Material Culture, Dress and Fashion History
Modern and historical descriptions of Queen Anne (r. 1702–14) have left us with the caricature of an overweight, awkward and prudish woman whose court was unattractive to artists, courtiers and politicians, and whose reign was marked by ill-health and an over reliance on her court favourite Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.[i] The general Whig picture… Continue reading Queen Anne: Dowdy and dull, or early 18th-century fashionista?
I've decided to launch a YouTube Channel where I will be talking about all things early modern dress, fashion and material culture. I've just released my first video on my top 5 books for those wanting to make 17th-century dress. https://youtu.be/_ubdtSEiXVg?si=8uwFzwoJHdLsILIs Please like and subscribe!
Sew with me! 1650s English bodice and gown reconstruction tutorial and notes.
A question I see pop up often, and one that continues to spark much debate in online costuming communities and between historians of dress is: Did early modern women wear anything under their skirts? If so, did they wear drawers? Susan North's recently published book, Sweet and Clean?, is one recent scholarly text that has… Continue reading Did Seventeenth-Century English Women Wear Drawers?
Quilted petticoats in England and America are usually attributed to and discussed in the context of the eighteenth century. This is likely due to the fact that all the earliest surviving quilted petticoats (to my knowledge) date from this period. Quilted Petticoat, c. 1740-60 (made), 1870-1910 (altered), British. Victoria and Albert Museum, T.430-1967. I am… Continue reading Quilted Petticoats in the Seventeenth Century
Very excited to announce that my book Shaping Femininity has a cover image and pre-order links! See below for details! About Shaping Femininity In sixteenth and seventeenth-century England, the female silhouette underwent a dramatic change. This very structured form, created using garments called bodies and farthingales, existed in various extremes in Western Europe and beyond,… Continue reading Shaping Femininity Book Cover and Pre-order!
In order to understand early modern undergarments, it's also vital to understand the outergarments that were worn. In order to better educate myself I've recently been going through some of the engravings done by seventeenth-century artists, particularly the Bohemian Wenceslaus Hollar who worked extensively in England, and Abraham Bosse, a French engraver. I love, love,… Continue reading Looking at 1630s English Fashions through Wenceslaus Hollar’s Ornatvs Mvluebris Anglicanus