Crimes of Fashion: The Civil War Hoop Skirt Smugglers

By | May 9th, 2020|Categories: Civil War, Victorian Era, Women's History|Tags: , , , , |

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 [...]

Name that Dress! contest = 6 $50 Winners

By | April 7th, 2020|Categories: Contests and Games, Entertainment|Tags: , |

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 [...]

Crimes of Fashion

By | April 4th, 2020|Categories: Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , |

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 [...]

Caption this! Welcome Victorian and Edwardian Spring 2020 and win $50

By | March 21st, 2020|Categories: Contests and Games, Edwardian Era, Fashion, Recollections, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions|Tags: , , |

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, [...]

How to host a Victorian picnic

By | March 14th, 2020|Categories: History of the home, Victorian culture, Victorian Era|Tags: , , |

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, [...]

The Many Adaptations of Jane Austen's Emma

By | March 13th, 2020|Categories: 19th Century Literature, Regency Era, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , |

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,” [...]

Pasadena Celebrates 2020: Jane Guthrie Interview

By | March 4th, 2020|Categories: Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Recollections, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , |

Jane Guthrie is an art director from Manhattan Beach, CA. She and many others came together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the USA at the 2020 Rose Parade. The passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granted women the right to vote. Jane piqued our interest through photos [...]

Romance in the post-war years: Episode 3 of A Very British Romance

By | March 3rd, 2020|Categories: Entertainment, Roaring 20s, Valentine's Day, Women's History|Tags: , , , |

I was sad to see the final episode of the BBC’s charming docuseries, A Very British Romance, come to an end with its third episode. I am also a buzz with all of the fun things that I learned about the world of romance and courtship as we know it today, and how some of [...]

The Fun History of the Poodle Skirt

By | February 29th, 2020|Categories: 1950s Fashions, 1950s fun, Fashion, Women's History|Tags: , , , , |

If you closed your eyes and imagined an outfit from history that says “fun” the poodle skirt might come to mind, right? After all, it does have large, fluffy dogs applied to the outside and is meant to swoosh perfectly to rock and roll tunes or lay perfectly when sitting at a soda fountain counter. [...]