Will you wear white after Labor Day this year?

By | September 3rd, 2022|Categories: Fashion|

Happy Labor Day weekend! We hope that everyone has a great time celebrating and easing into the last part of the year. If you are celebrating, are you wearing white? Or, will you be wearing any white to your upcoming fall celebrations? “No white after Labor Day” is a rule that most people are familiar [...]

Glamour escapism: 1930s fashion

By | August 31st, 2022|Categories: Fashion, Fashion history, Style Guides, Women's History|Tags: , |

1920s fashion was all about art and pushing the envelope. The 1950s was a return to the home and the idea of the feminine ideal. In between was glamour. High fashion of the 1930s and 1940s offered a chance for the public to forget about the ever-increasing problems of the outside world and simply put, [...]

Private purses: women's tie-on pockets

By | August 27th, 2022|Categories: Accessories, Fashion, Regency Era, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions, Women's History|

One thing I love about my Recollections dresses is the deep pockets hidden in the pleats and folds. They are absolutely perfect for carrying my iPhone and lipstick. The pockets are one of the subtle modern conveniences that make Recollections so great. While they are great examples of 19th-century clothing, in truth, dresses from that [...]

The history of the sundress in three American designers

By | July 3rd, 2022|Categories: 1950s Fashions, Fashion|Tags: , |

I live for sundress season! Easy, breezy, and feminine. I am getting out a lot more than I did the last two summers and have already enjoyed adding some to my collection. It has naturally got me thinking about the history of the casual but cute item of clothing and how it became so common. [...]

Led by simplicity: Victorian ball gowns

By | June 8th, 2022|Categories: Ball Gowns, Fashion, Victorian Era|Tags: , , |

Few things are more fun to simply look at than Victorian ball gowns. They are truly a feast for the eyes, made with rich colors, exquisite trimmings, artificial flowers, and yards of the finest fabrics. The women who wore them went to great effort to make sure that each detail was just right for each [...]

Rosy cheeks: the Victorian way

By | May 27th, 2022|Categories: Fashion, Victorian culture, Victorian Era, Women's History|

One of the first things I do when I put on makeup is to dab my cheeks with a bit of blush. I have always loved the effect and while blush has taken a back seat to eyeliner and contouring more recently, it is still a part of my most basic leaving the house routine. [...]

Victorian and Edwardian combination garments

By | May 22nd, 2022|Categories: Edwardian Era, Fashion, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions|

I love wearing petticoats! Recently I wrote a post about the history of petticoats and discovered that our readers love them as well. I am also a big fan of the history of the corset and its variations over time. It is therefore surprising that I have never done much digging into the history or [...]

Hair combs: practical and pretty

By | April 22nd, 2022|Categories: Accessories, Fashion, Victorian Era|Tags: , , |

A practical and pretty accessory that isn’t as utilized today as it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries is the decorative hair comb. This dainty little device was once seen as an essential part of a woman’s wardrobe, and many antique examples remain today. In fact, while visiting the Molly Brown House Museum [...]

The rise and fall of puffy sleeves

By | April 10th, 2022|Categories: Fashion, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions|Tags: , |

The Victorian era saw many extreme fashions that came and went relatively quickly. I have covered my favorites for Recollections, including the rise and fall of the bustle, which took place in the 1880s. I have tended to focus on extreme styles that emphasized the various trending silhouettes over the years, but there were also [...]