Well here we are on the other side and I wanted to say thank you for reading along with my advent stories this year. I so enjoyed the additional participation & inventive extras. I hope that whatever this season of the year brings, you can enjoy some peace, #1920s #KSUMuseum #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Shoes https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/102358

This is a real plum pudding of a dress. It demonstrates beautifully how the mid #1880s dolman style cape/coat/cloak sat neatly above the very obvious bustle of the period, cut shorter at the back with longer lines at the front #TSarrou #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Boxing Day was traditionally a day when servants would be given a box containing gifts, bonuses, and sometimes leftover food. This red and white striped cotton twill dress was worn by a domestic servant in the 1910s. Tees Valley Museums collection. #BoxingDay #fashionhistory

I wouldn’t feel as if it were Christmas if I didn’t share Balmain’s 1955 cocktail dress. I can only imagine how the wearer felt, arriving in this perfect Christmas gown. To all those who celebrate, I hope you are enjoying peace with favourite people. Sold via #KerryTaylorAuct #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Worn #onthisday in 1929 by a member of the Monro family. The ivory satin "Christmas Cake" costume trimmed with ribbon, paper frills, and figures of Santa Claus, robins, and holly sprigs has a hooped skirt and a matching satin beret, a cake board, and a knife. Happy #Christmas from WOTD! 📷 V&A Museum

Cap https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/96466

Day 24 - Frances didn’t know what to wear for Christmas lunch. Knitwear seemed too predictable & tweeds were too dull. She decided that since her favourite film was The Wizard of Oz and her Venus ballgown had only seen the light of day once, she should appear in all her Glinda-ish gloriousness 1/2

Twilight in a dress, the inkiest of velvets that reveals a lighter blue silk lining and broad silk sash to break up the complex folds of cloth. It is one of Dior’s earliest collections, 1948 #NewfieldsToday #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Day 23 - Edward immediately regretted saying that he thought Ethel’s dress was quite an eye watering shade as they took a pre-Christmas stroll. All four of his sisters moved together as one and fixed him with a set of steely glares as they marched past him. 1/2

L Cape or visite, Laferrière maison de couture, 1894-1904, via Palais Galliera. R Left & centre, visite & cape, Charles Frederick Worth, haute couture, about 1890, photo my own at Palais Galliera. #advent #christmas #cape #red

The fabric is described as lavender voile, which sounds as if it could be the name of a 1920s detective. The sheer drapery is decorated with bright pink spangles of flowers and bows, sparkles across pale background #goldsteinmuseum #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

I did a podcast about my new book A Guide to Regency Dress with Dr. Miranda Melcher on @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social newbooksnetwork.com/a-guide-to-r...

Day 22 - Cassie stands on the pavement outside the house. Sounds of merriment can be heard within but she hesitates to ring the doorbell. Snow has begun to fall silently and her velvet coat is perfect for a snow queen at large. 1/2

Day 21 - When the guests had been informed that a tableau vibrant was to form part of the Christmas Day entertainment there was a collective groan. Roger had fashioned a limp Julius Caesar out of a bedsheet and Sally had encased herself in tin foil to make a sadly decrepit robot. 1/2

secure an outfit that would make them stand out. Only the best were used, such as Worth, who made numerous outfits for the event. He made this dress for the hostess, who went as the Queen Zenobia of Palmyra (the capital of a 3rd-century empire state in modern-day Syria). The

Behind the clouds there is always a little sunshine. The view from my garden this morning made me think both of that particular truism and then of this mid #1930s ribbon cape by Charles James, rays of light between the grey #VandA #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Day 20 of my Edwardian #AdventCalendar is this c. 1903 afternoon dress made from red-orange dotted cotton voile. The bodice has a blouson front and a cream lace yoke with a band collar. Museum at FIT collection. #fashionhistory

Day 20 - As the doorbell rings once more, Betsy tucks herself further into the space beneath the lounge window and holds her breath. Her plans for the evening revolved around a gin fizz and a good book. 1/2

#Ootd is incredibly unique. It's a 1890 Worth costume made from an 1780 men's waistcoat. I've never seen anything like it! It also reinforces the narrative that after the great male renunciation, 1700s men's fashion was seen as effeminate, with its bright colors, elaborate

Day 19 - The competitors line up at the top of the hill and assume the correct starting positions. The snow that had been falling steadily over recent days has now stopped and the slope beneath is glistening with icy crystals. Enid is confident. 1/2

American actress Minnie Maddern Fiske was born #OnThisDay in 1865. She wore this House of Worth embroidered gold satin, lace and net dress in the 1901 play, Miranda on the Balcony. The Wheat Dress is embellished with seed pearls and rhinestones. National Museum of American History #fashionhistory

#Ootd is this 1905 Worth bodice. It was especially references the early 1600s fashion as depicted in Flemish portraits, like those of Van Dyke, for whom collars and hems ending in saw tooth edges are named. Hence, the black taffeta and lace collars and cuffs. #fashionhistory

Day 18 - Celia fears the worst. She has arrived at the party ill prepared for the games that are apparently a tradition of Charles’s festive family get togethers 1/2

Certain images just stick on the mind and this is one of those for me. Partly it is the strangeness of #1830s silhouettes and partly the depth of colour but it is one of those memorable garments whose age makes me smile #museumatFIT #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Hand-sewn patchwork quilt, believed to have been worked on by the Brontë sisters #womensart

Day 18 of my Edwardian #AdventCalendar is Queen Maud's pink silk evening gown, dating to c. 1907. The silk tulle on the bodice and sleeves is embroidered with metal thread and glass beads, and appliquéd silk rosettes decorate the hem. Nasjonalmuseet collection. #fashionhistory

Day 17 - Anticipating Uncle Frank’s annual regaling of ghost stories by firelight, Marjorie has donned her grandmother’s wedding dress and veil. At the denouement of the tale she glides into the room but immediately realises she may have been a bit too authentic. 1/2

American actress and model Milla Jovovich was born #OnThisDay in 1975. She wore this Pierre-Yves Gayraud designed 18th century inspired pink and gold hooded gown as Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers (2011). Sold via iCollector. #film #costume #dress

One of the most exciting developments in dress history in recent years is the ability to access high quality images. This mid 1860s moiré silk is captured across time, recording different mannequins & transition from black & white to glorious technicolour @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

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#Ootd is a bright spot for your day- a 1894-5 Worth evening dress. This dress, made for Mrs. Franklin Gordon Dexter, an American client, used of silk satin, orange piping with rose and bow motifs, ivory lace, and passementerie (decorative trimmings). Her favorite color was orange

It is a cloud of an ensemble, an embellished tulle sculpted into a form fitting cocktail dress on the one hand & an all enveloping coat on the other. The flowers bloom in a burst of trimmings & embroideries like floral fireworks. Pierre Balmain, 1959 #PalaisGalliera #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Not the best pictures, but here's another Worth tea gown with historical influences, this time from 1896. The back features a sack-back or a robe à la française with long pleats forming a cape. Contrast this to the very loose, unfitted front. #fashionhistory #ootd #palaisgalleria

A fashion plate fitting for Jane Austen's 250th birthday! Woman sitting on a chair reading a book. She wears a white dress trimmed with muslin, a straw hat hangs on her chair. Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien, 10 septembre 1812. #dresshistory #regencyfashion #janeausten #19thc

Day 16 - It is the day of the Christmas court presentation. Harriet has donned her finest white muslin and is sporting a fashionably knotted turban. She is feeling fabulous. Then who should she see but her arch nemesis Lady Caroline on the arm of that bore Lord Henry. 1/2

#WinterWeddingAdventCalendar Day 16: Lucy Webb married future President Rutherford B. Hayes in Cincinnati, OH, on December 30, 1852. A guest described her "white-figured satin dress, simply tailored with a full skirt pleated to a fitted bodice" and "floor-length veil, fastened with orange blossoms."

Day 15 - Peeping through the makeshift curtain, Gillian can see that the audience (friends and family) are seating themselves looking a little bit bewildered. They had arrived under the impression that this was a night of carolling and carousing. 1/2

We’re excited to share our new main catalogue, making it easier for you to find and request the majority of our published collection. We’ve also launched an interim version of our Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue. Find out how to start searching and requesting on our website bit.ly/BLNewCatalogues

🎁 A festive undergarment to brighten your day. Brocaded silk, 1740-60, via Museu del Disseny. #advent #christmas #underpinnings

This is such a sleek gown, Emile Pingat taking inspiration from elaborate 18th century menswear and creating an #1880s reception gown, complete with embroidered waistcoat effect and cut away jacket in rich reds and creams @shelburnemuseum.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

It takes a moment to appreciate details of this rayon crepe dress. The bodice includes a cutout centre front & mother of pearl buttons decorating the sleeves. The polka dot stripes are mirrored by a matching knotted neck scarf. Martha Weathered #1930s @chicagomuseum.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

This weekend, Chicago is supposed to be freezing 🥶, so I'm looking longingly at this 1901 Worth evening coat. made of green velvet and (sadly) polecat fur, which is a type of weasel. Actually, the coat was made by Charles Fredrick's son, Jean-Philippe, after his death in 1895.

Kimono mini-dress, Rudi Gernreich, USA, 1963. Via The Museum at FIT here: fashionmuseum.fitnyc.edu/objects/1092... #advent #christmas #dress

Day 14 - The ice skating party scheduled for this fine and frosty morning has come a cropper. It is neither fine nor frosty. Nor icy for that matter. Mabel is nothing if not determined and so, donning her rollover skates, she skims around to the assorted invitees 1/2

Now, we move on to Worth's historical creations. As I've said before, Worth was very knowledgeable about fashion history, which greatly aided him in his famous fancy dress creations. He was the elite's go-to for when there was a costume party. Even women going to the same party

Day 13 - As Estelle raps sharply on the door of her mother’s house for their Christmas Eve soirée, she turns to see George closing the door of the motor. ‘George, you did pick up the parcels didn’t you?’ she calls as he walks towards her. ‘Parcels? Didn’t see any’ he replies with a shrug 1/2

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Day 12 - Valerie decides that she is aiming for a ‘Sexy Snowflake’ with her velvet drape & feathers drifting around her legs. She arrives in the hall & surveys the competition. A few elves, a droopy looking Christmas tree & a perspiring Christmas pudding 1/2

British designer Jasper Conran OBE was born #OnThisDay in 1959. He designed this black silk and viscose devoré velvet bias-cut evening dress in 1996. The black-on-black foliate design was achieved by contrasting the matte black with the deeper black pile. V&A collection. #fashionhistory