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 [...]
We welcome Spring this week with this caption contest. Your caption can be funny, thoughtful, or even a poem. Our panel of judges will choose from the entries to determine the winners. Each winner receives a $50 gift coupon to use on regularly-priced merchandise at our website! Enter your caption by midnight PT on Wednesday, [...]
There are starting to be some warm days mixed in here and there with those that are still too chilly to enjoy being outdoors. Spring is upon us and the end of the frigid temperatures is in sight. In Victorian times, the end of winter meant that garden parties and picnics would soon be following, [...]
Jane Austen wrote stories and poems to amuse herself and her family from a young age and eventually compiled 29 of them into three bound notebooks. These volumes provide a little glimpse into the author she would become. The “stories are full of anarchic fantasies of female power, licence, illicit behaviour, and general high spirits,” [...]