A side-step from my usual ramblings about the trend for 80s clothes, I thought I’d blog about something a little more vintage.

The Victoria & Albert Museum have just published a book of archive material from original Edwardian fashion designer Lady Duff Gordon, also known as ‘Lucile’. From the 1890s – 1930s, Lucile controlled a vast international fashion business, with boutiques in New York, London, Paris and Chicago. She is attributed with holding the first ever catwalk show, publishing the first ever look book, dressing royalty and celebrities of the day and she even survived the Titanic. A pretty amazing resumé, yet Lucile is virtually unheard of in modern fashion. Perhaps the book will explain why…

Its available here www.vandashop.com

Lauren Laverne has also written about the book – Lucile Ltd by Valerie D Mendes and Amy De La Haye – in this weeks Grazia.

She writes, “Vintage-Junkies will be in heaven”. Sounds good to me.