Last weekend I picked up the April copy of Real Simple. The theme for the issue is naturally, spring cleaning. It got me thinking about how this tradition has been around for so long and wondering how much I could find in Victorian household manuals on the topic. I am also striving to use more [...]
How many pieces of detachable neckwear do you own? Easy answer, right? Well, in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, both women and men may have owned as much neckwear as we own earrings or hats today. In an era where clothing was largely handmade and held onto for years, neckwear was a great way to [...]
When I met with Murdoch Mysteries costume designer Joanna Syrokomla earlier this year, I asked her about her favorite women from history and she mentioned Emilie Flöge, particularly for her fashion sense. Always curious about trendsetters from the early 1900s, I read up on Flöge and quickly became a fan. She was an early female [...]
I think that I could look at old copies of The Farmer’s Wife Magazine all day long. They are an idyllic time capsule of the past, and of a yearning on behalf of so many Americans to hold onto a way of life that was slowly becoming obsolete. It is also fascinating to see the [...]
Happy Easter, everyone! All of us at Recollections hope that you have a beautiful weekend and we thank you for being readers and customers! Easter is a pretty holiday, isn’t it? Pastels, baby animals, painted eggs, and chocolate, what’s not to love? While a lot of the mainstays of the holiday have stayed firm through [...]
One thing I love about writing for Recollections is that it gives me the opportunity to write about female figures from the past, and that our readers love it. Women’s History Month is always a fun time for me and I want to make sure to recognize the fun that our customers have had with [...]
We are in an era of “do what you want” when it comes to women’s hair. I think that it is just as common to see a woman wearing a full up-do or otherwise styled hair as it is to see one with a ponytail and no prep at all. But it certainly wasn’t always [...]
Fashion today is largely presented to the public by showing how it looks on live humans. But it wasn’t always that way. Before the 1900s, mannequins, dolls, and drawings were used to give buyers an idea of what the final product would look like once on. The first fashion show is believed to have taken [...]
Does anyone else feel that it has been a long winter? It really is great to have the sun shining and to know that warmer days are ahead. It has me thinking about afternoons in the sun and relaxing under wide-brimmed hats with Aperol spritzes without a care in the world. All of this daydreaming [...]