From Fops to Dandies: The Art of Making an Entrance in History

By | May 18th, 2025|Categories: Fashion history, Revolutionary War era, Victorian culture|

Author: Christine Skirbunt Modern men’s fashion is often dismissed as plain or predictable, especially when compared to the kaleidoscopic shifts in women’s clothing every season. But history tells another story – one in which men once used fashion as a form of rebellion, identity, and spectacle. When they entered a room, they were never aiming [...]

Flappers and Pharaohs: The Egyptian Revival of the Roaring Twenties

By | March 21st, 2025|Categories: 1920s fashion, Fashion history, Roaring 20s|

Author: Christine Skirbunt When British archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922, little did he know the impact his find would have on the world. Almost overnight, a wave of “Egyptomania” swept across fashion, design, architecture, and even pop culture. From the glitzy beaded gowns of flappers to bold Art Deco [...]

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 [...]

Seeing red: colors in the Victorian era

By | November 3rd, 2023|Categories: Colors in the Victorian era, Fashion, Fashion history, Victorian Era, Victorian fashion, Victorian Fashions|Tags: , , |

Red is one of the most striking colors and one of the colors found most in nature. It is especially ingrained in humans with it being the third color that babies recognize. Throughout history, it has also been considered the most alluring, with it showing up as a symbol of sensuality in ancient times and [...]

The history of cottagecore

By | October 26th, 2023|Categories: Fashion, Fashion history|

Cottagecore has been one of the biggest trends in “aesthetics” in the past few years and it doesn’t look like it will be a short-lived craze. The interest in the look for both home design and fashion is growing. The look emphasizes history, simplicity, and nature. Recollections is happy to now be offering clothing based [...]

A short history of thrift stores: from Charles Dickens to today

By | October 14th, 2023|Categories: Fashion history|

A lot of people head to thrift stores to get ideas for Halloween or add just the right unique touch to their costumes. Our customers enjoy thrift stores and antique shops because they provide a fun treasure hunt to discover pieces from the past that one may never even think to look for. The history [...]

Four fashion icons and the history of lipstick

By | September 5th, 2023|Categories: 1920s fashion, 1950s Fashions, 1950s fun, Fashion, Fashion history, Victorian culture, Women's History|Tags: , |

I love to wear lipstick and do so almost every day. Occasionally I notice that in casual settings I am the only woman doing so, but there is something about it that makes me feel like “me.” Coloring one’s lips has a history that goes back thousands of years, with it signifying different meanings entirely [...]

Edwardian women in black and white

By | August 19th, 2023|Categories: Edwardian Era, Fashion history, Women's History|

I am a fan of Edward Linley Sambourne and I didn’t even know it!  During my time as a women’s history researcher and blogger, I have used Sambourne’s photography multiple times, never realizing the source. I think because photography was emerging as such a popular medium during the Edwardian era I assumed that the plethora [...]

What's a woman's wallet, really?

By | August 15th, 2023|Categories: 1950s Fashions, Accessories, Edwardian Era, Fashion history|Tags: |

“Keys, phone, wallet…” like many of you this is my leaving-the-house mantra. I also almost never leave the house without my sunglasses, but I typically have those already on my body before I repeat the mantra. Like sunglasses; phones and wallets are things women have carried with them for less than a hundred years. When [...]