Reality is something you rise above

• "Unless you show off, you're not going to get noticed." - Elton John.
  [above: Elton's outlandish costume for his 50th birthday party in 1997; designed by Sandy Powell - so enormous, complete with model galleon atop the wig that emitted real smoke, that he had to be transported to the party in a removal van!]

Our "gang" went en masse to the V&A's opulent DIVA exhibition (before it closes next week) yesterday. It was my, Sal's and John-John's second visit, but a first for Madam Arcati and Hils.

Here are some (more) highlights...

• "I'm too busy putting my energies into my performance to be a diva." - Shirley Bassey.
  [top left: Dame Shirley Bassey's stage costume, complete with monogrammed wellies, from Glastonbury Festival in 2007]
• "To be good is to be forgotten. I'm going to be so bad I'll always be remembered." - Theda Bara.
  [top right: Theda Bara's costume from Cleopatra, 1917; possibly her own design]
• "For me, a diva is like the great opera singer, the great film star - out of reach, in their own world, with a real gift for invention: attention-demanding performance artists with a flamboyant, compelling sense of their own importance so special and inimitable it verges on the alien." - Grace Jones.
  [bottom left: Issey Miyake bustier worn by Grace Jones on stage (it's tiny!)]
• "I'm a curiosity in Hollywood. I'm a big freak, because I'm myself!" - Clara Bow.
  [bottom right: Clara Bow's costume from The Wild Party, 1929 - the only known surviving "flapper dress" worn by her - designed by Travis Banton]

• "I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." - Marilyn Monroe.
• "I believe that it's better to be looked over than it is to be overlooked." - Mae West.
  [top left: Marilyn Monroe's "shimmy dress" from Some Like It Hot by Orry Kelly; also Mae West's diamante trimmed frock from I'm No Angel by Travis Banton]
• "When I sing, people shut up." - Barbra Streisand.
  [top right: Costume worn by Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, 1968; designed by Irene Sharaff]
• "A woman has just as much right in this world as a man and can get along in it just as well if she puts her mind to it. I've lived by a man's code designed to fit a man's world, yet at the same time, I never forget that a woman's first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick." - Carole Lombard.
  [bottom left: Carole Lombard's frock from We're Not Dressing, 1934; by Travis Banton]
• “Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star.” - Bette Davis.
  [bottom right: Bette Davis' gown from All About Eve; by Edith Head]

• "Reality is something you rise above." - Liza Minnelli.
  [top left: Gown worn by Liza Minnelli in New York, New York; designed by Theadora Van Runkle]
• "Use your faults, use your defects; then you're going to be a star." - Edith Piaf.
  [top right: The (tiny) stage costume worn by Edith Piaf (on display alongside her comb, hairbrush and throat spray!)]
• "If I can't be me, I don't want to be anybody. I was born that way." - Joan Crawford.
  [bottom left: Joan Crawford's costume from Mildred Pierce, 1945; by Milo Anderson]
• "The only person I really believe in is me." - Debbie Harry.
  [bottom right: Outfit worn by Debbie Harry on Blondie's European tour, 1979; by Stephen Sprouse]

• “I’m sort of the patron saint of drag queens.” - Bob Mackie.
  [Stage outfits by Mr Mackie for Cher, Tina Turner, Cher and - um - Cher]
• "You're born naked, and the rest is Bob Mackie." - RuPaul.

Simply stunning...

[Madam Arcati enjoyed it so much he took every one of these photos - click any pic to embiggen.]