“Soon the knitter herself will visualize a thousand of other ways in which a motif can be used, and so fave at her disposal an exhaustible variety of fabrics. Thick fabrics or thin fabrics, patterned fabrics or plain fabrics, those blazing in colour or decorated with beads, she can make fabric imitated fur (Looped Knitting), Lace, Picot, Filet, or Crochet, and even cloque and woven fabric, by a mere change of technique. Every ornament known to dressmaking can be imitated, even hemstitching and buttons!”

When Mary Thomas wrote this in 1945 in Mary Thomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns when dressmaking was the most common craft women learned. Circular knitting, which she called seamless knitting, was viewed as peasant knitting, interesting historically, but not something most women likely to do. So, comparing knitting to dressmaking was a compliment. In fact, sewing pieces of knitted fabric was taken for granted and Thomas offered the same garment block or garment schematic that we see in dressmaking in the section explaining how to plan an entirely original sweater.

Similarly, Thomas urged her the reader to imagine new ways of patterning a knitted fabric through her choice of stitches. Every section of the book suggests how variations might be introduced to the stitches she explains. She valued the experimentation and imagination which created the stitches she taught and clearly saw yet more to be invented.

You can find this and other Thomas books at Dover Publications: https://store.doverpublications.com/0486228185.html

1892-93 reception dress by H. & S. Pogue Co. Cincinnati Art Museum accession number 1996.385a-b . . . . . . #HistoricalGarments #CostumeDesign #DressHistory #FashionHistory #HistoriaDeLaModa #Couture #HistoricalCostuming #VintageStyle #VintageDress #19thCenturyFashion #1800s #HistoricalCostume #BeadWork #BelleEpoque https://www.instagram.com/p/CqA2suHLPSR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️ #vikingwedding #vikingclothes #handfasting #medievalwedding #nativewedding #handgenäht #vikingcrafts #vikingwoman #vikingmythology #vikinghistory #dresshistory #livinghistory #wedding #vikingweddingdress #vikingtunic #vikingdress #handcrafted #vikingaprondress #vikingclothes #norsemythology #handfastingwedding #vikinglove #love #vikings #vikingstyle #vikinglife #slavicviking #vikingart #vikinger #vikingera #vikingageclothing (hier: Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoolxqUrAtZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Day dress hand-made from block-printed cotton and lined with cotton. Cut and constructed for nursing. 1830 The dress has a shallow wide neckline and long sleeves which are full at the sleevehead and tapers towards the wrist. The sleeve ends are finished with self-cuffs which are cut to wrap over and form a diagonal line, which is trimmed along the outside edge with six tiny gilt-metal, non-functional buttons. The cuffs fasten with hooks and eyes. The front panels of the bodice are decorated over the breasts with a pair of horizontal self-pleats which meet in a V-shape at the centre front. The dress has a slightly raised waist and a full bell-shaped skirt which is gathered into the waist. The hem of the skirt is trimmed with a deep self-flounce. The bodice has a loose panel which could be unfastened at the waist and lifted for nursing. The design of the print sets boldly drawn flower stems, which include marigolds, heather and valerian rendered in pink, yellow, green and indigo, on a vivid madder ground. The fabric was probably printed with indigo and madder by a resist process and overprinted with yellow to form orange and green. #history #museumcollection #antiquetextile #instamuseum #museumoninstagram #antiquecotton #historicaldress #costumehistory #fashion #historicalfashion #historicalclothing #dresshistory #fashionhistory #historicalcostume #fashionhistorian #19thcentury #19thcenturyfashion  #fashionexhibition #fashioncuration #fashionmuseum #dressmuseum #costumemuseum #historyofcostume #historyoffashion #historyofdress Source: V & A https://www.instagram.com/p/CdeE1QlAmOQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Evening Dress 1910s

How wealthy American women--as consumers and as influencers--helped shape French couture of the late nineteenth century; lavishly illustrated. French fashion of the late nineteenth century is known for its allure, its ineffable chic--think of John Singer Sargent's Madame X and her scandalously slipping strap. For Parisian couturiers and their American customers, it was also serious business. In Dressing Up, Elizabeth Block examines the couturiers' influential clientele--wealthy American women who bolstered the French fashion industry with a steady stream of orders from the United States. Countering the usual narrative of the designer as solo creative genius, Block shows that these women--as high-volume customers and as pre-Internet influencers--were active participants in the era's transnational fashion system. Block describes the arrival of nouveau riche Americans on the French fashion scene, joining European royalty, French socialites, and famous actresses on the client rosters of the best fashion houses--Charles Frederick Worth, Doucet, and Félix, among others. She considers the mutual dependence of couture and coiffure; the participation of couturiers in international expositions (with mixed financial results); the distinctive shopping practices of American women, which ranged from extensive transatlantic travel to quick trips downtown to the department store; the performance of conspicuous consumption at balls and soirées; the impact of American tariffs on the French fashion industry; and the emergence of smuggling, theft, and illicit copying of French fashions in the American market as the middle class emulated the preferences of the rich. Lavishly illustrated, with vibrant images of dresses, portraits, and fashion plates, Dressing Up reveals the power of American women in French couture. Winner of the Aileen Ribeiro Grant of the Association of Dress Historians; an Association for Art History grant; and a Pasold Research Fund grant. #fashionhistory #dressingup #dresshistory #costumehistory #vintagefashion #vintagedress #costumedesigner #perioddrama #lifestyle #fashionstyle #historicalcostume #fashionblogger #frenchfashionblogger #fashiondesigner https://www.instagram.com/p/CiiQnqtJphJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

So another dose of corset facts for all of you. Catherine de Medici was known to dress very well and the French always made a fashion statement. . . Visit Website - 👉 https://corsetsnmore.com/ . .

The equally insane foil to that dresshistories shein tweet is one I saw that was like ‘omg guys there ARE other places to get affordable clothes with good plus sized options! Here’s a list!’ So I looked at the list and like 4 options down was forever 21….without a hint of self awareness…

I LOVE GETTING PURPLE MAIL...THANK U FOR A GREAT BOOK CASCI AND CONGRATULATIONS! ALSO, OUR PURPLE BROTHER @TROYGUA IS A CONTRIBUTOR IN THE BOOK! 🌹🙏🏽☮️💜 • • • • • • #Repost from @casciritchie Stopping by to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported the release of On His Royal Badness: The Life & Legacy of Prince's Fashion - it means the world to me! After nearly 5 years into researching Prince's sartorial legacy, writing this book has allowed me to pause academic writing & share a bit of myself & I'm super grateful to @404ink for giving me this opportunity. 📚 The book is available to buy directly through @404ink & other booksellers worldwide 📸 @darkeyedandevil #Princestagram #Prince #OnHisRoyalBadness #DressHistory #FashionHistory #Fashion #Style #Inklings #404ink https://www.instagram.com/p/CSyGB0XM5ejTlzX9Mn9fQjPiLJ3jRcpA0-inz00/?utm_medium=tumblr

Threads of Power: Lace from the Textilemuseum St. Gallen

This well-illustrated book edited by Emma Cormack and Michele Majer accompanied an exhibition at Bard Graduate Center gallery and was named best art book of 2022 by the New York Times. It is a serious study in multiple chapters by various authors covering the rise of lace as an industry in early modern Europe, going through the centuries and the different traditions and countries, up to the modern era. If you are interested in the development of lace, you will find it fascinating. It is being sold at a substantial discount online when I last checked.

Here you see a woodcut from 1556 that offers up a pattern for lace; then a needle-lace and bobbin-lace collar which may be date from 1600 and or 1880, which is the most intriguing dating; a portrait from the chapter on how lace showed up--stiff and regal--in Spanish portraits in the 16th and 17th; lastly bobbin-lace coverlet from Brussels which has palm trees as well as the more common flora.

The exhibition can still accessed online here and it offers many images as well as some video of lace-making: https://exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu/threadsofpower/

1892-95 dress. "The dress is a pinafore style, worn over a matching chocolate-brown silk satin bodice with a high braided gilt collar. The body and upper part of the leg o'mutton sleeves in knife-pleated silk satin with the lower part of the sleeves close-fitting ribbed wool with braiding. Velvet band at the wrist of the sleeves. The sleeves fastens at the wrists with an embroidered brown button with a worked loop." Victoria and Albert Museum accession number T.31&A-1987 . . . . . . #HistoricalGarments #HistoricalCostume #1890s #DressHistory #Historia #HistoricalCostuming #FashionHistory #HistoriaDeLaModa #CostumeDesign #BelleEpoque #Costura #PinaforeDress #FabricManipulation #HistoireDeLaMode https://www.instagram.com/p/CjZLIlhpjV6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Handmade with love ❤️ #thoridsgewandschneiderei #gewandung #selfmade #peplos #history #historylover #historischekleidung #larpcostume #larp #handgenäht #reenactment #mittelalterkleidung #celtic #germanen #kelten #historylovers #dresshistory #etsy #etsyshop #anglosaxon #anglosaxonhistory #medievalhistory #earlymedieval #earlymedievalreenactment (hier: Petersberg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmo_TqmL0Lr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Silk Tea gown, 1898–1901 A woman wore a teagown to receive guests in her own home in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These garments were far less formal and structured that typical day or evening wear, and as a result, sometimes show more creative or unusual inspirations, such as historic or non-Western forms of dress. This example is a beautifully made and decorated teagown, which shows the influence of both Japanese embroidered kimonos and 18th century robes à la française. Interior padding intended to provide warmth and the deliberate choice of a magenta lining which picks up the purple details in the lily motifs are both signs of superior design and workmanship. Furthermore, the asymmetry of the embroidery is in keeping with the Art Nouveau aesthetic. While the maker is no longer known, the smocking of the bodice clearly relates to the distinctive Liberty & Company fashions in vogue during this period, and the store might easily have been the source for this unparalleled example. HAPPY NEW YEAR. #history #museumcollection #antiquetextile #instamuseum #museumoninstagram #antiquesilk #historicaldress #costumehistory #fashion #historicalfashion #historicalclothing #dresshistory #fashionhistory #historicalcostume #fashionhistorian #19thcentury #19thcenturyfashion  #fashionexhibition #fashioncuration #fashionmuseum #dressmuseum #costumemuseum #historyofcostume #historyoffashion #historyofdress #teagown #happynewyear Source: The MET https://www.instagram.com/p/CYJKNbvgiHP/?utm_medium=tumblr

Dress, silk and cotton. 1910s-1920s.

🖤🖤🖤 Exciting news!! 🖤🖤🖤 A little while ago, @timetravellingredhead, a gorgeous professional fashion historian, costume designer, who’s life’s work is 18th century studies, reached out to me with an idea to make a pin series based on her incredible dress designs… “A DreaDFul Galerie des Modes!!” Princesses in all their Rococo glory! OMG. I LOVED IT. - But I simply couldn’t do it!! I have no time! Still, how could I say no!? The 18th century was my concentration for my art history degree!! What’s a gal to do!? The solution was clear. Learn to astral-project to my computer so that I could continue to work while my human body sleeps. - So that’s what I did and here we are! What do you guys think!? Is this a series that should happen?? Do you like it!? I do hope you say yes because astral projection was not easy to learn. Moving a pen while you’re a spirit projection is extremely tricky. - 🖤🖤🖤 The interest poll is up RIGHT NOW on my Patreon page! Link in bio & stories! That’s were the pins will pre-sale too, as well as a few on @ timetravellingredhead ‘s page, so follow along with her too AND check out her EPIC artist statement on her pin page: @redheadpinhead so you can see how much thoughtful creativity went into her amazing dress designs! 🖤🖤🖤 - #ariel #rococo #rococodress #thelittlemermaid #collaboration #collab #disney #disneyfanart #disneyprincess #princess #princessfanart #mermaid #redhead #pinart #fantasypin #arthistory #dresshistory #costumedesign #perioddress #periodcostume #fashionhistory #fashionhistorian https://www.instagram.com/p/CMfWZe5j5OD/?igshid=1jvl73ajquj1e

I need to create one . . . Reposted from @katestrasdin For the @vamuseum exhibition Bags Inside Out, this dress is merely a canvas for the mid-19th century chatelaine with its many attachments to the waistband. The garment is a reproduction, a suggestion of a dress on which the beautifully crafted metalwork is suspended #handbags #chatelaine #19thcenturydesign #19thcenturystyle #19thcenturyfashion #metalwork #mid19thcentury #fashionexhibition #calicodress #fashionresearch #museumexhibition #bagsinsideout #dresshistory #fashionhistory https://www.instagram.com/p/CL2vMwchW6s/?igshid=1g3couumpniyt