Would you like to witness famous arsenic murder trials, visit a Victorian hospital for venereal disease, or build your own microbe to take home with you? Wellcome Collection has arranged a whole series of dirt-themed events to coincide with its latest exhibition, Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life, which ... Read More...
Lifestyle
A little while ago Dabbler co-editor Brit discovered, via Mike Beversluis, the above magnificent chart from a 1940s edition of TIME magazine (click on it for a larger picture), which purports to explain everyday tastes from Highbrow to Lowbrow. It was instantly clear that an updated version for 2011 Britain was required, ... Read More...
London is a town of many centres. I'm not talking about the West End, but the local high streets and shopping centres of Greater London, which mirror many others up and down the country. Each is slightly different, but the general pattern isn't a very pretty one. I’ve already mentioned one ... Read More...
London Fashion Week seems positively staid compared with some of the events going on in our capital city. Last night I read about the nude ‘burlesque’ performances attended by Prince Harry and other well known public figures at a controversial new club in Soho. I also heard that the choreographers ... Read More...
I started reading this book a few months ago, so it’s been sitting on my bedside table for quite a while. Twice a week it gets turned over by my cleaner, who appears not to like the picture on the cover. Living Dolls by Natasha Walter charts the recent revival in ... Read More...
When I typed ‘retro games’ into my browser I was a little surprised at the result. The sites featured were the sort selling ‘retro video games and classic retro gaming’. Atari, Commodore, Ninetendo, Sega, Sinclair and Playstation were not exactly the names I’d anticipated. So I typed in ‘retro toys’ ... Read More...
The way we’re bombarded with images of how we should look drives me crazy. In 2011 we’re supposed to be ‘warrior women’ - toned, firm, curvaceous in all the right places and glowing with year-round health. The hitherto sought after slimline alternative is now the ‘skinny bitch’ look, epitomised by ... Read More...
I haven’t been to Japan for quite a few years, but there’s been plenty of coverage of the Japanese fashion industry in the UK recently. In particular, the ongoing exhibition at the Barbican, Future Beauty: 30 years of Japanese Fashion. Promoting itself as ‘the first exhibition in Europe to comprehensively ... Read More...
When I set about writing this at around ten o’clock last night, I had so much digital material at my disposal that I began to doubt I would complete the post before morning. Then I sat back and realized why steampunk culture has gained such popularity. Described by Wikipedia as ... Read More...
Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas break? I managed to get away for a few days – and, during a long car ride, caught snippets of the BBC Radio 4 programme You and Yours, where Julian Worricker asked members of the public how the modern family has ... Read More...
