Staffordshire figures

By | January 27th, 2024|Categories: Trinkets|Tags: |

I enjoy figurines and trinkets, still buying various types to decorate my home. It is not important to me that they are collectible or valuable, I just go after items that hold meaning to me. That is how people in the 18th and 19th centuries felt about the now-famous Staffordshire figures. These trinkets from time [...]

Those great garters

By | January 20th, 2024|Categories: Regency Era, Underpinnings, Victorian Era|

Have you ever wondered how Victorian women (and those before them) kept their pre-elastic stockings up? Let’s talk about the history of garters!  Do you love fashion from the past? Sign up for our newsletter so you get first access to all of our style guides.  The history of garters The timeless need to keep [...]

Mellow yellow: Colors in the Victorian Era

By | January 13th, 2024|Categories: Fashion history, Victorian Era, Victorian fashion, Victorian Fashions|Tags: |

Welcome to the next edition of Color in the Victorian Era! This week we will be taking a look at yellow. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I began my research and discovered that it was among the more popular colors during the era, at least according to all of the examples of it [...]

Status symbol snuff boxes: a history

By | January 10th, 2024|Categories: Trinkets|

I don’t think I would be incorrect to generalize that personal belongings, especially those that were carried around every day, held more meaning to people in days gone far by than today. We have studied some of these items on the blog in our ongoing “trinkets” series. In researching the origin, meaning, and purpose of [...]

A brief look at Victorian party etiquette

By | January 4th, 2024|Categories: Entertainment, Victorian culture, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , , |

Did you enjoy your holiday season? If so, how are you adjusting to being back into the swing of things? It has been a bit challenging for me as I would much rather be continuing to have fun hangouts with friends. There must be something in the air, as the invites have continued coming in.  [...]

These Victorian Christmas images will get you in the holiday mood

By | December 22nd, 2023|Categories: Christmas, Holidays, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , |

“I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas. It brings people together while time stands still.” -Rachel Cohn  Happy holidays, dear customers! We hope that the jingle bells are jingling and that you are already creating memories you will cherish. The Christmas season is a time of year with a hard-to-describe ethereal thickness [...]

A winter wardrobe – the Victorian way

By | December 16th, 2023|Categories: Victorian Era, Victorian fashion, Victorian Fashions|

A couple of days ago I set out for a fun winter night on the town. Having been in LA for some time so far this season I haven’t had the change to fully transition to the Denver December. Ten outfits later, I was ready to go. And believe it or not, I had partially [...]

A Beatrix Potter Christmas

By | December 13th, 2023|Categories: Christmas, Holidays, Women's History|

I know our readers love them some Beatrix Potter. For me, her illustrations bring to mind thoughts of warm summer days at my grandparent's house - open fields and veggies growing for what seemed to be miles when I was young. I am sure many of you feel the same. And I am sure that [...]

Why are red and green Christmas colors?

By | December 6th, 2023|Categories: Christmas, Holidays|

We enjoy covering holiday traditions on the Recollections blog. One of the most pervasive traditions is almost overlooked because it is so ingrained in the season, the use of red and green. How did the colors become the colors of Christmas? Let’s look at some theories, including what I believe to be true.  Red and [...]