By the end of the Victorian Era, society was changing so fast that some people had a hard time keeping up, much less accepting it. From a cultural standpoint, the first two decades saw advances for women that were more rapid than the Western world had ever before seen. The status quo held on tight [...]
Queen Latifa as Hattie McDaniel in Hollywood If you haven’t already seen the Netflix miniseries Hollywood, I strongly recommend binging it this weekend. It is a retelling of the “golden age” of Hollywood that seeks to imagine how things could have been different if it had started off on the right foot in regards to [...]
Last week we took a look at three modern mermaids and their audacity that helped pave the way for us to frolic on the beach today. One of these women was Annette Kellerman, the famous water ballerina. Another was Esther Williams, who would play Kellerman in the biopic about her life. Million Dollar Mermaid covers [...]
Last week we covered the bathing machine and how women in prim and proper Victorian Europe and America enjoyed a day at the beach. The demise of the bathing machine led to the quick transition to co-ed sunbathing as more women demanded more public space. Opening up the shores to women was followed by more [...]
I don’t know about you, but to me, it feels like a decade since the last summer. Having the pandemic hit in the middle of winter and summer has made carefree days of warm weather seem like a far off dream, and it feels so good to know that it is fast approaching. So, let’s [...]
Spring is here and summer is fast approaching. While 2020 might not include family reunions, street festivals, and out of state vacations, there is still the opportunity to get out safely and enjoy nature. My own COVID-19 schedule includes daily walks in my Denver neighborhood with various exercise routines at a local park. As I [...]
In my last blog post, I explored the light side of smuggling in the Victorian Era and the innovative ways that female entrepreneurs took full advantage of their women’s-only clothing to advance their position in the marketplace. During my research, I encountered many stories of Victorian women using their skirts for a different purpose: Civil [...]
Offer a name for our nameless lasses We have over 500 dresses and gowns on our website. Most of them have been named, such as Tilly, Sophronia, Daisy, Desidera, etc. There are some orphan dresses who have never been given a name and this is your chance to name them. Below we have pictured the [...]
How Women Used Their Skirts to Smuggle Goods in the Victorian Era When I covered the rise and fall of the bustle in a post late last year, one of our readers brought up a good point. The extra space under the skirts of the popular dress styles of the mid to late 1800s would [...]