Click through our gallery to see images of the party and dinner at the White Cube gallery.

Video interviews and discussions with Directors and Costume Designers throughout the exhibition help explain the ideas behind the decisions that led to some of the most striking visual references of the last century. But, in most part, there isn’t much explaining to do. This is about how fashion and clothing does at the very least as much as words to tell a story, create a character, to form an impression and indeed give personality. As Hollywood lines up for Red Carpet season, it’s a timely reminder of how much you can say without uttering a word.

Hollywood Costume will be on at the Victoria and Albert in London until 27th January. Thereafter it will be on tour, visiting the Austalian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne next Spring, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts next November.

Picture credits: V&A  - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-hollywood-costume/about-the-exhibition/

For a masterclass in colour blocking take your style tips from Ginger Gonganza, who paired our Morley in emerald green snakeskin with her coral frock at the Premiere of Ted

For a classic and totally timeless evening bag, one of our favorite styles, the Espey, is an all round glamour staple. Pair it with a simply evening gown like Mindy Kaling here for some serious va va voom.

Equal parts punchy and pretty, our Margo Lizard Burma lends it’s shine to Cobie Smulder’s look on the Avengers red carpet.

Lorenz really is a surprising person. Handsome enough to be a movie star, he trained as an engineer but then began designing costume jewelry and furniture. After freelance designing for Chanel, Piaget, and Cartier he opened his own studio for fine jewelry on the Place Vendome in Paris. In addition, he also designs the jewelry for Louis Vuitton.

His jewelry is so inspirational to me because it is truly imaginative, and exquisitely rendered. As Lorenz himself says: ‘Jewelry should be more than art, it should be an experience,’

While most people know Tory Burch as one of modern America’s fashion icons, she has been one of closest friends since we were in our 20s. I’ve chosen her as one of my muses because ever since we met I have been an admirer of her loyalty and innate ability to balance it all (she has more kids than I do and still runs an empire!)

She has typical Gemini characteristics that show her many sides – as feminine as she is, she can be extremely bold; as refined as she is, she can also be totally adventurous. Plus she is incredibly fun.

What I love most about her is that there is so much more to her than meets the eye, in so many wonderful ways. In our many years of friendship she is someone who constantly surprises me. She is a person who has no limitations – she can do it and does do it.

KOTUR: What’s in your make-up bag?
TORY: YSL mascara, By Terry Baume de Rose, Armani bronzer, Bobbi Brown concealer.

KOTUR: Do you have a favorite purse or bag?
TORY: A gold minaudiere.

KOTUR: Name your desert island essentials?
TORY: iPod, sunscreen, and margaritas.

KOTUR: Do you have a beauty secret?
TORY: As much water and moisturizer as possible.

KOTUR: How would your female friends describe your style?
TORY: Creative, classic, eclectic.

KOTUR: What’s the most treasured item in your wardrobe?
TORY: A sunflower pendant my father had made for his mother.

KOTUR: Is there anything in your wardrobe you should get rid of but can’t?
TORY: My high school clogs.

KOTUR: Hot date night with your boyfriend – what do you wear?
TORY: A black dress and stilettos.

KOTUR: When home alone, what do you wear?
TORY: Jeans, flats and a chunky knit sweater.

KOTUR: What do you wear to bed?
TORY: A worn in T-shirt or flannel pajamas — not very sexy.

KOTUR: You’re the fashion police for a day, what do you ban?
TORY: Fake nails.

KOTUR: How old is too old for a mini?
TORY: Used to be 35, now I changed it to 40.

KOTUR: How high is too high a heel?
TORY: No such thing.

KOTUR: If you could live in any other time for its fashion, what would you choose?
TORY: The 40s or 70s. The sportswear from these eras is the epitome of casual, sophisticated chic.

KOTUR: What is your most recent purchase?
TORY: A Celine coat.

KOTUR: What’s your greatest extravagance?
TORY: Massages.

KOTUR: What are your guilty pleasures?
TORY: Butterscotch ice cream.

KOTUR: What are your bad habits?
TORY: Not getting enough sleep.

KOTUR: Do you have a cheap thrill?
TORY: Gummy bears.

KOTUR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
TORY: To treat everyone the same and always be appreciative.

KOTUR: What’s your favorite smell?
TORY: Tuberose.

KOTUR: Who or what would you like to be reincarnated as in your next life?
TORY: Edith Wharton.

KOTUR: What would you eat for your last supper?
TORY: A huge Italian feast.

KOTUR: If you could meet someone from history who would it be?
TORY: Cleopatra.

KOTUR: Yes or no to a nip and a tuck?
TORY: When needed.

KOTUR: What part of your body would you like to change?
TORY: I’d like to be six feet tall. Ok maybe not six feet. Five eleven.

KOTUR: What would you like to achieve before you die?
TORY: I’d like to build an enormous charitable foundation.

KOTUR: Do you have a favorite Kotur bag?
TORY: The Large Collins minaudiere. I love the Art Deco feel.

KOTUR: On a scale of one-to-ten, how good looking are you?
TORY: Ask my mother.

A background in magazines at Harpers Bazaar in the US and on the launch of C magazine in Los Angeles set Ross on her fashion trail. Transferring her skills to TV, she worked on shows such as Lipstick Jungle – the perfect backdrop for her sophisticated and eclectic take on how women want to dress now. A savvy show about successful women (in knockout outfits, of course,) we at Kotur were very proud to be carried by it’s actresses.

These days, Ross is the Fashion Director of Departures magazine, where she styles their shoots and also writes a column, Uptown Girl, alongside working as a consultant to both large fashion houses and with the likes of Vera Farmiga, Kim Raver, Naomi Watts and Mariska Hargitay.  Whether it’s for a big name brand or a red carpet moment, inspiring editorial or a character’s work get up, people seek her out for fashion that speaks about much more than trend. A big fan of jewellery, Chanel bags and a master at mixing vintage with designer (plus a pair of Manolo’s,) hers is a refined style that’s more than hard to come by. Some stylists bring something extra to the game, and Amanda Ross is one of them. With the sort of taste, sophistication and eye for style that’s about so much more than the particular dress you happen to be wearing, we are delighted that she’s agreed to be a Muse for Kotur.

What’s in your make-up bag?

Purell hand sanitizer, Clarins Moisture Replenishing lip balm with rose wax, Edward Bess bronzer and Santa Maria degli Angeli lotion from The Palazzo Hotel in Venice

Do you have a beauty secret?

Good genes and sleep

What would be your desert island essentials?

A tall Italian, water and sunblock

How would your female friends describe your style?

Uptown East meets Nepal

What’s the most treasured item in your wardrobe?

My collection of jewelry, both costume and real

Is there anything in your wardrobe you should get rid of but can’t?

I love to give away, so probably not

When home alone, what do you wear?

James Perse cotton leggings, Louboutin ballet slippers and a cashmere sweater

What do you wear to bed?

A cotton tank dress

You’re the fashion police for a day, what do you ban?

French manicures and Reality TV stars

Have you ever worn anything you now regret?

A Giorgio di Sant’angleo dress to a day wedding in Bedford

How high is too high a heel?

When you can’t walk

How old is too old for jeans?

Never if you still look good in them

If you could live in any other time for its fashion, when would you choose?

Greco Roman times, I love Grecian dressing

What is your most recent purchase?

An opal and gold pendant from Nardi in Venice

Can you judge a book by its cover?

Yes

What are your bad habits?

Recycling ex boyfriends when I know better

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

You are given one name, don’t trash it

What’s your favorite smell?

A burning fireplace anywhere in the mountains

What’s your idea of a great holiday?

Skiing in Europe

What are you most proud of?

6 years of running my own business

What is your pure bliss?

Hanging out with my twin sister and her three boys anytime, anywhere

What would you eat for your last supper?

A meal at Il Piccolino in West Hollywood

If you could meet someone from history who would it be?

Tolstoy, Kirkegaard, Stefan Zweig and Serge Gainsbourg

Yes or no to a nip and a tuck?

Nope

Do you have a favorite purse or bag?

My Chanel 555 bag

Do you have a favorite KOTUR bag?

The Ross Bag (named after me!)

How would you like to be remembered?

As an honorable person

Ghanaian born, California raised, and with a collection inspired by both Victorian clothing and her native Africa, Mimi Plange is a breath of fresh air in the fashion world.  Having gained a degree in architecture from Berkeley, she headed to the Fashion Institute of Technology in San Francisco before hot footing it to New York where worked both as a jewelry merchandiser and a designer for various brands before finally setting out on her own.

Her collections are fresh and form fitting, with Scarred Perfection, her offering for Autumn Winter 2011 currently on show at the SCAD Gallery (Savannah College of Art and Design) in Hong Kong. She’s dressed women from Michelle Obama to Rihanna, who love her pieces for their structured femininity. For next Spring, inspired by a Victorian tea party, her offering comes in pastels, with pussy bow blouses and neat nipped in waists designed, foremost, to flatter. A creator of clothes made to cross the boundaries of fads, of quality fashion built to last, she’s a woman and designer with a point of view and a point of difference and we’re delighted to have her as our latest KOTUR Muse.

KOTUR: What’s in your make-up bag?

Mimi: Nars blush in Exhibit A, an array of Lancome Juicy Tubes and Mascara, Cover FX foundation and Powder, and mini vials of Bond NO 9 perfume.

KOTUR: Do you have a beauty secret?

Mimi: Well, my grandmother told me that if you rub a sliced lemon on your legs 24 hours after you shave, the hair would grow back slower. It certainly works as a natural exfoliator and smoothes the skin.

KOTUR: What would be your desert island essentials?

Mimi: Water Jurlique Hydrating Mist, a sunhat, a Mimi Plange maxi kaftan, a collection of sexy novels and Soltan sun lotion with insect repellent

KOTUR: How would your female friends describe your style?

Mimi: Fearlessly repetitive. I am not scared of bold fashion, and I am not scared of sticking to a silhouette once I discover what works for my body and appeals to my aesthetic.

KOTUR: What’s the most treasured item in your wardrobe?

Mimi: A little black sheath dress with ostrich feathers. Its really forward and modern, but classic at the same time. Just what I love!

KOTUR: Is there anything in your wardrobe you should get rid of but can’t?

Mimi: I have a Rick Owens sweater I have really, and I do mean really, worn to death. I love the feel and fit, and somewhere in my mind, I’ve managed to convince myself that it’s a little rock and roll even though I know its not. I know its time to say goodbye, but I simply can’t.

KOTUR: What do you never leave home without?

Mimi: Mascara and my iphone

KOTUR: How high is too high a heel?

Mimi: I don’t believe any heel is ever too high, as long as you can walk in them. I admire a woman who can endure her heels effortlessly.

KOTUR: How old is too old for jeans?

Mimi: Denim is like a fine wine or an elegant woman, they both get better with age. They gain history, character, and the tell tale signs that make them unique. It is the only item that could possibly fit better with age, too, aside from maybe a leather jacket.

KOTUR: What is your most recent purchase?

Mimi: A four day trip to Brussels to visit family and enjoy a very “mini” vacation.

KOTUR: Can you judge a book by its cover?

Mimi: Not at all, especially not in today’s day and age, when people are in search for a certain level of function and comfort in their clothing. We now see CEO’s going to work in jeans and woven shirts. The world is becoming a smaller place, and our own ideas of who has power and what that power looks like are being reshaped every day. It’s best to be informed, and not to pass judgment.

KOTUR: What are your bad habits?

Mimi: Worrying too much, and not drinking enough water!

KOTUR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Mimi: To focus on yourself. Not in a selfish way, but you have many things of your own to work on, so there’s no need to focus on other people or what they need to fix. You should worry about your own journey, and learn not to compare yourself to anyone else.

KOTUR: What’s your favorite smell?

Mimi: I love smells that feel romantic, like spicy notes of ginger, lemongrass and rose.

KOTUR: What are you most proud of?

Mimi: I’m proud of the ability to work in a field that I love, and to allow my passion to thrive. I’m in love with all things fashion. Being able to dress Michelle Obama was a complete honor I will never forget!

KOTUR: How would you like to be remembered?

Mimi: For my work

KOTUR: Do you have a favorite KOTUR bag?

Mimi: I am currently in love with two KOTUR bags that are innovative, playful and sexy; the glittery gold snow globe inspired glass clutch and the pink liquid water clutch. I love their modern shape, and how they can both move easily from a playful day look, to a seductive evening accent.

All who meet her would agree that Mary is just so lovely. Her understated personality belies her overstated creations. Architectural studies and time at London’s creative hothouse, St.Martin’s are evident in her extraordinary talent. Designing prints and cutting patterns in tandem ensures precision graphic placement on the exacting cuts of her gravity-defying lampshade skirts and historically inspired bustled dresses.

Mary herself wears only monotone – black on black – the perfect blank canvas for the cacophony of color and pattern that drives her own fierce creativity.

Mary is my muse for this month…

KOTUR: What’s in your makeup bag?
Mary: Oh my make-up bag, it’s really large… Estee Lauder doublewear, there’s Chanel coverage like a mask, compressed powder. What is there? Chanel nail polish – midnight blue. And what else do I have? I have lipgloss by MAC. They give me a goodie bag after every show and I love the lipbalm I got. And I have Rodial Glam Balm.

KOTUR: What are your desert island essentials?
Mary: My boyfriend, an iPod… a bottle of wine. That would be good, it would last until midnight at least.

KOTUR: Do you have a beauty secret?
Mary: My beauty secret would have been sleep – but I don’t get any of it. I also really like a foot massage. I think it really energizes you if it’s done properly.

KOTUR: How would your female friends describe your style?
Mary: Very monochrome, and quite definitive. I usually either wear Alaia or Topshop, that’s it.

KOTUR: What’s the most treasured item in your wardrobe?
Mary: I’d say my Alaia dress. It has really intricate embroidery in it, and comes out for very very special events. I only wore it to see the Queen and to the British Fashion Awards. And a pair of Miu Miu earrings

KOTUR: What do you never leave home without?
Mary: My mobile

KOTUR: Hot date with your boyfriend, what do you wear?
Mary: I think I still wear my Alaia skirt, and I probably wear on top… oh what do I wear? When I met my boyfriend I was wearing jeans, a miniskirt on top and a bikini – it was a pool party! But I’d say my Alaia skirt and just a black blouse.

KOTUR: If you could live in any other time in fashion….
Mary: It’s a wide range, but I’d like to have lived in the 40’s or 50’s. I think that was a really nice time in terms of how a home started to be decorated, and how a woman with a very cultured and travelled eye could be creative. Just like last fall, where I was inspired by Babe Paley.

KOTUR: OK, you’re the fashion police for the day, what do you ban?
Mary: I was going to say black – but then I have nothing to wear!

KOTUR: How old is too old for jeans?
Mary: No, I think there’s no old too old for jeans. You can wear jeans until you’re 70.

KOTUR: Do you have any guilty pleasures?
Mary: I started up smoking again – I had quit for 3 years so that wasn’t good at all. Any guilty pleasures? I think just bad TV – that’s guilty pleasure.

KOTUR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Mary: I think it’s probably the most basic, that just in terms of your career, you need to take it one step at a time and just remain really focused on what it is that you do and remain on that kind of path and don’t deviate. So I stay with that.

KOTUR: What’s your favorite smell?
Mary: Gucci perfume 2. I like freshly baked bread as well and freshly shampooed hair.

KOTUR: And what’s your idea for great holiday?
Mary: For me it’s going back to Greece. We have a summer house in the small island called Spetses, so I love being able to go back there to see my family and see friends of mine who grew up together summer to summer in my younger years.

KOTUR: What do you most proud of?
Mary: I think what I achieved so far, in the fact that you know… I mean I’m still quite young, so I think being able to have a life with my boyfriend; we’ve been together for 10 years. He really pushes me to achieve and to be ambitious on what I do, and I am really happy with where I am.

KOTUR: What do you least proud of?
Mary: I’m least proud of… how stressed I get before fashion week, going backstage in the show. I just wish you have more time to balance things out… I just feel you can’t read as much as you used to because you’re so involved in work and your news knowledge is only headlines because again you don’t have the time. So it’s not that I’m not proud of that, but I just wish I had more time to do certain things.

KOTUR: Who would you like to meet in history?
Mary: In history, I’d love to meet the Marchesa Luisa Casati

KOTUR: How would you like to be remembered?
Mary: I‘d like to be remembered from my work.

KOTUR: What would you like to be reincarnated as?
Mary: A medium. Read people’s futures – I’d like to do that.

KOTUR: What’s your pure bliss?
Mary: Sleep at the moment is pure pure bliss…

We were first introduced over supper one Easter at our mutual friend John Dempsey’s New York town house, where Cornelia whipped up a delicious impromptu supper of meat loaf and mashed potatoes – the kind of understated comfort food that only the truly talented chef can pull off. There’s no surprise to the success of her health-conscious event catering company, or indeed her new range of delicious vegan cookies.

Descended from Winston Churchill, and daughter of fashion icon CZ Guest, Cornelia brings her own voice to her family legacy. A true muse, this former “Debutante of the Decade” inspires with her dedication to philanthropy, animal activism, and business enterprises…

Read on for an insight into the mind – and make-up bag of this months muse…

KOTUR: What’s in your make-up bag?
Cornelia: Bobbie Brown lip Gloss, Bobbie Brown mascara, and, ooh what else is in there – yes, oils from my friend Kirpal’s store “Objets d’Art & Spirit” in Los Angeles.

KOTUR: Do you have a favorite purse or bag?
Cornelia: Yes, Mine! It’s a satchel, it’s woven, it’s cruelty free, and it has lots of pockets inside to stuff everything…when I designed the bags, I wanted to have a place for a cell phone, and also a blackberry or your ipad and keys and a place to put lip glosses in and all the things girls travel around with.

KOTUR: Name your desert island essentials?
Cornelia: A good hat, a great bikini, a very handsome man, and my dogs…

KOTUR: Do you have a beauty secret?
Cornelia: I do. Vegetarianism has helped my skin more than anything. I also think, you’ve got to sleep, and also exercise. I hate to say this, but I really think you have to sweat every day, you know, as a female, it’s very important… actually what is it, horses sweat, men perspire, and women glow…so we women need to glow every day.

KOTUR: How would your female friends describe your style?
Cornelia: All over the place…

KOTUR: What do you never leave home without?
Cornelia: My American Express card.

KOTUR: Hot date night with your boyfriend, what do you wear?
Cornelia: Well that depends, on the boyfriend…

KOTUR: Have you ever worn anything you are now embarrassed by?
Cornelia: Oh my God, I look at pictures of the past and I think, “Oh my God, what was I thinking?!”.

KOTUR: How high is too high a heel?
Cornelia: Not.

KOTUR: How old is too old for jeans?
Cornelia: I think you can always wear jeans.

KOTUR: What is your most recent purchase?
Cornelia: I got the greatest bikinis – victoriassecret.com…on sale, I mean, great bikinis…

KOTUR: What quality do you most admire in a person?
Cornelia: Honesty.

KOTUR: Can you judge a book by its cover?
Cornelia: No.

KOTUR: What’s your greatest extravagance?
Cornelia: My animals. I have 9 dogs, a donkey and a tortoise.

KOTUR: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Cornelia: “No one knows where the nose goes, when the door is closed” Sammy Davis Jr. told me that when I was in California when I first met him. He said, “I’m going to tell you one thing, and don’t you ever forget it” and it goes for everything in life…

KOTUR: What are you most proud of?
Cornelia: My accessory line, and my cookies.

KOTUR: What are you least proud of?
Cornelia: Ooh, some of my past behaviors…

KOTUR: What’s your pure bliss?
Cornelia: Being at home, in the country, in the mud, in the garden with all my animals.

KOTUR: Who or what would you like to be reincarnated as in your next life?
Cornelia: I would love to be an animal, or Winston Churchill, what a phenomenal man.

KOTUR: Yes or no to a nip and a tuck?
Cornelia: Oh yes.

KOTUR: What would you like to achieve before you die?
Cornelia: To let the world know that there is an alternative, and animals suffer horrifically, and there is no need for it.

KOTUR: Do you have a favorite Kotur bag?
Cornelia: A metal minaudiere.

KOTUR: On a scale of one-to-ten, how good looking are you?
Cornelia: Oh my God, 5, 6?