Museum Archives -

gilhoolie is definitely getting out lots this month which is great for the soul! I think now my kids are older and more independent I’m realising I have a lot more freedom to go into London for inspiration; it’s only 30 minutes away after all and there’s so much to see and do on my doorstep, it just takes a bit more effort and planning.

I can’t say I know much about fashion designers from the 60s, or fashion designers full stop really but I’m definitely interested in textiles and clothes so I thought the Mary Quant exhibition at the V&A was worth a trip. (Thanks for the recommendation Sam!) It makes a change from all those hours I’ve spent with two small boys in car, tank and aeroplane museums (anyone with boys will empathise).

The ticket said to allow an hour but we were so absorbed in the display that nearly 2 hours passed in a flash. We wandered around looking at the many beautifully dressed mannequins in original outfits (sometimes with a photo of the owner) and black and white photos and films telling the story of Mary Quant. From her beginnings opening a small boutique ‘Bazaar’ on the Kings Road in Chelsea in 1955, to mass production all over the world. I loved the V&A curation of the display and the way it described the story of the Mary Quant brand. It must’ve been so exciting to be a young woman in the 60s, empowered by this new bold fashion.

I also didn’t realise Mary Quant had a line in makeup – below is a cartoon strip that was published to help girls see what they should be buying to add to their makeup collection and keep up with trends. Love this!

This dress ‘Alice’ was bought at the Chicago department store Marshall Field in 1971. It is made out of co-ordinated fine wool prints from Liberty and retailed for around £20 (about £150 today). I really like the cut, the sleeves and the length of this one. There were so many dresses I could see myself wearing today and ‘Alice’ is one of them.

Below are some of the shots I took on our visit. The exhibition finishes in a couple of weeks, so hurry if you want to take a look. You can read more ‘gilhoolie gets out’ blog posts here or subscribe to the blog by clicking the follow button on the right. Thanks for reading!

Love the red A line dress and the stripes too

At last, I finished my Interior Design project this week – a design for a museum cafe. The brief was to choose a furniture designer and a location for the museum and then design an interior incorporating their designs. I chose a married couple, Robin and Lucienne Day, who worked independently in different mediums from the 1950s. Robin was a furniture designer most famous for his polypropylene chairs (one of the first pieces of furniture to fully use the mass-manufacturing opportunities of injection moulding…) You probably sat on one at school and they are still produced today.

Lucienne Day designed fabrics for Heals and John Lewis, her most famous being one called Calyx which I used on the feature wall of my cafe design.

Here are a couple of boards I produced:

1. Perspective painting of the feature wall with comfortable seating by Robin Day

2. Sample board showing sofas, flooring and fabrics

While I was working on this design 1950s furniture and fabrics have become very popular. I’d love a Charles and Ray Eames chair for example, better get saving!

(available in various colours from John Lewis)

Tag: Museum

Mary Quant at the V&A

Design for a Museum Cafe – the 1950s are very in you know!