The Farmer’s Wife magazine: elevating the rural woman

By | April 3rd, 2021|Categories: 1920s fashion, American West, History of the home, Old West, Pioneer Dress, Women's History|Tags: , , , |

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 [...]

Celebrating Easter in times of yore

By | April 3rd, 2021|Categories: Edwardian Era, Holidays, Victorian Era Celebrations|Tags: , , , |

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 [...]

Women's History Month Roundup

By | March 22nd, 2021|Categories: Women's History|Tags: |

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 [...]

100 years of women's hairstyles: 1830-1930

By | March 19th, 2021|Categories: 1920s fashion, Fashion, Roaring 20s, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions, Women's History|

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 [...]

As American as apple pie: The 1939 World's Fair World of Fashion

By | March 13th, 2021|Categories: Fashion, Women's History|Tags: , , |

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 [...]

How straw hats became shabby chic

By | March 5th, 2021|Categories: Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Fashion, Hats, Regency Era, Victorian Fashions|Tags: , , |

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 [...]

An interview with Joanna Syrokomla of Murdoch Mysteries

By | February 26th, 2021|Categories: Edwardian Era, Entertainment, Fashion|Tags: , , , |

Joanna Syrokomla on set I recently had the opportunity to have a fun chat with Joanna Syrokomla, the costume director for Murdoch Mysteries. Joanna has been in her role since season 12 and is as in love with her job as ever. As a new fan of the show and of course as a fashion [...]

Are Bridgerton costumes Regency? Fashion historians weigh in

By | February 20th, 2021|Categories: Entertainment, Fashion, Regency Era|Tags: , |

Last week we started to unveil our new Regency fashion pieces. I started to explore the basics of what constitutes “Regency dress” and why we love it. This conversation very easily gives way to the hot topic in costuming and historical fashion right now: the Netflix series Bridgerton and how it got the clothing right [...]

Let's talk about Regency fashion!

By | February 15th, 2021|Categories: Accessories, Fashion, Regency Era|Tags: , , , |

We love Regency fashions and are so excited about releasing an entirely new line of styles from the early 1800s for you this week. This, and the fact that we know how much our fans love Bridgerton helped me to decide to do a short series on Regency fashion fun. In today’s first post, I [...]