A few weeks ago I went to London for the Murad event (post here) and had some time to kill. With little money to my name I did what any other cultural and photo hungry blogger would do.....I hit the museums.
Having gone to the Science and Natural History Museums in the past year my next call was for the Victoria and Albert museum.
I've walked past it a few times wistfully but this time I got straight off the tube, walked through the tunnel and straight into the front door. Woman. On. a. Mission.
The entrance hall was not a disappointment; amazing bulbs hanging from copper wires and an amazing glass octopus/mermaid/creature of the deep type thing! I love arty things like this, they're so eye catching.
There are a MASS of exhibitions throughout the building spread over 5 floors. There are some from Britain, America, China, Japan and everywhere you can think of!
There was some beautiful mosaic pieces from Iran:
There was a stunning hall which suddenly appeared through a tiny doorway and opened out into a cavern like room with amazing portraits and I've no idea what the thing was at the end of the room but it was gorgeous and I was mesmerized by the gold.
I am one of those people that absolutely loves trinket boxes and storage solutions. I am basically obsessed with boxes and drawers, so the following appealed to me immensely!
Imagine hiding away your lipsticks and powders in that bad boy! So many drawers for so many items, I'd have that organised within an inch of it's life if I had the room!
The box below is my absolute ideal box. I'd love to put this on my desk on display but contain items that mean something to me and keep it locked! I love the wood and the metal detail on it.
Having walked into a room that was reconstructed from another property in London, I was blown away by the fireplace. The woodwork was amazing and as the fire place is one of the main focuses of the room this was definitely a show stopper!
There were also some stunning family jewels that I couldn't resist looking at.
There was an intricate ship pendant, a beautiful black/red stone pendant, a stunning book pendant, and a jewelled gold bangle.
I couldn't stop looking at the detail on these and had to fight some people away from them.
This was the most stunning belt I've ever seen. I'm so annoyed as I've forgotten who this belonged to but they wore it to the Queen's wedding all those years ago and the belt and the matching pendant are full of diamonds that are just out of this world.
The only thing I knew was in the museum was a clothing exhibition so I was really excited to get to this part of the museum, which probably accounted for about 5%....if that!
There were dresses from all eras, in all patterns, colours and styles and it was amazing to walk around the displays seeing how fashion and costumes have changed.
The materials were amazing and the stitching and details on the pieces were unbelievable.
I loved seeing the underwear, the petticoat under the dress was also so pretty.
The dress below was one of my favourites, I love black and metalwork on clothing and this dress would be an amazing edition to my wardrobe if I could ever afford it!
Couldn't resist snapping a picture of myself in between the clothing!
I stopped for a quick drink in one of the cafes in the museum and honestly couldn't believe the lighting and decor in the seating area, check out these lights! How amazing are they?!
I'm surprised I didn't dribble my tea everywhere as I spent most of my time staring at the ceiling.
There were some stunning items and I couldn't believe the details; there was this book in the metal work section that was so intricate and detailed I was totally stunned, it's amazing!
I did not see the #no photography' signs outside the jewellery section so apologies to the museum for that....I did snap a picture of this absolutely stunning tiara though.
I was speechless at how beautiful this was and can only imagine what it would be like to wear one. Maybe I'll have a replica made for my wedding at some point in the future?? Haaa imagine.
That was my personal highlight of the museum, it was so beautiful!
The lightbulbs at the entrance you could see upstairs on a higher floor through a hole in the ceiling, these were SO TALL! I absolutely loved seeing them all the way to the stop of the building where they were attached and then through to the floor:
This was the perfect trip to fill the spare time I had in between my train and meeting others for the event. It took me around 3/4 hours to wander my way around the whole museum and take a substantial amount of photos.
I really enjoyed doing something completely different to normal and this was COMPLETELY FREE!
I love visiting museums so I will have to do this more often, it's a great way to learn something new, see different things and all without spending any money.
I will have to visit other types of museums in future as I'm always looking for new things to do!
Do you like visiting museums? Do you have any suggestions of museums I should visit?
L xxx
