50 years of footballing fashion on display at the National Football Museum Manchester

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If you haven’t yet paid a visit to the National Football Museum since its relocation from Preston to Manchester, it’s new exhibition might just be the one to tempt you in. The name; Strike a Pose; 50 years of Football and Fashion is a complete giveaway and takes a look at everything that links both football and fashion from the way that kits have evolved over the years, through the many dodgy haircuts and the rise and rise of the WAG.

This is not merely a fashion show however, as the exhibition effectively deals with how the coupling of the beautiful game and fashion have changed both society and popular culture and also led to violence in the terraces. Inspired by the best selling book from 2004; The Fashion of Football From Best to Beckham, From Mod to Label Slave by Mark Baxter and Paolo Hewitt, they have run with the authors’ belief that what unites fashion and football is passion.

Things started to change in the 1960’s when the footballing minimum wage was scrapped and they could then start to lead more lavish lifestyles than their predecessors could ever have dreamt of. Fans started to take sartorial inspiration from their stylish icons, a trend that continues today. The late and great George Best owned a fashion boutique in Manchester on Bridge Street, so it is fitting that the exhibition looks at the part he played in the 60’s.

Another fun inclusion from recent times is the ovecoat favoured by Jose Mourinho during his time at Chelsea, and itself an inspiration for a song sung by the fans at matches. There have also been some notable faux pas, lest we forget those white suits the Liverpool team sported before the FA Cup Final in 1996. Gamely, Robbie Fowler has supplied one of these offensive items for the exhibition, fine in 76′ but a definite no no two decades later.

It hasn’t yet been disclosed which famous hairstyles have made the cut but obvious inclusions would be the Keegan bubble perm and the 80’s mullets sported by Glen Hoddle and Chris Waddle. There are many photographs on display courtesy of one of Britain’s finest photographers Terry O’Neill who shot to fame in the 60’s with his candid shots of celebs. An avid footie fan, O’Neill happily provided images for the display, including a great shot of a very young Bobby Moore, described by the museum as an unlikely style icon.

The dark side of football is also explored and looks at the links between the terraces and the skinheads, mods, casuals and how the different styles spilled over into explicit violence, and even today exists in the form of racism. This is an excellent exhibition which runs until the 27th August 2013, so get along there if you can.

 

 

 

 

 

Is the new Kate Moss as self destructive as the old one?

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The fashion industry has been looking for the next Kate Moss for the past decade or so, and it seems that they may have found it in Cara Delevingne who is stunning on the catwalk with her sleek and slim figure paired with blonde hair, bushy eyebrows, and pouty lips.

Ever since Delevingne was crowned Model of the Year this past November at the British Fashion Awards she has been seen on 13 of the top designers in New York and an additional seven during London Fashion Week. Earlier in the year she also was easily the star of the Burberry show.

This month Delevingne will grace the cover of British Vogue and she is already the face of Zara the high street chain. In addition, she is one of the Victoria’s Secret bodies and a face of Chanel. Privately educated, well connected, and well bred Delvingne has really made a name for herself with her pixieish looks that are surprising given her reckless energy and very outspoken manner in real life.

Sadly, it seems that Delevingne may already have some of Moss’s bad habits as well, as she was photographed stumbling down the steps to enter a private home at 5am in the morning after visiting four venues in a row while out partying. This was not a one-off for Delvingne who brags that she only needs about two to four hours of sleep every night and is regularly seen as a party animal on the British club scene.

She even managed to outdo and outlast Rihanna last week before leaving The Box in London only to be caught dancing on top of a limo outside. She also teases her fans that she is bisexual and has managed to date quite a few stars for only being twenty putting her on a path of self-destruction that disturbingly reads a bit like Moss’s as well.

Victoria Beckham to meet her Parisian alter ego

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If Victoria Beckham plans to fit in while she is in Paris she is going to have to fit in with the WAG that runs everything in Paris; which is a rather tough task given the fact that Queen Bee Helena Seger is known as an icy cold businesswoman. Posh is scheduled to meet the blonde Swedish woman at Paris Saint-Germain, David Beckham’s new club, when he plays against Marseille on Sunday.

PSG sources are warning that Seger is hard to impress, but given the fact that Seger is basically like the Posh of France, she is not someone that Posh will want to get on the wrong side of either if she hopes to fit in with a new group of WAGs.

A source close to Seger states that she is known as the Beckham of Paris, and as such she is not going to be happy at all that the real Beckham is encroaching on her grounds and stealing the spotlight away. She is the partner of Zlatan Ibrahimovic the striker who also admits that she can be an intimidating presence, but if Beckham is going to fit in she will need to attempt to befriend her in some way.

Seger is said to be a very shrewd woman that is elegant, classy, and comes from a well known and reputable family. However, despite this fact she carved her own way in the world and made her own riches based on her ambition.

In France Seger is known for her fashion sense which also might pit her against Beckham who of course is becoming a household name across the world for her fashion house. Chances are high that these two will either bond over their similarities or end up embattled in a huge rivalry throughout David’s time with the club.

Liverpool WAGS support charity at Christmas bash

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It would seem that it is never too early for a Christmas party and that was proved by the host of famous faces that turned out for the charity Christmas lunch held by Carolyn Hughes PR. The event, which is now in it’s 5th and was held to raise funds for the ‘Wirral Witches’, Women in touch with Claire House, had quite a decent sprinkling of very glam looking Liverpool WAGs.

The Footie wives in attendance at the Gusto restaurant on Albert Dock where the lunch was held included Dani Lawrence, Jude Cisse, Shauna Muamba, Laura Warnock, Nicola Carragher and most famous Liverpool WAG of them all; Alex Gerrard., who looked stunning the understated style that she carries off so well, wannabe WAGs take note. Also in attendance to support the cause were celebrity designers Tony Burke and Philip Armstrong.

Peter Price popped in with his fellow pantomime star Liz Mclarnon during the lunch break from rehearsals, and he found time to lead a Christmas sing-a-long to really kick off the party. Simon Ross from Radio City was on duty as host and the entertainment included the soul sounds of Stephen Bayliss, DJ Mina and Jade Porter belted out some floor fillers that had everyone up on their feet.

Carolyn Hughes spoke of the event and said the Christmas lunch had been a huge success and had raised £3000 for the Wirral Witches and the success it enjoyed every year was mainly due to the amazing support they got from such lovely people. She added that as in previous years, once this lunch was held Christmas had officially started and she was touched that it meant so much to so many people.

Ex-WAG tells of life in the fast lane

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The life of WAG is not always about glamour and glitz while buying the latest fashion items, and Lorraine Fletcher unfortunately knows this very well as she has lived in the fast lane for a decade whilst married to Arsenal and England star Paul Merson, who is known as a real party animal.

Throughout their ten year marriage Lorraine had to deal with his drinking habits, adultery, drug use, and gambling addiction until she finally tossed in the towel and filed for divorce. Even at this point she still had to battle hard to get through the divorce and the new 43 year old Lorraine admits that she suffered as well, turning to alcohol to help her get through her depression.

In an interview she gave this past Sunday for the Mirror the former WAG stated that the turning point in her life was when she left Paul because she had become accustomed to being a WAG and everything that stood for, but when she left him her identity changed. She said that suddenly her life had changed and she was not able to handle it all at once and before she knew what had happened she had a drink addiction.

Her drink problem is ironic given the fact that she was almost completely sober throughout her marriage to Paul who was her childhood sweetheart. The pair was married when she was 21 and then she went on to have three boys over the course of the next ten years.

As he became more popular however she became more miserable as she grew isolated and lonely. Their relationship was tested however when news of his gambling addiction became public and then again when news of his affair hit the newspaper stands.