T-shirt referring to the legendary eye-sight test of the British official, Dominic Cummings, to Barnard Castle (TRC 2020.3015).The TRC has now been officially open for two weeks and things are (slowly) beginning to get back to normal. Visitors are coming in – usually by appointment, but very occasionally simply drawn in by the wonderful and colourful quilts that are on display in the Gallery.

Throughout our premises there are bottles of soaps and hand cleaners. There are face masks available should people wish to use them. These are important because guided tours, courses and workshops have started again. We have to get used to the smaller numbers of participants, but it makes it more personal and more time can be spent on the many questions and comments. Because of these limited numbers we are repeating various workshops on different days and many events are already full. So if you are interested in attending something (see the programme), please email and register as soon as possible (Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.).

Envelope celebrating the liberation of The Netherlands, with typical 'Dutch' girl in Volendam costume and with tulips, 1945 (TRC 2020.2972).

We have also had various people who want to use the library, and so far we have been able to accommodate them, always bearing in mind the current official guidelines (see also our own protocol). We had a discussion the other day about the role of libraries and how important it is to have actual books so that people can peruse the shelves for more information and inspiration. It is often said everything is online so you don’t need books, but we simply don’t agree!

Beverley Bennett, who runs the shop, has made a wide range of objects for sale and I must admit I have already bought some of the items for my own use. The framed embroideries she made have caused several visitors to drool (not actually) and I am sure they will soon find new homes.

Several days were also taken up with a photoshoot of garments for a forthcoming book. More details in due course, but I can assure you it's going to be impressive!

I have been working on the next exhibition, about textiles and clothing from World War II, and thanks to various groups it is going to be an intriguing and thought provoking exhibition.

Man with a hat of the deer-stalker type, made popular by Sherlock Holmes. Britain, late 19th century (TRC 2020.3034).A little while ago we had a small fund raising so we could buy boxes, racks and some showcases for mini-exhibitions. Thanks to the help of various people we have been able to buy enough boxes to cover us for months and a few days ago we ordered two showcases. These will be coming in three weeks time. The first exhibition will be about under sleeves, called engageantes (see a previous blog). A wide range of other mini-exhibitions are now being planned and prepared.

In addition we have added Cartes de Visites and fashion prints to the TRC Database. These prints and photographs date from the mid-19th century onwards and depict (actual and fantasy) women wearing engageantes. If you have items you would like to donate to the TRC's print and photograph collection please let me know at Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.

We have also been working on various groups of textiles and clothing and gradually more and more items are now online. In a few weeks time it will be over 30,000 pieces. All in all it has been a good two weeks and we are looking forward to getting more activities organised and underway.

Gillian Vogelsang, 11th June 2020.