This aircraft is beautifully decorated with millions of colourful glass beads both inside and outside, completely reimagining its original purpose.

Related story: White Lotus season four takes us to France

Symbolism and Artistic Vision

Once a symbol of violence, it has now become a work of art that symbolizes resilience and collaboration for future generations. The use of colour beads reflects a deep connection to African culture, making the MiG-21 Project a powerful statement from the artist.

The plane is displayed at the Museum of Flight’s outdoor Aviation Pavilion, accessible from the Space Gallery opposite the east campus. It’s not a large fighter jet compared to other modern aircraft on display, but its intricate beadwork and vibrant colours make it a standout exhibit.

Exhibition Details

Visitors are encouraged to start their experience at the Red Barn, where they can learn about Ralph Ziman and the inspiration behind his vision for the plane. The exhibit features original Afrofuturistic flight suits and helmets, along with videos, photographs, and artwork related to the project. This area also shares Ziman’s personal experiences with the MiG-21, drawn from his upbringing in South Africa, as well as historical insights gathered during the project’s development.

According to Ziman, “The aim of The MiG-21 Project is to take the most mass-produced supersonic fighter aircraft and to turn it from a machine of war into something that looks beautiful and changes the meaning of it.”

Visiting the Museum

It’s been years since I visited the Museum of Flight, and I’ve forgotten how extensive the collections are.

You should see the full NASA Space Shuttle Trainer fuselage, where every Space Shuttle astronaut trains for their missions. Discover how the crew lives and works in orbit around the Earth. 

Board the Anglo-French Concorde, the iconic supersonic aircraft, marking its 50th anniversary since the first commercial flight connecting London/Paris to New York in 1976.

Additionally, seeing a replica of Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10 Electra on display was captivating. It was restored precisely as the plane she flew during her unsuccessful 1937 around-the-world flight.

Allocate about three hours to see all the displays. The museum’s location also makes it ideal for a weekend visit.

The MiG-21 Project is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle until January 26, 2026.

The post The MiG-21 Project: Artistic Transformation appeared first on styledrama.

Every April, this rural community, located one hour south of the Canada-US border and one hour north of Seattle, WA, celebrates spring by transforming its valley into a breathtaking canvas filled with millions of colourful tulips.

Last Friday, I visited RoozenGaarde, one of the four Skagit Valley Tulip Festival gardens, to witness the season’s first tulip blooms and learn about its agricultural heritage.

Related story: Doppio Zero in Concord offers authentic Southern Italian dining

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2024

The name RoozenGaarde translates to Rose Garden in their Dutch language. But the tulips they grow are synonymous with both the Roozen family and the Skagit Valley.

RoozenGaarde offers a beautiful 5-plus-acre tulip garden with a green and white windmill near the entrance. This makes it convenient for those who may want to avoid walking into the farm fields. During my visit, the garden was partially in bloom, but most tulip varieties were on display.

Even on an overcast weekday, visitors immerse themselves in the beauty of nature as they wander through outdoor display gardens and vast fields bursting with acres of blooming tulips and daffodils. 

Acres of yellow and white daffodils

Beyond the garden display were acres filled with yellow and white daffodils. To the southeast, I walked past hundreds of tulip rows in shades of red, yellow, purple, green, orange, pink, lavender, and white. 

It was a weekday, so there were fewer crowds. I enjoyed strolling along the tulip rows, taking photos, and disconnecting from the office.

RoozenGaadre has a lovely gift shop open all year round, where you can purchase fresh-cut flowers. During the festival, there are food services and covered picnic tables for the whole family to enjoy. 

Tulip bloom season last only three weeks

I bought my admission ticket online before departure, which is cheaper than purchasing them at the door. Ticket prices on weekdays are slightly less expensive than on weekends. There’s plenty of free parking available across the street.

During the festival, four tulip gardens are open to the public: RoozenGaarde, Tulip Town, Garden Rosalyn, and Tulip Valley Farms. Each venue has a unique farm setting suitable for families of all ages.

Don’t miss out on the stunning beauty of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2024, as the tulip bloom season lasts only three weeks!

Experience the magic of nature’s artistry at its finest during your visit to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2024—an escapade filled with beauty, serenity, and travel memories to last a lifetime. 

The post Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2024 welcomes spring appeared first on styledrama.

Now delighted to hear that Amtrak Cascades service between Vancouver and Seattle in conjunction with Amtrak and Via Rail has resume service, which was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The current schedule has the morning Cascades train to Vancouver departing Seattle at 7:45 a.m., stoping at five cities along the way and arrive into Vancouver at 11:45 a.m.

Traveling southbound, Amtrak will depart Vancouver at 5:45 p.m. and arrive into Seattle at 10:10 p.m.

Amtrak is planning to add a second daily trip with a morning departure from Vancouver in the near future.

Amtrak Cascades runs along the coast line from British Columbia, through river and mountain vistas in Washington and Oregon, offering passenger views of pacific northwest’s most distinctive cities and spectacular natural attractions. 

Seattle to Portland

In addition, to resuming service to Canada, the route offers three daily round trips between Portland and Seattle, two daily round trips between Eugene and Portland and four daily buses between Seattle and Vancouver BC.

While onboard, customers can enjoy the cafe car which features products grown and made in the Pacific Northwest on its current Bistro Menu. 

Customers also appreciate free Wi-Fi on the Washington segment of the trip, freedom to use phones and electronic devices at all times (no “airplane mode”), large spacious seats with ample leg room, no middle seat, and one of the most generous baggage policies in the travel industry, applicable for two personal items and two carry-on bags. 

Canadians can book tickets at Via Rail

Customers can purchase tickets at Amtrak online, travellers departing from Canada can also book their tickets at Via Rail.

For visitors and locals, the Amtrak Cascades Vancouver to Seattle is a wonderful way to view some of the most scenic vistas in the pacific northwest.

Related story: Sleeping dog wines

The post Amtrak Cascades resumes service between Vancouver and Seattle appeared first on styledrama.

With the opening of the US – Canada marine border, the Victoria Clipper fast ferry resumes service between Seattle and Victoria.

Operating under a four-day weekend scheduled and with extra sailing around Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, Canada has been welcoming American visitors since early August, but non-essential travel by Canadians into the USA remains restricted.

Nevertheless, we haven’t given up on hope that non-essential US travel may resume for Canadians in the near future.

Related Travel: More than surf and sand: Tofino’s culinary delights

For travel to Victoria, Americans visitors and permanent Canadian residents residing in the US will be required to be fully vaccination at least 14 days prior to arriving in Canada for non-essential travel.

Travellers will be required to provide proof of vaccination and submit their travel information via ArriveCAN (web portal or app) within 72 hours of planned arrival

In addition, all travelers are required to submit a pre-entry COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours of arriving in Canada.

Fully vaccinated travelers who meet the requirements will be exempt from quarantine; however, all travelers must still provide a quarantine plan and be prepared to quarantine, in case it is determined at the border that they do not meet the necessary requirements.

Operated by FRS Clipper, they offer hotel overnight packages and day trips to picturesque travel destinations such as Victoria, Seattle, Vancouver, San Juan Island, Portland and Vancouver Island.

Photos courtesy of FRS Clipper

The post Victoria Clipper fast ferry resumes Seattle to Victoria service appeared first on styledrama.

It bears noting that today’s extreme sports, such as base jumping from atop mountains, are still tame compared to the challenges of space travel in the 1960’s. Many of NASA’s early astronauts were United States Air Force test pilots who were trained to fly new supersonic aircraft. These young men were expected to learn to pilot space rockets under conditions never experienced before. 

NASA’s brave astronauts were strapped into rockets based on new and untested scientific and engineering theories. As the Americans were in a space race to beat the Russians to the moon, failure was not an option.

Along with stories of the men and women behind the epic moon mission, the historic NASA Apollo 11 command module Columbia is on display as part of the Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission exhibition at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Despite its small size, another of the fascinating objects from the Destination Moon exhibition is astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s felt pen which saved the Apollo astronauts from being marooned on the moon.

As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were preparing to launch the lunar module to rendezvous with Columbia capsule for their return to earth, they discovered a broken circuit breaker switch on the floor. They surmised that one of their space suits’ backpacks brushed up again the panel, resulting in the damaged switch.

Electronic systems aboard the spacecraft were very basic compared with today’s. Circuit breakers were simply used to power equipment on and off. Mission Control had verified that the switch was open so they could not fire the assent rocket and, for Aldrin and Armstrong, this was a problem.

Aldrin’s solution was not technical – he simply used his felt pen to move the circuit breaker switch to the on position. This is just one of the many remarkable stories from this fascinating collection of artifacts.

Seattle is the exhibition’s only West Coast appearance and the last stop of a four-city tour. Along with the pen and the command module, Destination Moon features over 20 one-of-kind pieces from the Smithsonian, many of which were included on the historic mission, as well as dozens of NASA and Russian spacecraft pieces from the Museum’s renowned collection.

The exhibition includes several extremely rare objects such as an original Russian sputnik satellite – one of only three known to be in existence and the first manmade object to travel in space. The satellite is part of the Museum of Flight’s permanent collection.

President John F. Kennedy dream of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade was achieved on July 20, 1969. America had beaten Russia in this critical achievement and Aldrin and Armstrong had secured their places in history. 

For their bravery, daring and creative thinking, a celebration of the 50^thAnniversary of the Apollo moon landing would not be complete without a tip of the hat to America’s first adrenaline junkies, NASA’s early astronauts.

On your next visit to Seattle, be sure to check out Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission on display at the Museum of Flight until September 2, 2019.

The post Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 mission adrenaline junkies appeared first on styledrama.

The exhibition takes visitors through Saint Laurent’s legendary career and reveals both his artistic genius and his creative process as an haute couture designer. On display at SAM is an exemplary collection of 110 ensembles, many of which have never been shown in public before, showcasing the tremendous achievements of his 44-years in the fashion industry.

As he singlehandedly reinvented the wardrobe of the modern women during the 60’s, Saint Laurent’s importance to the fashion world cannot be understated. By introducing the female cuts of wardrobe staples such as the pea jacket, the tuxedo, the pantsuit, and the safari jacket, he changed the way women dressed and Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style is a testament to this.

Fashions fade, style is eternal

Saint Laurent was born in 1936 in Oran, Algeria and grew up in a villa by the Mediterranean with two younger sisters. From a young age, he liked to create intricate paper dolls and by his early teens he was designing dresses for his mother and sisters. As you first enter the exhibition hall, you will learn about his Paper Doll Couture House, an interactive display which allows you to place colorful dresses over a paper doll.

Saint Laurent studied at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris before he began his fashion career at Christian Dior. Ensembles early in the exhibition focus on Saint Laurent’s formative years when, at age 21, where he was named artistic director for the renowned house after the sudden death of Christian Dior in 1957. Working at the pinnacle of French luxury fashion, his successful 1958 Spring – Summer debut collection for Dior includes his magnificent Eléphant Blanc evening dress made from silk and covered with gold metallic thread embroidery which is a must see piece of this exhibition.

Visitors will learn how Saint Laurent was inspired by art. On display is one of his most famous dresses which features square blocks of primary colors’  red, yellow and blue encompassed by black lines and pays homage to Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. Saint Laurent was influenced by all forms of art and culture from the bright colors and stark lines of pop art to the traditional materials used in African arts and crafts. A raffia coat with a silk dress embroidered with tiny wooden beads is a prime example of the latter source of inspiration.

Dressing is a way of life

In 1962, Saint Laurent launched his own couture house with Pierre Bergé, his lifelong partner both in business and in life. In 1966, they opened the first ready-to-wear designer boutique in London which introduced designer fashions to the masses. He became know as the Beatnik Couturier, drawing inspiration from street life and pop culture and proudly proclaiming, “you no longer need to be rich to have style.”

As fascinating as any of the dresses, and included throughout the exhibition, are the original collection boards from 1962 – 2002 with sketches of and swatches from each outfit of every Saint Laurent couture show covering 40 years of the maison de couture’s history. Plus, one of the eight modules of the exhibition includes a large glass display case the size of a boardroom table filled to the edges with bold and colorful jewelry accessories, demonstrating the total look of the Yves Saint Laurent house.

During the 1970’s Yves Saint Laurent achieved superstar status equal to that of Mick Jagger or David Bowie. He was no longer simply a fashion designer, but also a celebrity, targeted by British gossip magazines and photographers on the lookout for scandals. And he did not disappoint. In November 1971, to promote his men’s fragrance Pour Homme, he released a nude photograph of himself and caused an incredible stir.

Numerous photographs, drawings and production documents offer a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative workings of the fashion house and the private life of the great couturier.

Many of the exhibition displays are on loan from the Pierre Bergé Yves Saint Laurent Foundation which opened its doors on the premises of the former Paris couture house in 2004 with a goal to conserve and promote Yves Saint Laurent’s unique vision after he passed away in his Paris home in 2008.

Elegance is forgetting what one is wearing

The elegance of Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style stands in striking contrast with grunge, Seattle’s contribution to fashion history. Originating from its vibrant music scene, the movement influenced high fashion in the 90s and is making a comeback at youth oriented fast fashion outlets.

Grunge kicked off with the rise of Kurt Cobain’s alternative rock band Nirvana whose music earned its label with its murky and rough sound. Many have described grunge fashion as thrift store chic. Cobain himself had a nonchalant “anything goes” look characterized by graphic t-shirts, Doc Marten boots, distressed light denim, oversized cardigan sweaters with moth holes and, to top it all off, bad hair every day of the week.

In 1993, James Truman, Editor of Details, said that, “grunge is about not making a statement, which is why it’s crazy for it to become a fashion statement.” However, become a fashion statement it did. Marc Jacobs was one of the first designers to showcase grunge as high fashion with his 1993 Perry Ellis collection. In fall 2014, the Hedi Slimane collection for Saint Laurent was a tribute to grunge with luxurious scruffy mohair sweaters and faux-fur coats.

In striking contrast to its grungy past, the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition at SAM brings a touch of luxurious style to the Emerald City, begging the question if Yves Saint Laurent changed the face of haute couture, can he change Seattle?

If you are planning a weekend getaway or just passing through the Seattle area, the Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style exhibition is a must see for anyone. Whether you have a particular appreciation for the influences of French couture on fashion today or you simply like beautiful things, this exceptional display of Saint Laurent’s work is sure to please.

Don’t delay as the exhibition only runs until January 8, 2017. Afterwards, it will travel to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, VA where it will be open from May 6 – August 27, 2017.

If you go:

Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave. Seattle, WA

Parking:

Stewart & 3^rd Ave. across from Macy’s. Request a parking voucher from the SAM ticket counter for discounted rates.

Accommodation:

Heathman Hotel Kirkland, 220 Kirkland Ave. Kirkland, WA

Dine:

Trellis Restaurant, 220 Kirkland Ave. Kirkland, WA

The post Yves Saint Laurent dazzles in the birthplace of Grunge appeared first on styledrama.