A LETTER FROM THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
In our third year we are celebrating our past, present and future. As is always the case with budding companies, we at House of Bluebell have been on a long winding road in our starting years, that has required a lot of skills; some that I have picked up over the years through various adventures, and some that have had to be ‘learned on the fly.’ However, the main skill that I feel I’ve had to learn is one that we all must learn at some point in our lives - the importance of taking advice, and more importantly, how to use that advice to utilise its full potential.
One thing we have always been very fortunate to have at House of Bluebell is a strong network of colleagues whose opinions are trusted. Whether from Sonia Birrell, an old friend of mine whose career in sewing factories producing countless garments provides unparalleled knowledge of the garment making process, or Caroline Gourlay, my sister whose years of teaching have impressed the importance of a composed approach and the importance of taking a moment to asses a situation, no matter how bleak it may seem, and reflect on what to do, the constructive advice from our support system has always proved to be invaluable in getting House of Bluebell to where it is now.
As I am writing this, while preparations for our third year at the Royal Highland Show are very close to completion, it’s difficult not to reflect on our growth in the past few years. When I look back to our first year, we had four designs - that was later to be named our ‘Rural Collection’ - we started at a UK size 14 and made up to a UK 26, and we used exclusively wool manufactured in the UK. Now, just a few years later we have expanded our size range to be even more inclusive, now coming down to a UK size 6, and we have introduced two new collections to our range; the Black Watch collection - a collection of wool garments inspired by the ever growing need for a business wardrobe that combines the comfort, style, and luxury that we strive for at House of Bluebell, and the Little Red Dress collection - a collection of six red dresses designed to fit ladies of all sizes without sacrificing the feminine style that is so easily lost in today’s world of women’s tweeds.
On our theme of celebrating the past, present, and future of House of Bluebell we have also decided to produce a selection of garments from our newest Black Watch collection combined with the classic style of our original Rural Collection - taking a little bit of our past and melding it with our new designs to produce the perfect blend between traditional tailored tweeds and modern sophisticated style. In our future, I look forward to more growth as we continue our journey to bring the comfort, style and luxury that is so paramount to all our lives to the wardrobes of all of our clients.
To the future,
Wendy Crawford
Creative Director, House of Bluebell
