Last week, 5th Formers headed off to London for a Design and Technology trip, taking in the V&A, the Science Museum and last but not least, Buckingham Palace to see the wedding dress worn by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Here's what Maisy King (5th, Q) had to say about the day: 

At the V & A there were some amazing items of jewellery as well as old fashioned china sets, fashion items and paintings. One of the most inspirational items in the museum was the Annie Lennox Exhibition. In this area of the museum, there was a wide display of songs written by Annie, as well as some of her most famous outfits. For example, there was a mixture of modern/older dresses, including party outfits. I loved one of the dresses because it was a sequin puffball dress, and the volume looked amazing and fun. Another dress that fascinated me was a very basic designed dress, which was coated in items found in a typical English fry up breakfast. For example, there were plastic sausages, beans, eggs, bacon and tomato sauce sprawled along a basic yellow dress. The idea was distinctive but it looked amazing, and I think the idea of using recycled products/ shapes based on these products would make the dress fun and unique. 

The jewellery in the V & A was stunning and mesmerizing - the design was very simple however they looked magnificent and made you want to try them on! The majority of the rings had a simple stone in the centre then a basic circle of small diamonds/crystals surround the gem. They were not at all over the top but they glimmered in the light making them look very sophisticated. There were also many necklaces and tiaras in the museum. There were two very different tiaras, which I appreciated. Firstly, the The Invasive Species Tiarawhich is oxidised in sterling silver, and eighteen carat gold made by Jan Yager. I particularly liked this tiara because it is unique and rare and is not what a typical tiara looks like. My second favourite tiara was the “Faberge Cyclamen” gold mounted diamond tiara. I love this tiara because it is just a simple flower repeated however the diamonds are very subtle yet add sophistication and glamour to the tiara. Another dress that inspired me in the museum was and angel, standing on the edge of the main staircase. The angel was dress in a very plain white dress, however the angel looked beautiful, with an innocent tiara made up on pure silver. 

We then went on to the Science museum, which was fascinating because there were simple products, made from unusual materials. For example, there were high heels made out of fur and buttons. The use of two different materials made the shoes even more fun and the fact that the buttons didn’t match made the shoes look even more individual. 

Afterwards we went to Buckingham Palace to see Kate Middleton’s wedding dress where we were able to watch a video on how the dress had been designed and made. Until the trip I did not appreciate how many subtle details there were on the dress. For example, the skirt of the dress was made up of 6 different laces, in order for the dress not to be copied. The 6 different laces each represented something different, for example one was a pattern of thistles to represent Scotland and one was roses for England. In person, it came apparent how much detail was made on to the bottom of the dress and the bodice. I found this dress inspirational because although from afar it looked like an ordinary wedding dress, up close the purposely slightly off white (cream) wedding dress was made up of pure detail and meaningful embellishments and features.

Maisy King, 5th, Q