This weekend I have been hard at work preparing a presentation for Historic New England titled: The Dress Reform Movement: Who, What, When, Where, and HOW. One of the points I love making in my presentations is that the radical nature of the bloomers and the public outcry that they caused when they momentarily returned to [...]
I have often seen references to "Irene Castle Corticelli" in my research for Recollections blog posts but didn’t know much about the woman behind the brand. I love studying the lives of women related to the fashion industry of the 1910s and 1920s so have had her on my list for a while. I was [...]
I recently gave a presentation on women and the Victorian bicycle craze and explored the way that women’s fashion was examined as the popularity of the bicycle. At the end of the presentation, I touched briefly on the next craze on wheels that hit the public, the automobile. I showed a selection of images from [...]
The 1910 and early 1920s is one of my favorite periods of fashion history. It fascinates me that women’s fashion took such a drastic turn from the strict silhouette looks of the Victorian era to long, loose, sleek lines. I love the creativity of the era. And naturally, I LOVE anything art deco. Yet still, [...]
Because I know so many of our customers love costuming, I have wanted to write a post on the early history of sewing patterns for a while now. Little did I know that the printed pattern industry can be traced back to the innovations of a forward-thinking activist who stood at the top of a [...]
I have had a lot of fun exploring nightclothes from the past for the blog this year. And as always, I am a true lover of all things Victorian. As such, the topic of Victorian wrappers has been on my mind for some time. I love that they mimic the shape of the popular dress [...]
Can you imagine going from function to function with just a small pouch for your things? In the Edwardian era, that is exactly what women did, and they made sure to make a statement even with a tiny bag attached to their wrist. Handbags, reticules, and pouches weren’t as prominent in the Victorian era as [...]
I recently wrote a blog post on Victorian nightgowns and found them so fun to look at. I love the idea that so much thought and care was put into garments that wouldn’t be admired by many people. And of course, there is the simple fact that so much of what women wore in the [...]
Last year I wrote about the history of the cape and how it has come and gone through fashion history. I noticed that during the Victorian era, one’s opera cape held great significance and that they were grand sights to behold. A post about Victorian and Edwardian opera attire has been on my mind ever [...]