‘Each and every item in this collection evokes a myriad of memories and marks a time and place in my life.
Some of these costumes have played leading roles in my live performances and videos, while others have been mere walk-ons, but each one has played its part. I have laughed, cried, celebrated and waited in these outfits… I’ll leave you to imagine which.
Were it not for my parents, I’m sure this collection would be the size of a suitcase rather than an exhibition space.’
Source: Kylie Minogue, Kylie, V&A Publications in association with the Arts Centre, Melbourne
Going to Kylie - The Exhibition at the V&A tonight, was something of a treat, if like me, you’re more of a Kylie fanatic, than just a fan.
Though my fan worship reached its pinnacle some years ago, I’ve avidly followed the career and life of the tiny Australian for over twenty years, and it was this fact that was made perfectly clear to me tonight.
Only on for another two weeks, the exhibition of costumes and memorabilia at the V&A charts how ‘Kylie, as a performer, has used her wardrobe to create an image that is known worldwide.’
Whether she’s a contemporary style icon or not, for me, tonight was all about the costumes, the music, and celebrating the person, whose music and image I love the most.
And, there was much to celebrate.
The costumes were only part of the exhibition. Photographs charted Kylie’s many changing looks; awards displayed her standing in the music industry; while tour notes and design sketchbooks let us glimpse into the mysterious and hurried backstage world of dressing rooms, hydraulic lifts, quick changes, and running orders.
All in all, over 200 objects let us into Kylie’s world.
Being a great fan of the pop video (and as Kylie has produced some of the best), I wanted to see the costumes that brought these musical three-minute moments to life, and I wasn’t disappointed.
They were all here, including of course, the iconic white hooded jumpsuit from the ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ clip (though the Gucci-inspired lavender metallic dress was always the more iconic one for me).
The video outfits rubbed shoulders with shoes, props, and filming schedules, and, were shown in the same room as the actual clips themselves being played on a white screen wall.
For several moments, I was mesmerised. I couldn’t quite believe that the outfits I was looking at, were in fact the same ones that I could see being worn by the lady herself on the big screen, where she was lamenting a lost relationship, or singing about unrequited love.
Being up close and personal with the tour costumes was equally exciting. A veteran of five of Kylie’s different six live shows, these outfits were glamourous, but hardworking.
With their wear and tear from the punishing schedule and many costume changes, this is exactly how Kylie wanted them to be seen, and they must have been hard work themselves: the feather head-dresses weighty, and the corsets tight.
A recreation of Kylie’s dressing room from the Wembley set of ‘Showgirl Homecoming’ concerts revealed a few backstage secrets, and let us see only few of the pairs of shoes with which Kylie once claimed transform her into a high-heeled stuntwoman on stage.
All the record covers were present and correct too, forming part of the Kylie Timeline, and marking certain points in Minogue’s life and career. Looking at them spread out down one wall made me realise that these images and music could almost mark my life too, and brought back lots of comforting memories of where I was at any particular time.
A fan from the beginning, I feel that I’ve been accompanying Kylie on her journey, through the highs, the lows, the career rebirths, and the seemingly endless pairs of high heels.
With over 4,000 advance bookings before its opening, this exhibition has been one of the popular in the V&A’s history. And with over 500,000 visitors at the four venues it toured in Australia alone, many other voyeurs and fans have wished to celebrate or curiously peer into Kylie’s world, too.
After it’s finished wowing Londoners, it moves to the Manchester Art Gallery, and then the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.
If you want to step back in time (come on, you didn’t expect me to get through this post without mentioning at least one Kylie song, did you?) and catch this celebration (another one) at the V&A, then book your tickets quick.
It spins out of town on June 10.