Out of gloomy times come fresh bright and encouraging attitudes - Stress = Nostalgia = Good Times

Out of gloomy times come fresh bright and encouraging attitudes

 Stress = Nostalgia = Good Times

It's said that history repeats itself and in turn very few designs are totally original!

I've been looking back over my time in the home furnishings business and the influences that predominated in any one of the last five decades.

 I believe that the movement that was most universally significant and memorable was Laura Ashley who inspired us, starting in the 70's and then rapidly evolving in the 80's to being a universal brand where the clear message was quintessentially English.

Her ever increasing introductions with distinctive designs and colour palettes and memorable images were very reminiscent to what I'd seen in The Print Room at the V&A with designs taken from 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

We should be forever thankful to the foresight of our forbears that continued their pronouncement to the Empire and the World with all aspects of design in engineering and invention with the Great Exhibition in 1851  and then followed this by the opening of The Victoria and Albert Museum in 1852 which was in the main about 'all things designed' whether that be surface or in the round and both historical and of today.

Laura Ashley created very subtle but influential styles,colour and attitude/ambiance  which at the time was to die for! - floral uplifting relief

Her 'ditsy' florals that were juxtapositions against stripes and plains taught all of us how to style our homes. She taught us that colour was the key to any room and how one could work one colour off another and thereby 'what went with what' and the fact that one could counter balance the visual effect with 'size on size' -  small dimensions working with large scale - ditsy floral against a cabbage rose!

One has to ask the question as to whether this whole phenomenon of the 70/80's was a reflection of the developing dire economy and very stressed times - draconian actions by Maggie Thatcher to get the 'balance sheet' back in order and prove to the unions that they didn't actually govern the country. It's said that in times of stress we all look back over our shoulders to times past when the sun always shone everybody got on with everybody else and images of thatched cottages and hollyhocks in the garden - Nostalgia

Possibly in our current hurtful economic times we should look back again and think of the goodtimes -- you never know we might be seeing lots of gentle floral designs and colours in the future when we seek solace and restful times..

Was it not amazing that for all the doom and gloom before the Olympics it turned out so especially well and how everybody bonded and really got on well with each other?

There's always HOPE