Costume College Teaching Thoughts

January 18, 2012 Costume College

I’m trying to decide what to offer to teach at Costume College this year.  Here’s a bunch of ideas — I’d love to hear feedback on what sounds interesting!  Some ideas are fleshed out, some are still rudimentary… Social History of Hair in England, 1770s-1820s The changes in English hairstyles from the Georgian to the [...]

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Golden Globes Fashion Drive-By Post

January 17, 2012 17th century

How much did I love Andrea Riseborough’s gown — an updated 17th c. dress by Vivienne Westwood?  SO MUCH!

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Lucas de Heere 16th c. costume illustrations

January 11, 2012 16th century

Researchers of 16th century English costume are probably familiar with Lucas de Heere’s sketch of middle and lower class London ladies (discussed here, higher resolution image here).  It’s an important source, given that de Heere is documented as having actually BEEN in England when it was drawn, and it shows the common people.  Most images [...]

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12th Night, a New Dress, Sarah’s Laurel, and possibly more!

January 9, 2012 16th century

This past weekend was 12th Night for the SCA West Kingdom, and my super good friend Sarah received the Laurel award!  The Laurel is kind of like a lifetime achievement or master-level award in the SCA for arts & sciences; she received her’s for costuming. Sarah asked me to be an attendant in her ceremony, [...]

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For all those making Titanic-era dresses…

December 16, 2011 20th century

… for the upcoming anniversary!  I just wrote an article on early 1910s evening attire for the GBACG newsletter, and as part of my research I went through all the issues of Vogue from January to March 1912 to see what trends would be up to the minute.  Unfortunately, I ran out of room to [...]

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Digital Collections – Quick Update

December 14, 2011 digital collections of extant garments

Added a few new links to the Digital Collections of Extant Costume, all marked with an asterisk (*).  I wanted to give a particular shout-out to Hana Marmota, the Dreamstress, and Sabine for their help in tracking down online collections from Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, and the US!

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Champagne Fancy Dress: Undies Edition

December 1, 2011 1886 fancy dress "champagne"

So I am forcing myself to go back and do a retrospective dress diary for this project, just for documentation purposes! If nothing else, I’m glad I made it because it forced me to FINALLY make myself a new corset.  See, waaaaay back in college lo those many years ago, when I first started really [...]

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