Late Shift Extra: The Glamour Factory
Past event archive
Friday 7 October | 18.00–22.00
Free admission and events*.
Download the full programme of events here
Be part of an extraordinarily glamorous Late Shift Extra event at the National Portrait Gallery, curated in partnership with Contemporary Vintage.
For one night only, the National Portrait Gallery will be transformed into the ‘NPG Film Studios’, inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood and our current exhibition Glamour of the Gods: Hollywood Portraits. Pick up your ‘NPG Studio’ contract and enter the Glamour Factory. Visit our seven star-making departments to be transformed into a Hollywood icon. Put glamour under the microscope with Guerilla Science and look behind-the-scenes to uncover how the Golden Age of Hollywood was manufactured and how image continues to be manipulated today.
Dress code: Black & White
Late Shift in Partnership with FTI Consulting
* Free tickets will be required for some activities and will be available in advance – please check regularly for updates. Advance booking is highly recommended for entry to the Glamour of the Gods exhibition.
The programme of events include:
THE BROKEN HEARTS COCKTAIL LOUNGE
18.00 – 22.00
See and be seen with a cocktail at the Late Shift Bar as The Broken Hearts DJs spin tracks from the 20s to the 50s inspired by their Peppermint Candy show on Jazz FM. Be dazzled as our debonair compere David Piper presents the evening’s cabaret:
19.30 The Bees Knees, 1920s flappers
20.00 Miss Annabel Sings, 1930s chanteuse
20.30 Fabulous Russella, a 1940s take on a 21st century RuPaul
21.00 Millicent Binks, a 1950s burlesque super-starlet
Department 1: IMAGE IS EVERYTHING
Vintage Visage
18.00 – 21.00
Be transformed into a glamorous screen siren or matinee idol in a make-up transformation with cult British make-up brand Illamasqua. Simply book in with the Illamasqua receptionist for your beauty appointment. Illamasqua will be showcasing their A/W 11 collection 'The Theatre of the Nameless.'
What is Beauty?
18.00 – 18.45, 19.00 – 19.45 & 20.00 – 20.45
Drop in to meet Danny Rees from the Wellcome Library and explore physiognomy. Is there any truth in the symmetrical ideals of beauty?
Vintage Drawing Class
18.30 – 19.15 & 19.45 – 20.30
Turn heads in this stylish drawing class. Introduced by Nina and Issidora of Nina's Hair Parlour; drawing led by Susan Wilson with a discussion led by Professor Mark Pagel. Simply drop-in and get drawing.
Is Gender an Illusion?
19.15 – 19.45 & 20.15 – 20.45
Clinical psychologists Dr Polly Carmichael and Dr Victoria Holt explore notions of identity and unpick the confusion of chromosomes.
Department 2: MYTH MACHINE
Walk of Fame
18.00 – 20.45
Step out of the chorus line to receive your new film star name and sign your handprint with a flourish on the Walk of Fame.
Department 3: READY FOR YOUR CLOSE-UP
Strike a Pose
18.00 – 20.45
Learn how to express dramatic emotions, find the perfect angle to show off your brooding brow and how to hold a smouldering pose with actress and comedienne Anna Berlyn. Play these tricks out under the ‘NPG Studio’ portrait photographer lights and camera with the Photobooth Out of Order.
* Tickets available from 18.00 on the day at the entrance to this event in Room 20.
Only Skin Deep?
18.00 – 20.45
Be amazed as the ageless magic of retouching is applied to enhance images of a Hollywood starlet with Pavla Kopecna of Ladbury PR and Gisela Torres, fashion photographer.
Department 4: IMMORTAL DREAMS
Immortality Tour
19.15 – 19.45 & 20.15 – 20.45
Join this specially created tour exploring notions of life, death and immortality with Dr David Gems (Institute of Healthy Aging, UCL) as he explores the Gallery from a scientific angle.
Department 5: SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL
Vintage Twitter Bureau
18.00 – 20.30
Be all atwitter @NPGGlamour with our specially appointed Vintage Twitter Bureau. Write your own scandalous headline in 140 characters or less on our vintage typewriter. Secretariat governed by High Heels and Reprobates.
Department 6: POWER DRESSING
The Glamorous Debate
19.00 – 19.45
Is glamour really in the eye of the beholder? Our glittering array of experts explore the power of fashion. Chaired by Pamela Church-Gibson (Reader in Cultural and Historical Studies, London College of Fashion,) with panellists Ted Polhemus (anthropologist and writer), Grace Woodward (stylist and fashion broadcaster) and Semir Zeki (Professor of Neuroaesthetics, UCL) and Janty Yates, Academy Award-Winning costume designer, Gladiator.
Sold Out
Department 7: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Top Hat
20.05 – 21.45
Head to the movies to see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers gliding cheek to cheek across the silver screen in the box-office hit Top Hat directed by Mark Sandrich, 1935.
EXTRAS
Late Shift Tour
Pick up the Glamour Factory Late Shift Tour booklet and glide through the Galleries guided by the hosts of tonight’s glittering party.
After Party
From 22.00
The Glamour Factory unofficial after party, organised by Contemporary Vintage, is at La Reve in the sumptuous Café de Paris on Piccadilly, 3 - 4 Coventry Street, London. Mingle with the bold and beautiful alongside ghosts from the past.
For information please email info@lareve.co.uk or call 020 7284 4700. Tickets can be booked here
