During my research trip to Europe, I discovered a gem in the city of Berlin. The Lipperheide Kostume Bibliothek consisting of over 35,000 volumes and magazines of costume history and over 70,000 prints, photographs, graphics and manuscripts dating back as early as the 16th century. Everyday for almost 2 weeks, I travelled to the library located in Potsdamer Platz nestled between the Philharmonie Concert Hall and Mies van der Rohe's Neue National Galerie (my favourite building in the city). After several attempts in understanding their incredibly strict German system and dealing with the merciless attendants in actually obtaining these rare books, I was constantly searching and studying for hours focussing on the roots of C15th costume. It was easy to be detoured off the subject, being surrounded by such an array of information and inspiration from their in-depth collections of everything to do with dress and costume over humankind. My self study on general Latin, thankfully was put into good use at the library as they were traditionally catalogued accordingly at times when my German had failed me.
I was particularly interested in finding old patternmaking and tailoring books, detailing the cut and construction of the High Renaissance dress, including collars, ruffs and doublets, thinking how I might fuse the little details into my modern collection. This place is truly special and really is where ideas and creativity can be endless.
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