12 things to see, buy and eat in March

SEE

Knowing glances: Fashion through women’s eyes

Fashion’s finest women photographers are paid their dues in the chapel of Saint-Bénin priory, a 12th-century former religious college in the Alpine town of Aosta. The collection of vintage prints spans 20th-century pioneers such as Louise Dahl-Wolfe, who brought her naturalistic style to the cover of Harper’s Bazaar from 1936 into the 1950s, and Lee Miller, as well as 21st-century campaigns for Dior and Valentino by Brigitte Niedermair and Maripol. Marion Willingham

Sguardi di intesa: La moda fotografata dalle donne is at the Centro Saint-Bénin in Aosta from 23 March to 22 September 

EAT & WATCH

All Stars Afro-Brazilian Quartet: Invisible Tattoo at Ladbroke Hall 

Afro-Brazilian jazz quartet Invisible Tattoo will take to the stage of Ladbroke Hall’s Sunbeam Theatre for two back-to-back performances this month. Guests can either enjoy dancing to the Latin jazz and Flamenco flavours of the music or sit and feast on a dinner menu curated by Emanuele Pollini of the venue’s acclaimed Italian restaurant: Amalfi anchovies with handmade butter, Sicilian swordfish, lamb with pink fir potatoes and hazelnut gelato to finish. Inès Cross

15 to 16 March, from £15; ladbrokehall.com

BID

The Pattie Boyd Collection at Christie’s 

This month Christie’s will offer a glimpse into the world of Pattie Boyd, the British model and photographer and former wife of Eric Clapton and Beatle George Harrison. From love letters to drawings, photographs to fashion, Boyd is auctioning off a treasure trove of memorabilia. Alongside her own art-deco cocktail watches and psychedelic mini dresses, a rare set of complete handwritten lyrics from Harrison’s 1982 song “Mystical One” (estimate: £30,000 to 50,000) and a handwritten setlist from Clapton will also be included in the auction. IC

8 to 22 March, christies.com 

SEE

Crafted World by Loewe at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre

A new exhibition at Shanghai’s Exhibition Centre traces the story of Loewe, from its origins in Madrid in 1846 as a leather-making collective through to becoming official supplier to the Spanish Royal Crown in 1905 and eventually founding the Craft Prize in 2016, which celebrates one contemporary craftsperson each year. The show takes visitors on a journey through Loewe’s work with Indian ribbon-makers, Ecuadorian tapestry artists and Chinese bamboo weavers. What emerges is a portrait of a maker interested in what is gained when we craft by hand. Baya Simons

Crafted World is at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre from 22 March to 5 May before travelling worldwide; entry free

BID

A pride of Jaguars for sale, NEC Birmingham

The Practical Classics Car and Restoration Show is offering a smorgasbord of cars for sale, from a 1950s Renault to a 2003 Maserati, but the highlights are a quartet of Jaguars which symbolise the best of British car design. A dark-blue 1968 Jaguar E-Type is estimated at just £40,000 to £50,000, while a sleek 1993 Jaguar XJS, in Jaguar Racing Green, is listed at £13,000 to £18,000. An elegant grey 1957 Jaguar Mk1 2.4 and a sturdy silver 1986 Jaguar XJ6 4.2 round out the selection. Louis Wise 22 to 24 March, thenec.co.uk

EAT

Café Deco at the Seaside Boarding House 

Anna Tobias, chef and founder of London’s Café Deco, will host a pop up at the Seaside Boarding House hotel along England’s Jurassic coast for a one-night takeover of its restaurant. On the menu: sea kale and hollandaise dressed crab, roast chicken and wild garlic mash and rhubarb and apple pie served in a pool of cold custard. A selection of natural wines from the Bloomsbury eatery will also be available by the glass. IC

23 March, theseasideboardinghouse.com

SEE

Biba at the Fashion and Textile Museum

In summer 1964, Polish fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki advertised a simple shift dress in the Daily Mirror. Fun, affordable and available nationwide, “it was Barbara’s fashion philosophy in pink-cotton gingham”, says Martin Pel, curator of The Biba Story: 1964-1975, which opens at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum this month.

From that dress – which went on to sell more than 17,000 pieces – grew Biba, a fashion giant with a seven-storey Kensington megastore. With its low lighting, vintage furnishings and cool shop girls – among them a 15-year-old Anna Wintour – the store attracted stars such as Twiggy and Brigitte Bardot, before closing in 1975. The exhibition’s perfectly preserved miniskirts and leopard-print coats are a ’60s-’70s time capsule, and a reminder, says Pel, “that fashion at low prices does not need to be disposable”. MW The Biba Story: 1964-1975 is at the Fashion and Textile Museum from 22 March to 8 September

READ

An illustrated history of one of Britain’s original motorcycling brands

Belstaff has been the outfitter of choice for many of the world’s great adventurers. A century after the outerwear maker’s founding, writer Charlie Porter and Belstaff’s Jodie Harrison have charted its story in a new book: it follows the early days of “Bellstaff” from 1920s Stoke-on-Trent to its present-day identity as a purveyor of all-weather fashion. Deep dives into pieces such as the Trialmaster – a tough, boxy coat suited for trials riding – illustrate the brand’s history of durable design. “I liked that this clothing was real. It had purpose,” says fashion designer Nigel Cabourn in his preface. Alexander Tyndall

Belstaff: Our First 100 Years is published on 14 March by HarperCollins at £75

DRINK

42 at Gymkhana, London

Gymkhana gained its second Michelin star last month – a good excuse to visit both the famed Indian restaurant and, next door on Mayfair’s Albemarle Street, a new cocktail bar reminiscent of some of India’s most prestigious private clubs. At the 42, accessible through a discreet door, floors are lined with restored silk Kashmiri rugs and chandeliers hang from the ceiling, while select artworks and ornaments originate from the private residences of the Sethi family, who own the JKS Restaurants group behind the bar. The menu draws on traditional Indian flavours and ingredients: the DGC Bitter Lemon blends gin and notes of curry leaf into a cocktail inspired by Schweppes’ classic Bitter Lemon mixer, while the Mr Ilyas mixes coconut, black truffle and peanut butter with Macallan 12 whisky. BS

42 Cocktail Lounge at Gymkhana is open Wednesday to Saturday, from 5pm to 2am

SEE

Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within 

Toshiko Takaezu was a Hawai’i-born ceramicist famed for her “closed form” vessels. Using vibrant glazes, Takaezu transformed her bulbous pots into moons, seed pods and sweet potatoes; it was not uncommon to find pumpkins and tomatoes in her studio, happily nestled amongst her creations. From 20 March, 200 of Takaezu’s pots, paintings and weavings will populate Long Island City’s Noguchi Museum, founded and designed by Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi – also a friend of Takaezu. MW

Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within is at The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum in New York from 20 March to 28 July, before a US tour

READ

Ageless Dancers

Growing up with a debilitating stutter, Betti Franceschi sought out other forms of fluency as a child, eventually finding herself drawn to the practice of drawing and painting dancers. “Stuttering is experienced as the want of grace,” she says. “Ballet is a pure reaching for grace.” Her new book, Ageless Dancers, collects her photographs of older dancers, aged between 70 and 102, and thus draws our attention to “the technique that survives diminished athleticism – the artist’s voice triumphant”. BS Ageless Dancers by Betti Franceschi is published by Overhead Press

SEE

Matthew Wong at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

The late Chinese-Canadian artist Matthew Wong often cited Vincent van Gogh as one of his most significant inspirations for his vibrantly coloured, though subtly melancholy landscapes. The first European retrospective of Wong’s work in Europe, at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, pays homage to both artists’ legacies.  “I see myself in him,” Wong said in 2018, a year before his death. Kira Richards

Matthew Wong | Vincent van Gogh: Painting as a Last Resort is at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam until 1 September