I’ll be speaking about the very object featured below - the Le Vacher machine - and how mothers in Georgian England used devices like it to 'straighten' children’s bodies. #HistMed #MaterialCulture #MedicalHumanities #18thCentury

Join me tomorrow for the #18thcentury conference of #cossoc25 As guest speaker I will be talking about cleanliness, virtue, fertility and women’s fashion. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-sha...

The @costumesociety.org.uk online conference starts in just under 1 hour. We will be focusing on aspects of dress in the #18thcentury beginning with our highlight speaker @fourredshoes.bsky.social tickets still available www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-sha...

What a beaut! Congratulations @fancyhistorian.bsky.social I can’t wait to read it! #18thcentury

I can’t wait for our big Georgian conference to start next week! 🤗 ticket details below … #cossoc25 @costumesociety.org.uk #18thCentury

We are in the process of working our way through HUNDREDS (no exaggeration) of fabulous CFPs. If you have submitted a proposal for #BSECS2026, we will be in touch on or before the ***15 October 2025*** to let you know if you've been successful. #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

I’m looking forward to joining you next week with a fabulous paper all about #18thCentury fashion, pregnancy and motherhood. #history #pregnancy

Our next seminar is Tuesday 7th October at 17.30 BST. Amy Wilson will be with us to present '‘Good’ Mothers and Fashionable Dress in Eighteenth-Century Elite Culture'. You are welcome to join us in person or online. Details are in the link. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Come and join the team!

What did #18thcentury women wear when they were pregnant? What did a ‘good’ mother look like? Which fashion was both patriotic and recommended by midwives? For the answers to all these questions join me at the #IHR on 7th Oct archive.history.ac.uk/events/good-...

📢 Session 3 of the Society’s Conference ‘In the Shadow of the Georgians’ 25/10/25 2-5pm with @amywilsonstorey.bsky.social Joanna Jarvis, Sally Tuckett, Javier Gileno Martinez @clairebatt.bsky.social Details & tickets costumesociety.org.uk/conference

📢 'In the Shadow of the Georgians' online conference tickets now live - international speakers explore many aspects of dress 1714-1815 Full details of the conference programme costumesociety.org.uk/conference Tickets at eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-shado…#fashionhistory#cossoc2525

Congratulations #brunelmuseum.bsky.social on your new display including Marc Brunel’s silver shoe buckle’s beautifully conserved with support from the #CostumeSociety #18thC #eighteenthcentury

I will be talking about ‘good’ mothers and #18thC fashion as guest speaker at the Costume Society’s annual #conference Ticketing open now www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-sha...

Today should have been the deadline for #BSECS2026, but we are extending it by a WHOLE EXTRA WEEK! Share your research with us @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social, 7-9 January 2026 by sending us your proposals before MONDAY 22 SEPTEMBER #skystorians #18thC 🗃️ www.bsecs.org.uk/conferences/...

Thank you #V&AEastStorehouse for the exciting opportunity to #orderanobject today. It was a treat and an honour to research this truly beautiful mantua gown in person. #eighteenthcentury @V&AEast

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present The Fashion Museum dress of the year 2021 was by Giorgio Armani + worn by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex for the CBS tv show Oprah with Meghan and Harry. Meghan was 6 months pregnant, the lotus motif was chosen to represent rebirth.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present Queen Charlotte 1767 by Francis Cotes - In this portrait Queen Charlotte holds her 4th child princess Charlotte while she was pregnant with her 5th child Prince Edward. She wears a white silk sacque gown with lots of gold brocade

Join us next Wednesday (14 May) in room 243 of Senate House or online for our annual Lightning Talks event. This is our seminar’s flagship event where we hear rapid-fire three minute presentations from early-stage PhDs about their dissertation research. www.history.ac.uk/events/light...

ICYMI: Our seminar recommences tomorrow night with @drangelamuir.bsky.social presenting her paper ‘Forced Abortion in England and Wales in the Long Eighteenth-century’. Join us in person at the IHR in our regular room or online from 17:30! www.history.ac.uk/events/force...

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present 1921 catalogue of maternity uniforms for nurses. Two dresses on the right have an elasticated waistband, but there is no adjustment to the length of the front hem. None of the models are visibly pregnant.

Gilded heels! pair of shoes, 1870ies

This yellow #18thCentury ensemble from the @skmuseo.bsky.social features a delightful #QuiltedPetticoat and was reportedly worn by a newly married woman. It seems fitting to post on a sunny spring day: finna.fi/Record/museo...

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present Henrietta Maria after Sir Anthony Van Dyck 1636 pregnant with her 6th child. Her pose emphasises the shape of her maternal body.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present Anne, Lady Pope with her children by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. This 1596 portrait shows how elite Elizabethan women dressed when pregnant. Pearls were a symbol of fertility and appear all over Lady Pope’s gown.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present In 2021 Ellie Goulding gave an interview to Vogue and the Telegraph in which she explain how she valued the opportunity that lock down provided to keep her pregnancy private.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present A scene in the New farce called the rivals or a Visit to the Heir Presumptive - In March 1819 baby Prince George was born heir to the British throne this lasted 2 months until his cousin Queen Victoria was born 8 weeks later.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present Saskia van Uylenburgh in Arcadian Costume, 1635 by Rembrandt depicts the artists wife while pregnant. In 2020 the National Gallery London makes no mention of her pregnancy in their interpretation label. #nationalgallerylondon

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present This c.1900 maternity corset from the collection at the V&A Museum London has side laces to adapt to changes in body shape / size and poppers over each breast to facilitate breastfeeding.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present 1943 US ad for maternity shirts. Focus on utility, comfort and discreet pregnancy concealment. A subtle hint that the left shirt was designed to fit changes in bust size. #WW2 in UK pregnancy meant extra clothing rations.

If you're looking for news from fellow historians, try our Starter Pack of #History societies and networks go.bsky.app/68FsvjY. With 100+ organisations working for history, it offers information on events, funding and campaigning for our discipline and profession: UK, Europe & RoW #skystorians

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present Venus by Claire Partington, 2015, ceramic figurine. Here Venus encompasses symbols of The Madonna and Hindu mother Goddess Parvati and #21stC ‘every woman’. There are symbols of birth and death and the passage of time. #pregnancy

It was a treat to join @zwhitehistory.bsky.social at #BSECS2025 and talk all things pregnancy and fashion for The Napoleonic Wars Pod #18thcentury #maternalbodies open.spotify.com/episode/6YGK...

This Friday, January 31st at 6pm EST, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell explores the controversial and extravagant fashion during the reign of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette in 18th-century France in a Virtual Fashion Week 2025 event hosted by The National Arts Club. Register here:

We are very excited to announce the #cfp for our #PGR #ECR conference on 'Facades' - 30/31 July at Bath Spa University Please send 250 word abstract + short bio to [email protected] by the 21 March 2025 Full details for screen readers in the thread below 1/5 #BSECS2025 #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present A rare photo of Princess Margaret in 1961 when pregnant with her 1st child. Her flowing dress covers the detailed shape of her maternal body and pleating of the fabric could move and adapt to her changing shape.

📚🎉📚 Huge congratulations to CECS member Dr Alison O’Byrne on the publication day of her book, The Art of Walking in London: Representing the Eighteenth-Century City, 1700-1830 from @cambridgeup.bsky.social ‘Elegantly written, well-researched, and highly engaging’ and with a gorgeous cover. #18thC

Interesting #CFP for anyone interested in the history of fashion, dress and textiles.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present 2022 ad for Seraphine maternity-wear. Shockingly it is standard today for non-pregnant models to pad their bodies for maternity clothing ads. This is therefore not actually a maternal body at all but it “kinda” looks like one

Can’t be repeated often enough ‘The UK’s creative industries are vital to the economy. Valued at £124bn, they are worth more than the life sciences, aerospace and automotive industries combined. Arts and culture alone contribute an impressive £34.6bn.’ on.ft.com/42hzVmL

We are four scholars whose work in some form deals with corporeality and being in the premodern period (early #medieval to #earlymodern). We are unhinged about our work. Check us out and feel free to email us details about your events and CFPs for our events page. #AcademicSky bodiesandbeing.com

If you had a great time at #BSECS2025 & would like to play a more active role in our society, we have a vacancy for Assistant Treasurer. Council members get subsidised attendance at the conference + some travel & accommodation expenses #18thC #skystorians www.bsecs.org.uk/the-society/...

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present When Lucille Ball became pregnant in 1952 she persuaded producers to incorporate her pregnancy into storylines of I Love Lucy. She was one of the 1st pregnant women on US TV. (But the words pregnant /pregnancy were never used.)

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present A 1962 ad for Mothercare. The ‘hand on belly’ maternal arm positioning is both protective and communicates a pregnancy to others. Meanwhile peaceful animals symbolise maternal values, nurturing+natural mothering instincts.

🏴‍☠️ Pirates at the National Maritime Museum opens on 29th March ‘Arrr!’ I can’t wait!! www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/nat...

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present ‘Naked Portrait 2002’ depicts a pregnant Kate Moss and is the work of Lucian Freud. A film about Moss & Freud and the making of their portrait is currently in post-production.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present Today we have this 1934 advert from Lane Bryant in New York. Their maternity clothing was designed to ‘conceal the condition’ +their collection includes maternity corsets. The woman pictured does not have a visibly pregnant body.

Very sad to see #FenwickBondSt gone 😢 As a student I worked part time at #FenwickNewcastle and the Bond St store was so revered. The Chanel Christmas decoration is a nice touch

Welcome to #maternitymondays A weekly look at #maternalbodies and #pregnancyclothing past + present. What’s changed? What’s stayed the same? Mollie King - 8 months pregnant. King’s high neck / long dress makes her maternal body harder to distinguish, but her posture brings her bump into focus.

#MaternityMondays #maternalbodies #pregnancyclothing past + present In 2018 the British Army introduced the first ‘Multi-Terrain Camouflage’ uniform for pregnant soldiers + officers. Prior to this standard issue was a smock, but many had a mens size MTC uniform adjusted to fit instead 🪡🧵