At first glance this appears to be a very conventional robe à la française, a #1750s riot of florals and rococo swirls. Peep closer and you can see that the ribbon motifs are actually leopard print, a trend that never wanes #museumatfit #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

George III & Queen Charlotte married #OnThisDay 1761. Charlotte's wedding gown was so elaborate and jewel-studded that it tugged down her ill-fitting bodice. Horace Walpole remarked 'the spectators knew as much of her upper half as the King himself.' A fashion disaster! #queencharlotte #18thcentury

Love these 😍 I've been writing about Charlotte's depictions in visual and material culture during her reign...may have to give these a mention! #queencharlotte #18thcentury

I do love a pinked edge and a complex sleeve. This is a favourite, the detail of a #1760s lightly sprinkled floral brocade gown, pleated and ruffled in primrose yellow @chertseymuseum.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Fashion satire is illuminating. It shows those very exaggerations which we find curious today were subject to critique in their own time. Here late 1820s/early 1830s is on show through a blue carriage dress a cartoon by William Heath @ngvmelbourne.bsky.social @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Bowie knew that the 18th century is cool 😎

Redolent of a summer meadow teeming with colour and life, the high blue sky behind, this blue brocade gown was worn as a wedding dress by Helena Slicher in 1759. Such gowns were a canvas on which to show off the skill & expense of the brocade weavers’ art @rijksmuseum.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Attending George II's coronation in 1727 wasn't cheap. Lady Foley was said to be spending more than £400 on new robes, though one correspondent suggested there was a reason for the extra outlay: 'she will want indeed for her circumference some more yards of velvet and ermine than other ladies'

#OTD 1752, Britain went to bed like usual. But when they awoke, it was ‘eleven days later’ on Thursday 14 September. Find out why...👇 @georgianlords.bsky.social

Dinner dress, British, 1824 Look, I don't entirely know what to make of this, but its gotta be the most festive dress I've ever seen. A lot of historic influences at play, and the red, white and holly give it a really fun, mid-Winter vibe. #fashionhistory #ootd #dresshistory #TheMet

Me, every time I start a chapter or article: This is a big word count, I definitely won't need to use it all. Me, half-way through writing: Hmm, I have more to say about this than I thought... Me, when I'm done writing: Okay, this is fine. Really, I only need to shave off 4000 words...😭

On this date in 1771 the Sèvres porcelain manufactory delivered a dinner service of 322 pieces to Madame du Barry. It was decorated with the floral cypher "D B" in the center of the well of the plates and with swags and urns; here's a soup bowl from that service now in the Art Institute of Chicago.

A man's night gown, 1690-1720, Dutch or English; of Chinese blue silk damask, 1650-1700 (V&A Museum, London)

Me, every time I start a chapter or article: This is a big word count, I definitely won't need to use it all. Me, half-way through writing: Hmm, I have more to say about this than I thought... Me, when I'm done writing: Okay, this is fine. Really, I only need to shave off 4000 words...😭

#OTD 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act received royal assent. Last year our Public Engagement Assistant @joempbaker.bsky.social looked into the specifics of the act, and why it was necessary 26 years after the passing of the 1807 Slave Trade Act:

Apparently it's International Dog Day, so here's a close-up of one of Queen Charlotte's pooches who was tragically cropped out in the cover of my book (oops!) #queencharlotte #18thcentury #arthistory #dogsinart

(Sir) Robert Walpole, subsequently earl of Orford, was born #OnThisDay 1676. A member of a Norfolk parliamentary dynasty, he emerged as 'Prime Minister' in the 1720s and retained his place until 1742 when he was sent to the Lords. For many, Walpole sums up the best and worst of 18th-century politics

Fellowship from Bloomsbury for early career academics who are Black, Asian or Ethnically Diverse: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/...

What a wonderful thing! William Kent’s Royal Barge, now at Greenwich. Made for George II in 1732.

There were so many shelves with a variety of fashion accessories in this museum. My eye was quickly drawn to what looks like to me the iconic early #19thc pineapple reticule! (cc: @julieinstitches.bsky.social @nemgarrett.bsky.social) #RegencyFashion #dresshistory

#skystorians 🗃️#archives

***CALL FOR PROPOSALS*** Routledge Studies in #18thC Cultures & Societies (eds. @profelainechalus.bsky.social & Deborah Simonton) seeks proposals for book-length studies on aspects of British, European, or transnational culture and society c.1680-1850. Full details: www.bsecs.org.uk/news-and-eve...

A circa 1765 Sèvres biscuit porcelain small figure of a young girl (La Fille au Nid) holding a nest containing two birds, the figure standing on a square base. Not marked, but probably modeled by Falconet. Sweet, a fine addition to a table setting to replace the sugar sculptures of the time.

This pair of brocaded silk shoes, made ca. 1760 by Thomas Ridout, betrays not only signs of wear (in eg the heel soles) but the kind of deterioration that occurs with metal-weighted silks over time as they simply shatter. Footwear Friday! www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... 🗃️🪡

Couples fashioning together in matchy matchy harmony, coordinating beautifully for a #1770s occasion. The embroidered stomacher finds its echo in the cream embellished waistcoat of her partner, a feature of an exhibition charting the history of the colour pink #museumatfit

New AHRC Doctoral Focal Award PhDs aimed at candidates based in the Scottish Highlands & Islands to develop in-situ research capacity. "A Golden Thread: Crafting the Creative Economy from Scotland’s Highlands, Lowlands & Islands’, aims to strengthen Scotland’s craft sector..." tinyurl.com/tkx7b66z

#hairgoals eighteenth-century style...

2/2 Spirited woman. Spirited dog! Still in the era of big hair with Mrs. Elisha Mathew, being painted by Sir Joshua again.

The Archers (no, not those Archers!): Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney with all their dead animals in 1769. Immortalized by Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose day is today.

The #BastilleDay edit:

There was a resurgence of interest in the baroque during the #1840s, often manifested through the reuse of cloth. This brocade dates to the mid c18th, recycled into a fashionable evening dress eighty years later #ksumuseum #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Enamel card tray (Bilston, c1770) #c18th #c18 #18thc

Elizabeth Bennet walked to Netherfield with her petticoats 6 inches deep in mud. Who cleaned them? I wish I could see this exhibit about Jane Austen's Working Women - including some real-life ones who inspired her. #Austenesque

🎉We're delighted to announce that the 2024 essay prize has been awarded to: Sarah Moxey For her essay on the Motherwell By-Election, 1945. With proxime accessit awarded to: @chloechallender.bsky.social For her essay on women's modes of entry to the early 19th century Parliament. 🧵1/4

Lots of new upgrades at Belfast Intl Airport but still no self-service bag drop 🙄 Queued for 40mins on Fri to drop off my case, just 3 desks open for all EasyJet flights. Such an unnecessarily stressful travel experience #belfastairport #travelstress

My first roundtable podcast and it was so fun! Thank you @amyjanieh.bsky.social and @royalstudies.bsky.social for the invitation 👑 #royalhistory #18thcentury

The latest Royal Studies Podcast episode is out! Join @amyjanieh.bsky.social for her conversation with @nemgarrett.bsky.social, @wromantichistry.bsky.social and @rosalindfreeborn.bsky.social about (fictional) representations of regency royalty.

#OTD 1625 Charles I and Henrietta Maria were married. Find out the attitude of MPs and peers towards Henrietta Maria and how she faced heavy comparison to other female monarchs👇 ow.ly/8VLJ50OzL3Z

IHR Tudor & Stuart seminar news: it's time for our annual call for papers! If you'd like to speak to us in the coming academic year, full details below. Get in touch with any questions or if you would like to be on our mailing list. Please RT.

Quite satisfying when your current reading material lines up so well with a local exhibition. Really enjoyed the exhibition on James VI at the Portrait Gallery here in #Edinburgh 🎨 Well worth a visit if you're in the city between now and September #historysky #royalhistory #arthistory

Call for Papers: 'Charles Ignatius Sancho: A Black British Man of Letters and His World' conference. Deadline for submissions 14 July 2025. Conference will be held 13-14 March 2026 at Northeastern University, London: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

This #1760s stomacher is a riot of floral abundance, spilling out from the confines of its triangular shape to the pink mantua that surrounds it, a masterclass in hand stitching #thekyotocostumeinstitute #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Quite satisfying when your current reading material lines up so well with a local exhibition. Really enjoyed the exhibition on James VI at the Portrait Gallery here in #Edinburgh 🎨 Well worth a visit if you're in the city between now and September #historysky #royalhistory #arthistory

Died #OTD 1727, George I. The first monarch of the Hanoverian dynasty, a much-debated question has survived since his reign. Could he speak English? historyofparliament.com/2019/06/06/c...

A portrait of Horace Walpole’s parents Sir Robert Walpole and Catherine Shorter in a frame carved by Grinling Gibbons; Horace kept this in a bedroom at Strawberry Hill and it now hangs in the reading room of the Lewis Walpole library in Connecticut.

It was so fun to chat with the @napwarspod.bsky.social team about #QueenCharlotte 👑 We had a great talk about the impact of George III's mental illness on their marriage & on Charlotte's own mental health, as well as the public scrutiny faced by royal women. #18thcentury #historysky #royalhistory

If you have published your first book in women's or gender history in 2023 or 2024, please do consider putting it forward for the Women's History Network Book Prize. It's open to all who live in the UK or are affiliated to a UK university. womenshistorynetwork.org/whn-annual-b...

Book prize klaxon! 📣

Favourite historic dress 🥰