southern bus stop but because of the road cones and one way lane the bus couldn't stop there.