Inspiration from Scott's Last Expedition - Natural History Museum

The Scott exhibition at the Natural History Museum has been on for some time (and runs until 2nd September 2012) and I've only just managed to get to it. Readers with good memories will recall I've talked about Robert Falcon Scott two or three times before - in particular, at the time of the centenary of his death returning from the South Pole in March 1912.

The exhibition emphasised for me that Scott's expedition, unlike that of Amundsen, who won the race to the Pole, was only partly about reaching the South Pole. A staggering amount of scientific research was carried out, which laid the basis for much modern work on glaciers, wildlife and polar weather and which filled several volumes with published research papers. This legacy, and the stunning photographs, show how rich and productive Scott's expedition was in comparison with that of Amundsen. For me, Scott did not lose the race to the Pole, he led an expedition which blazed a trail for subsequent polar explorers to follow.

The work to gather this scientific data was carried out in harsh conditions - and the clothes the men wore were, by our standards, basic. However, I was struck by the photographs of the clothing, often tweed and knitted wool, which seems to have served the men well - they looked comfortable. There is much there to provide inspiration for today's clothes designers - and indeed we have seen Wolsey and Nigel Cabourn, among others, use the example of these robust and workmanlike garments.

I appreciate that the height of the European summer is not time to be thinking about such warm clothes, but winter is not far off and you can think how your wardrobe might be influenced by the clothes worn by these hardy and heroic men a hundred years ago.

Influences - real life adventure, putting fashion in perspective

What influences a man's approach to life?  Many things, of course, from childhood to more recent experiences.  I have always been fascinated by the stories of early Polar explorers.  Their efforts put our self-absorbed interest in style and fashion in perspective.

Scott's tragic and unsuccessful expedition to be first to the South Pole, only to find that he had been beaten to it by the Norwegian, Amundsen, 100 years ago.  The heroic efforts of Shackleton to rescue his team from the ice pack a few years later, making his way to South Georgia on a small boat and arranging the rescue of the remainder of his men from Elephant Island.  These were among the last heroic adventures before Europe was plunged into the senselessness of the Great War.

Scott's flag from the South Pole
Photo exceedpossibility.com

These stories are graphically and movingly told at The Heart of the Great Alone exhibition at the Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace, where I went yesterday with my son.  Although these events put the more mundane aspects of our lives in perspective, we are influenced by such memories and maybe we can aim to  live more honest and useful lives as a result.