Better Counseling through Costume Books
People rarely ask me for advice, but if they did, I’d be ready! (At least as long as they limited their questions to the area of recommendations on costume history books. And I… Continue reading
Category Archive: Historic Clothing
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Putting Herself in the Picture
Last week, in one of my favorite used book stores, I found the book Women’s Worlds: The Art and Life of Mary Ellen Best 1809-1891. Mary Ellen Best was a professional artist active… Continue reading
Textile Highlights at Centre Charlemagne in Aachen
Along with our visit to Aachen Cathedral and Treasury, we also visited the Centre Charlemagne. I had been hoping that this museum would focus on the life of Charlemagne, but it is more… Continue reading
Aachen Cathedral Textile Treasures
Last week I got to tag along on my husband’s business trip to Düsseldorf, Germany. We had one day available for a side trip, so I picked a place I have wanted to… Continue reading
Ohio Merchant’s Inventory from 1847
While hunting online for our ancestors’ records, I have been searching through collections of digitized microfilm pictures. I have been lucky; many of them have already been indexed, making it easy to go… Continue reading
Ladies of the Clipper Ship Prima Donna
One of my ongoing topics to research is the history of sails. Lately, I came across these 19th century clipper ship cards, that are just too good to keep to myself. Only the… Continue reading
Costumes for “Good Times” at the Hippodrome
Today I am bringing you a fabulous description of theatrical costume production, in an excerpt from the 1920 Dry Goods Economist: One thousand dozen boxes of thread, 500 dozen boxes of sewing silk,… Continue reading
Does Your Marriage Suffer From Clubitis?
As I have been sorting our family archives, I have been finding little fashion and culture tidbits like this trade card: Tellingly, it was kept in the family, not because anyone aspired to… Continue reading
Women at Work 100 Years Ago
Poring over images from the New York Public Library digital collections today, I came across these great costume designs by Will R. Barnes. They were labeled “Women at Work: ‘Doing Our Bit’.” I… Continue reading
Greek Costume Dolls
As the downsizing continues at my mother-in-law’s house, I am bringing home boxes and boxes of photo albums and souvenirs to sort through. Not only did I find these five souvenir dolls from… Continue reading