Frances Ambler's Blog

In the spring issue of Oh Comely, four writers shared the books that inspired change in their life. I wrote about Virginia Nicholson's Singled Out: How Two Million WomenSurvived Without Men after the FirstWorld War. It’s something of a cliché that history giveslessons for the future. But I never thought I’dfind mine in a social history book, especiallyin one about a generation that

Twins at the Beach, Nassau, 1949. Photograph by Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Collection Staley Wise Galley. ©1989 Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents.Just after I’d seen the Louise Dahl-Wolfe: a style of her own exhibition at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum, I tweeted:Louise Dahl-Wolfe @FashionTextile is basically all I want from life: bangles, turbans, leopard print

Autumn is always a good time to be in London: it’s London Fashion Week, London Design Festival, Open House, not to mention the opening of a new round of exhibitions. As part of this cultural madness, this year Burberry hosted Here We Are, an installation in the 18th-century Old Sessions House with claims to document the “many and varied tribes and clans and classes that make up this island

viaI first came across Sumurun in Brigid Keenan’s 1978 The Women we wanted to look like. Here was a model, a household name according to Keenan, but I’d never heard of her before. She also appears in Charles Castle’s Model Girl described in breathless language as: "enchantress of the desert, the word’s most feted mannequin, courted and feted by many men, proposed to by at least a score."

“A top model is an infinitely valuable commercial asset, more photographed than any film starand more imitated than any woman in history”, wrote Lucie Clayton in her book, The World of Modelling and how to get theLondon model-girl look. Throughout history, the profession of modelling and the act of imitation have been closely intertwined, exemplified by no one more ably than Lucie Clayton

Despite the title, this isn���t a Valentine���s-themed post ���but if you happen to be single, it���ll probably make you grateful for some ofthe advantages of 21st-century life. Last weekend, I went to a studyday at City Lit that was inspired by Virginia Nicolson���s Singled Out, a booktelling some of the stories of the ���surplus women��� after the First World War.Although this was a period when

Despite the title, this isn’t a Valentine’s-themed post –but if you happen to be single, it’ll probably make you grateful for some ofthe advantages of 21st-century life. Last weekend, I went to a studyday at City Lit that was inspired by Virginia Nicolson’s Singled Out, a booktelling some of the stories of the “surplus women” after the First World War.Although this was a period when

Women pose at a Wyoming ranch, c. 1930. From Fine Art of the West, viaIn January, when we're seemingly encouraged to beat ourselves up for various life failings, I try to promote a bit of being nice to yourself. With that in mind, for the 'Looking Back' slot in that month's issue of The Simple Things, I suggested a feature on the history of denim - after all, what's easier than pulling on a

At the start of 2014, I resolved to read 50 books over the course of the year. It was such a successful resolution (more so than neverbiting my nails again, perhaps unsurprisingly) that I decided to do it allagain the following year, with the added challenge of trying to read one morebook.So, how did I do? You can see a list of the books I read during 2015 here. I���m pleased that I

At the start of 2014, I resolved to read 50 books over the course of the year. It was such a successful resolution (more so than neverbiting my nails again, perhaps unsurprisingly) that I decided to do it allagain the following year, with the added challenge of trying to read one morebook.So, how did I do? You can see a list of the books I read during 2015 here. I’m pleased that I