I think that a post on historical fashion goes well with the month of Halloween. This is often the route for those of us not interested in ghoulish costumes. Last year my sisters and I dressed in the fashion of a decade of the last century for Halloween.
My love of historical fashion began with an obsession with pioneers as a child. All thanks to The Little House Books and the computer game Oregon Trail, of course. I had sunbonnets, aprons, "calico" dresses, etc.. My sister and I had a few American Girl dolls, and we loved pouring over the American Girl catalog every time it came.
Then came the Jane Austen period. I'd never known about the historical fashion period between the huge dresses of the Colonial and the Civil War eras. I was fascinated by all the costumes in the JA movies, and later, all the reproductions from bloggers and Jane Austen festival attendees.*
While I don't make historical clothing myself, I do still appreciate the work of others.
Someone pinned Angela Clayton's work on Pinterest, and I've been following her blog ever since. Her historical fashion work is stunning.
Lily at Mode de Lis posts quite a bit of retro inspired clothing as well as a few Colonial and Regency dresses.
I found this interesting video via another blogger's link post. The re-enactors show all the layers and pieces an upper-class 18th-century woman wore. So many layers and tools for the correct form. And people pinned their clothes on!
If you love pouring over and analyzing the historical costumes of period films, check out this archived blog.
*Speaking of Jane Austen, I think I'd seen someone mention this game, but thought it was the board game I played years ago. After another blogger posted the link to this hilarious video of the LBD cast members playing the game, I realized it was a different and far more clever game.Labels: Historical Fashion, Links