Toilettes by Mme Brรฉant-Castel, 58 1/2 Rue St. Anne. Redingote of unbleached-linen-colored taffeta, with scalloped edges, trimmed with a thick piping of lilac taffeta; the redingote is open in front over an undergown of lilac taffeta, edged with a narrow box-pleated flounce; this undergown is not a full gown, and is made of two pieces … Continue reading La Mode Illustrรฉe, May 14, 1865
Category: 19th century
La Mode Illustrรฉe, April 1864
This plate, taken from La Mode Illustrรฉe in April of 1864, shows four "novelties" available at the Magasins du Louvre in Paris.
What’s the Deal with the Great Male Renunciation?
This is a concept I've had issues with for a long time. I don't tend to think about it (as I prefer to think we've moved past it as a field), but a couple of weekends ago it came up in a paper at an event I was attending and I started trying to formulate … Continue reading What’s the Deal with the Great Male Renunciation?
The Robe ร Transformation
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
In Defense of Embroidery
Embroidery is routinely used in historical fiction to represent women's oppression. And I ask, why? And what if it weren't like that?




