Blythe House

Blythe House.

A visit to Blythe House, well after our eventful journey there, because of the trains running once every half hour at Olympia. we finally made it.

My first impressions on the building were miss-interpreted, it really looked like a mental institution or a prison, it was a very secure environment we were entering. Every door was under lock with a swipe card, there was security to get into every area, which really puts into prospective how much of a privilege this really was to be able to visit and see what this archive holds.

We had a brief talk through the history of what the archive had to offer in terms of textiles, interiors and fashion. Then we were shown some of the archive books which they had laid out for us to at look at with great care, these books themselves tell there own stories but what’s inside is even more interesting.

I have never been subject to anything like this before. It was really fascinating to be able to go through all the different time periods of fashion and fabrics, and being in contact with some samples which were very prestigious to there time.

These books could show you what was most popular of their time, how many were sold and how much they were sold for. It was interesting to see at what time, which fabric’s were popular. You could see the age in all these fabrics as some were older than others. Even though they are being preserved a lot of the samples have slowly lost their colour through the years. It was interesting to see what patterns have made a real difference and stuck through to modern day and others which have slowly drifted out as patterns change they have been replaced.

I learnt a lot being able to see how delicately things were taken into detail and how much technology has changed. There was a lot of the hand drawn and painted patterns which were beautifully designed. That made me think a lot about my approach to my drawing collection.

They had colour charts, wheels and books about the ‘in’colours of the season at the time. It’s interesting to see what colours have stuck around and made a big impression on the industry, but also what colours have slowly gone ‘out’ of fashion. Obviously every signature colours plays a roll in fashion, but there are different shades and tones to what make an impact.

I have taken a lot away with me from my visit to Blythe House, it has been a breath of fresh air to my perspective on my table theatre collection. I have looked at a lot of different patterns colours and designs, this will be inspired into my project and way of thinking. It was also a completely new experience and something i can always go back to for references and articles relating to future projects.