On BlueSky, there's a bot account that uses the Metropolitan Museum of Art's API to auto-post objects from the Costume Institute collection that are listed as open access. (There are quite a few of these accounts, for different Met departments as well as for other museums.) I like to check in on it every so … Continue reading The Robe ร Transformation
Category: 1850s
HSM 2016 Challenge #4: Gender Bender
The Challenge: #4, Gender Bender. I know what you're thinking, but if we go back a few decades drawers were really controversialย for women - they simply didn't wear bifurcated garments. So even though I'm not aware of the attitude that drawers were inherently gender-bending still existing in the middle of the nineteenth century, I'm counting … Continue reading HSM 2016 Challenge #4: Gender Bender
HSM 2016 Challenge #2: Tucks and Pleats
Last year at my museum's Civil War Weekend, I was not very well kitted out. I had a decent corset, a good cage from Kay Gnagey (worth the money, by the way), a secondhand dress that fit perfectly, an 1840s chemise that's too tight under the arms, and a knee-length 1950s-style crinoline I used as … Continue reading HSM 2016 Challenge #2: Tucks and Pleats
Re-evaluating C. Frederick Worth
While there are some (many) times that I suspect my gut reactions of being contrary simply for the same of being contrary, at other times my contrariness seems to lead me in the right direction. I've been writing about lesser-known contemporaries of Charles Frederick Worth since 2014 (see my first post on the subject, regarding … Continue reading Re-evaluating C. Frederick Worth
From Hoop to Bustle: 1856-1875 (HSM #1)
(For a while I intended to join in on the Historical Sew Monthly 2015, using it to put together an outfit for a Halloween wedding, but I realized that the themes were not lining up exactly with what I needed to sew. Before I thought I might participate properly in '15, I came up with … Continue reading From Hoop to Bustle: 1856-1875 (HSM #1)
