The mighty Roman Empire is the stuff of legend. Tales of Roman conquests endure to this day. Indeed, the Romans were quite the trendsetters of their day. Their fashions were heavily influenced by the civilizations with which they interacted. These included the Egyptians and the Greeks. And like any rapidly growing empire, the Romans absorbed […]
Tag: history
For decades, sunglasses have not only protected our eyes from the glaring sun but have also cemented themselves as staples in the fashion industry. From the beaches of California to the runways of Milan, sunglasses have evolved, embodying the spirit of each era while offering a glimpse into the wearer’s persona. Among the myriad of […]
François Echalier is a historical costume enthusiast. On his Instagram account, people can see impressive costumes from different eras that will leave you literally “bouche bée”. We wanted to learn more about him, and he was kind enough to give an interview – originally in French, of course. How did you start being interested […]
Formal clothing options have always been geared towards one particular choice for men – the suit. On first impressions, many people would argue that the suit is a rather plain and boring piece of attire. However, its long and fascinating history says otherwise. From the initial concept of court dress in the 17th century through […]
Fashion is a fascinating field. The history of fashion and the resulting culture are extremely interesting and contain many oddities that one may not necessarily expect. Here is a list of 18 fascinating fashion curiosities that will make you be surprised, giggle and raise an eyebrow. #1 The world’s longest wedding dress had a […]
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What are Chatelaines?
Chatelaines were a type of very popular jewelry item in the past, but have taken a back seat (to put it mildly) as purses and other items appeared. A chatelaine is described as a decorative belt hook or clasp that was worn by both men and women at the waist and featured a series of […]
The Schembart Carnival (lit. bearded-mask carnival) began in 1499 in Nuremberg, Germany. Soon after, it became very popular and a strong draw until 1539, when it ended. The event was canceled due to the complaints of a preacher who had a strong influence in the community. Osiander was offended by the fact that his effigy […]
The Mechanical Curator of the British Library is a tool that was designed to extract images from old books that have been digitized. The software was created a few years ago and, soon after it was put to work, it has extracted over 1 million images. These images feature everything and anything from maps and […]
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Fashion and Cultural Education
In fashion, the concept of “cultural reference” is a very common one. Almost every other collection, especially these days, references an old culture or takes inspiration from traditions and established aesthetics. Thus, when one learns about fashion and style, it is extremely important to learn about visual culture and to make sure that one adds […]
The 18th century saw the peak of the Age of Enlightenment. This was focused very much on reason (in various forms, some of which we don’t really use today), but also on values such as liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity and more. These values were all based on the (re)discovered idea that humans had power over […]
When analyzing the history of fashion and art, one will discover that each period of time had a specific color palette that was strongly tied to the events of those times and, of course, to the mentalities those events created. The 1930s were in many ways a decade marked by troubled spirits and […]
When thinking of embroidery, most people think, of course, about models and patterns sewed onto clothing in order to embellish them. What many people don’t know is that in history, embroidery was used not just for clothing and textile accessories, but also for books. The British Library Database of Bookbindings holds a superb collection embroidered […]