V&A Archives- Blythe House

Today we got the chance to visit Blythe House, the V&A Art and Design Archives. We got a small introduction of how to use the vast archives system there. Its amazing because it allows you to get access to working papers of artists and designers as well as records of companies involved in different aspects of applied art and design.

Today was just an introduction to the possabilities of what you can do there, however we were shown a few examples of the textile/fashion archives they hold there which were absolutely fascinating. I will defiantly be returning!

A huge collection of lace dating back to early 19th century.

Beautiful patterns from the early 19th century, who knew how modern looking the prints were then! 

I loved these French fashion forecasting books from the 70's. There is so much intricate detail that goes into these things that I had no idea about. They are an absolute work of art in themselves.