Nobody freak out, but I’m going to try to start blogging again! These days, so much of the conversation around historical costuming happens on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, but I and some other costumers have been discussing how much we miss reading. Blogs allow for longer content, are easier to find and refind, and crucially for those of us who just can’t get into videos, are easy to SKIM. Oh how I love skimming!
So with that in mind, expect some Actual Posting around here. I’ll try to keep up with my current projects, but also go back and discuss some projects I never blogged. I’ve been thinking about what else I can contribute to the historical costuming conversation, and realized that one of my specialities is research. Professionally, I’m an academic librarian who works with history and fashion students, and I write academic research in the history of dress (so far, peer-reviewed journal articles, but I’m working on a book). Furthermore, I think that with so much online content, many may not know just how useful and crucial books can continue to be to your knowledge of historical costume — both the aesthetics of fashion but also their cultural context, as well as cut and construction. Given that my area of expertise is the 18th century, I thought I’d start off with a discussion of the books that I consider core to my bookshelf for this era. This is just a start, I’ll do some future posts on more specific areas of eighteenth-century fashion.
Continue reading “Building Your 18th Century Costume History Bookshelf”
