Last weekend I visited Manchester Art Gallery – one of my favourite places in Manchester. It’s not particularly big or prominent (as art galleries go) but it’s well worth a visit.

The ‘Vogue 100’ exhibition recently transferred here from the National Portrait Gallery and I wanted to take a look. Vogue is synonymous with fashion but I didn’t realise the scale of artistic influence in it’s pages until I saw this exhibition. It was fascinating to wander back through the decades and see the work of some of the greatest artists and photographers lifted from it’s pages.

Sadly photographs were prohibited within the exhibition – so you’ll just have to visit it for yourself to see what I mean. (Entry is free.) If you’re not in the area, don’t worry… you can see much of Vogue’s centenary celebrations online. Including it’s back catalogue of covers here.

I hadn’t planned on seeing much else while I was there – but I was directed out of the Vogue exhibiton and found myself in the most beautiful space – full of a separate exhibition on Modern Japanese Design. It was strangely beautiful and also well worth a look if you are in town.

The Art Gallery is also showcasing an exhibition called ‘Fashion and Freedom’ – sadly I ran out of time on my visit this time around to find out more about this but you can be sure I’ll be back in the future!