We are on day 43 of continuous rain here in the South West of the UK so I am sending out this yellow #1880s Liberty gown as a blast of sunshine to brighten the endless sogginess @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova was born #OnThisDay in 1881. She designed this pink silk cloak trimmed with white marabou to wear in the divertissement ‘Christmas,’ that premiered in New York in 1916. London Museum collection. #ballet #costume

Pumps https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/96986

A #1920s Fortuny ensemble which showcases the genius of the design process, creating rainbow shades of pleated gowns over which a range of outer layers could be mixed and matched @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Stole https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/97079

Another evening gown from the 1800s, but slightly earlier. Here is an 1869 evening gown with pink stripes and red accented bows- fashionably trendy for the late 1860s' emphasis on trimmings and light silks. It's like a striped #Valentine! ❤️ #ootd #fashionhistory

Over a century after the original couture house of Worth opened its doors, the London off shoot was still producing garments. This two piece late #1950s evening ensemble was designed by Owen Hyde Clark #VandA #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

For #ValentinesDay coming up, I'm going to do a series of pink or pred dresses this week. First up is this 1880s velvet-and-damask gown with a satin bodice embroidered with faux pearls and gems. Appropriately, it was deaccessioned by the Valentine Museum in Richmond, VA, and

Evening dress https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/100718

Florals are in short supply at the moment, grey & grizzly here, so how about some millinery? Aage Thaarup is one of the makers featured in my forthcoming book Dressing the Queen, the Danish designer a firm favourite of Queen Elizabeth’s in the 1950s. ‘50s & ‘60s hats #VandA #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Pumps https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/98281

Essential reading: “It’s true that [garment workers] living in very bad conditions, but I want to show their strength also. Because it is from their strength that we get hope. I don’t want to show them all the time as victims, I want to show them as fighters.” thewire.in/south-asia/i...

A swish of old Hollywood glamour here with the exuberant costume that was designed by Travis Banton for Claudette Colbert in the 1934 film Cleopatra. Zesty satin in pleats and swags, Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

A bleaching field, Adriaen van de Venne, c. 1620 - 1626 (British Museum)

There is no shying away from a bold pattern here, a #1770s silk robe à la française glowing in blue with the creamy floral pattern across the surface. It is easy to see why textile design was so highly prized with such an expanse of cloth. Whittaker Auctions, #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Worn #onthisday in 1918 by Virginia Bradfield at her #wedding to Harold Ward in Detroit, MI. Per the @freep.com, she wore "a Lucile model of white tulle and silver, the skirt modeled on rather short lines, the tulle veil which enveloped the girlish figure forming the train." #OTD 📷 The Henry Ford

Here's another Worth coat for you all...well, a cape. This 1888 orange velvet cape has metallic braided borders that also stream from the shoulders. It shows Worth's love of exquisite, luxury fabrics. Also, look at the orange and yellow silk lining! #Fashionhistory #ootd

If I wore this I can’t help feeling I would have an overwhelming desire to spread my arms wide and run around making plane noises but childish fancies aside, what a stunner of a #1920s velvet and lamé cloak by Jeanne Lanvin. Collection unknown, anyone?? #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

American actress Lana Turner was born #OnThisDay in 1921. She wore this Walter Plunkett designed 19th century inspired pale gold satin two-piece dress, with pleating and tassel details to the bodice, as Marianne Patourel in Green Dolphin Street (1947). Sold by Christies. #film #costume

Strolling through Richmond Park yesterday I was imagining equestrians past and imagined habit clad figures trotting across the heathland. This is a smart cotton late #1820s riding habit for the stylish sporting gals #FashionMuseumBath #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto was born #OnThisDay in 1944. He famously created stage costumes for David Bowie, including the black polyurethane 'Tokyo Pop' jumpsuit with exaggerated wide legs that was worn by Bowie as Ziggy Stardust in 1973. V&A collection. #fashionhistory

It was clever of the dressmaker responsible for this early #1850s ensemble to choose green silk fringe as a trim. The shot silk, a warp and weft of different colours, shimmers between green and purple with some hazy shape shifting, @jbrightcollection.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Lithuanian Olympic uniforms by Issey Miyake for the 1992 games in Barcelona. This was Lithuania's first time in the Olympics after gaining independence from the Soviet Union. Fabric was cut and shaped using heat, not scissors or sewing machines.

And here we end the @PalaisGalliera's Worth: The Inventor of Haute Couture exhibit. In 1952, Roger Worth retired after the house merged with the House of Paquin two years earlier. Both houses ended their couture line in 1956. The house was then sold to various other brands, but

Just taking a moment to breathe an enjoy the roses of Ann Lowe and her trademark appliqués, fabric florals that she had perfected at a young age when she helped with her mother’s dressmaking business. This gown, mid #1960s #NMAAHC #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Only TWO WEEKS until Andrew O'Neill brings the 'History of Punk' to The 100 Club for No Sweat! From the MC5 to Crass and beyond, it’s a high-velocity masterclass followed by a heavy-hitting panel feat. Chumbawamba & The Restarts. 🎟️https://wegottickets.com/f/15360

Ordinarily I associate the creations of Jean Dessès with bright colours and swags of soft fabric so this is unexpected. However, I have long loved a grey suit and this ensemble is crafted to perfection, early #1950s #LACMA #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Trimming https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/100446

Apparently French designer Marie Louise Bruyère was not that keen on Dior’s post war ‘New Look’. Here in 1947, though, is her full hipped ballgown, perhaps reminiscent of c18th France and a different period of excess @ngvmelbourne.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Worn #onthisday in 1938 in Elsa Schiaparelli’s couture show in Paris. She called the "Circus Collection" her "most interesting" and "most chic" work. It was widely copied by US retailers. Artist Marcel Vertés designed the "shocking pink" silk chiffon print. #OTD 📷 Google Arts and Culture, V&A Museum

This late #1890s gown has a very soothing symmetry. Each element is mirrored by its opposite counterpart and I imagine (completely randomly and with no evidence) a quiet efficiency on the part of the wearer #historicdeerfield #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Before we end the #PalaisGalliera 's Worth: Inventor of Haute Couture exhibit, I am going to do a few posts showing some other non-outfit posts that the museum had on display. One such incredible collection of items was these sketches of Worth's fancy dress costumes from #VandAMuseum.

Button https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/97625

Always modern, Claire McCardell wanted to be inventive with her garments. Here she has chosen a beige nylon, crystal pleated in shimmering ripples with an adjustable empire line tie sash, 1950, #museumatFIT #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Worn #onthisday in 1900 by Austrian actress Grace Palotta, in the role of "lady journalist" Daisy Dapple in the musical "The Messenger Boy" at the Gaiety Theatre in London. #OTD 📷 V&A Museum

There is a chameleon like quality to the shifting green of this plain weave silk, the shot taffeta neither one shade nor another depending on the light. Then there is the magnificent stomacher peeping beneath gold lacings. #1740s splendour #LACMA #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Tickets now available! www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/...

Yves Saint Laurent had big shoes to fill when he unveiled his first collection at the head of Dior. This is look 150, Rose Rouge, from the Spring/Summer 1958 launch. It does enfold the wearer in its petals of silk @ngvmelbourne.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Visiting dress https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/96204

Vest https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/99266

A dress for a diva with a gorgeously pearl encrusted costume made in the #1880s for the Spanish Italian opera singer Adelina Patti. It was created by Parisian firm Morin Blossier, a team of sisters designing costume and couture for many famous clients #V_and_A #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Worn #onthisday in 1915 by Olive Booth at her #wedding to Dr. Sydney Jones in Balmain, Australia: a duchesse satin gown with a Limerick lace tunic and an embroidered court train. Tragically she died 18 months later from complications following the birth of their daughter. 📷 Canberra Museum & Gallery

Italian fashion designer Maria Grazia Chiuri was born #OnThisDay in 1964. For her first Dior couture collection in S/S 2017, she designed this ivory, lavender, yellow, and pink pleated synthetic tulle "New Junon" dress, inspired by the A/W 1949 "Junon" gown. Met Museum collection. #fashionhistory

Jessie Franklin Turner was an early pioneer of that period of American sartorial ingenuity. This late #1930s tea gown showcases her thoughtful adaptability, a garment that could be customised to the wearer in a flow of peachy silk @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Socialite, heiress, and fashion icon Millicent Rogers was born #OnThisDay in 1902. She was photographed for Vogue in 1939 wearing this Schiaparelli black silk evening jacket with metallic gold chain link and rosette embroidery executed by Lesage. Met Museum collection. #fashionhistory

#Ootd is this 1926 gold lame evening gown with a silk flower bejeweled with rhinestones and beads. It was entitled "Nuit de Chine" and was said to have probably been worn by an American client, although I don't know how @PalaisGalliera made that deduction. #Fashionhistory

Dress https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/96012

Jaguar-print suit and hat worn #onthisday in 1966 by Barbra Striesand (sitting in front of Richard Avedon) at Coco Chanel's couture show in Paris, France. It was reported that she borrowed her black tie from her husband, Elliott Gould, and wore a silk shirt made by his tailor. #OTD @gettyimages.com

This March sees the opening of Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A. Her 1930s designs are always spectacular and this is a bright and brilliant purple crepe from Fall 1939. The gloves from the same collection match the gown #visitpham #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

#Bridgerton S4 is here! I could write a 175-part thread on Georgian masquerades, but to save time here's a portrait of Queen Charlotte and her two eldest sons in costume as a Turk and Telemachus: