A new exhibition celebrating the career and style of Amy Winehouse has opened at Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons. Here’s everything you need to know …
“She’s a style icon,” the late Karl Lagerfeld told The Sun in 2007. “She is a beautiful, gifted artist. And I very much like her hairdo. I took it as an inspiration [for Chanel’s 2007 London Pre-Fall show]. Because, in fact, it was also Brigitte Bardot’s hairdo in the late 1950s and 1960s. And now Amy has made it her own style. For me, it was a double clin d’œil.”
Not everyone was anointed by the famously discerning Lagerfeld. Amy Winehouse’s signature look – the black beehive (styled with the help of Velcro rollers), the bold (Rimmel) eyeliner and the cocktail dresses with flirty, coloured bra straps evolved alongside her music. She began by styling herself, shopping in vintage stores and mixing finds with high street staples from Karen Millen.
Her off duty wardrobe of low-slung jeans, tank tops and ballet slippers was just as distinctive as her tour wardrobe and pieces from both form part of the new exhibition at Newbridge Museum of Style Icons. “Amy Winehouse – Celebrating the Career and Style of Amy Winehouse ” incorporates several original garments and property once owned and worn by the singer including some never-before-seen dresses designed by her personal stylist and close friend, Naomi Parry.
One of the pieces included in “Amy Winehouse – Celebrating the Career and Style of Amy Winehouse” at Newbridge Museum of Style Icons.
This free exhibition is open to the public and runs until May 7. It was launched by Naomi Parry and another close friend of Amy’s, Catriona Gourlay who shared a flat in Camden with the six-time Grammy Award winner. They spoke at the exhibition preview, recalling the chaos and camaraderie of life with the singer. Parry has written a book Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black which helps define her style, described as a cross between a Ronette and an American 1950s diner waitress.
The garments and property on view will be sold at the Julien’s Auctions Annual Music Icons Auction taking place at The Hard Rock Café on Friday, March 19-21 in New York. For superfans of Winehouse and those interested in fashion history, this is an interesting exhibition and a chance to savour the other legendary dresses on permanent display in the Museum’s collection. If visiting, do have a look at the gorgeous vintage jewellery and accessories – including silk scarves – for sale in the visitors’ centre. For more information visit www.visitnewbridgesilverware.com.