Author: Christine Skirbunt A Ritual in Green Taking a delicate sugar cube, you place it on a slotted spoon, balancing the spoon atop a glass filled with a beautiful green liquid. Slowly, you then pour ice-cold water over the sugar cube either via a carafe or a small tabletop fountain and watch as the clear, [...]
Author: Christine Skirbunt March is Women’s History Month and, while we sing the praises of an often-well-known repertoire of already famous woman, Women’s History Month includes the history of some lesser-known-but-no-less-important infamous women. Women who defied their times and stood their ground outside of traditional norms. Thus enter the English Highwaywomen. While highwaymen are among the [...]
Author: Christine Skirbunt Valentine’s Day is near and no other day on the calendar captures the essence of romance like that conjured by February 14th! The connection between Valentine’s Day and love has its modern roots stretching back to the Middle Ages. Fast forward to the modern era and you will find that from its [...]
Author: Christine Skirbunt They arrived by ships from all over the world and once they disembarked, they did so for a permanent life in a new land. They came via dirt trails in long wagon trains. Some walked alongside the oxen. Some sat in the rickety wagon. Others arrived in wicker baskets with latched tops [...]
Imagine a sweltering summer day in Victorian England. It is not a difficult stretch of the imagination today as we push through August, but in the 19th century, with the burden of heavy clothing and without the convenience of air conditioning, relief was more difficult to find than today. One of the joys were street vendors [...]
True, Victorian blouses are a common sight in period films and TV series, but did you know that they weren't in vogue throughout the Victorian era? They emerged in response to the Victorian Dress Reform movement. Tired of the discomfort of bustles, hoop skirts, and painful corsets, women gradually adopted a more refined corset. The [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]