Last week I wrote about the Victorian home workout and the various attitudes about female exercise of the time. I included illustrations from exercise 19th century fitness manuals which showed women performing various exercises in their full proper dress of the time; corsets, petticoats, and all. Clothing had not yet evolved to a point where [...]
I recently had the great opportunity to sit down with Travis Spangenburg, creative and production manager for the American Prohibition Museum in Savannah. We had a memorable chat about why the Prohibition Era is such an important part of our country’s history and how the museum is keeping its memory alive. As a Prohibition enthusiast [...]
It may seem highly modern, but did you know that Victorians enjoyed home workouts? Women especially were encouraged to exercise at home, petticoats and all. I have gone digging and have uncovered several early exercise manuals for women. They reveal a lot about 19th-century culture, and attitudes on health and women. Plus, they are quite [...]
Summer is here and it is sure to be the best many of us have ever had. It will certainly be a lot more carefree than last year, and that means a lot of time outdoors with loved ones. Last summer I did a fun series on the history of beach culture in America and [...]
You might think that you can purchase any and all things you might be able to think of through your Amazon Prime app. A hundred a fifty years ago this is what people were thinking as they turned the pages of the recent Sears catalog. But instead of a few taps, sought-after items were requested [...]
The trees have all sorts of blossoms adorning them here in Denver. It is one of the things I love most about living in an area that has all four seasons the way that this city does. Spring can bring to mind so many memories and nostalgia, can’t it? One thing that apple blossoms brings [...]
How useful is a painting for deciding whether or not to buy a dress? Or to describe today’s fashion trends? I’d say, it probably wouldn’t be all that effective. For many centuries women have favored multi-dimensional images over flat paintings or drawings for viewing clothing. From the 1300s to the 1800s the elite throughout Europe [...]
The long-awaited summer has me thinking about trips to Golden, CO, exploring new mountain towns, and being outdoors. And because of my other interests, it got me thinking about Wild West shows, especially that of Buffalo Bill, given that his museum and grave are in nearby Golden. As a performer, what he accomplished was impressive. [...]
Last week I wrote about what I believe is the unrecognized fashion gem of the 1950s: the housedress. I find it so interesting that women placed so much emphasis on having new, pressed, stylish dresses to wear around the house and for errands each day, yet we often leave it out when discussing the fashion [...]