Kate Strasdin

Front view of a pink gauzy crinoline dress with a layered skirt and pale silk bow at the waist. It has layered sleeves and gathered bodices

Front cover of my book The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes

A page of textile swatches from Anne Sykes’s dress diary from the mid 19th century

An early start for London, en route to guest lecture at New York University’s UK campus. I’ll be talking to students about The Dress Diary as a case study of nineteenth century practices. #1850s dress #KelvingroveArt #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Princess Alexandra of Denmark married Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, at Windsor Castle #OnThisDay in 1863. George Housman Thomas created this study of the bride’s white silk satin wedding dress, made by Mrs James of Belgravia, for a larger painting. Royal Collection Trust. #royalwedding

Front view of a calf length long sleeved blue dress with a self coloured belt. It has a wide collar and cuffs of multi coloured crochet stripes

Back view of the blue 1930s calf length dress that shows how the collar and cuffs appear from the back

A closer detail of the bodice of the 1930s blue dress which shows the clear tailoring of the dress and the bobbly crochet stripes of the collar

The sleekness of the blue dress with its clean lines sits against the colourful addition of a crochet collar and cuffs. The #1930s interest in craft written onto the fabric of this gown #goldsteinmuseum #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth, 1948

Bag
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/100298

The back view of a long sleeved long skirted dress in a vibrant pattern of purple waves and yellow flashes. Ruffles and pleats add to the effect of the textile

A partial view of the bodice of the 1830s purple patterned dress showing gathering centre front and a shawl style collar

Only in surviving garments can we appreciate the full technicolour of c19th dye experiments. This late #1830s mohair dress used a pioneering pigment innovation called cudbear developed in Leith, Scotland, resulting in this wildly colourful pattern @NtlMuseumsScot #kelvingrove #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

To end our orange week, #ootd is this 1923-4 silk chiffon velvet evening gown. In contrast to yesterday's gown, it has a unfitted, low-waisted silhouette, accented with a high, straight neckline and small straps. Yet, it also has the same elegance and demure, both in a lovely

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Ferdinand Coudert, 1962

Bag
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/102046

Front view of an emerald green silk halter neck pantsuit with wide draped sleeves, a scarf at the neck and a tie sash belt

Back view of the dermal green pantsuit that shows a cocoon style coat drape at the back that scoops and narrows towards the ankles and is wider and looser at the top

A black and white photograph of the designer Halston in a roll neck sweater and a pale suit standing with Liza Minnelli who is wearing the green pantsuit

For a seventies queen, Liza Minnelli wore this brilliant green pantsuit by Halston to Studio 54 for a charity event. Here she is with the man himself looking absolutely glorious. Mark Payne collection, photo by Al Rendon, on display #ellennoelartmuseum #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

This Women's History Month and International Women's Day we're highlighting one of the most important women in the IHR's own history - Eliza Jeffries Davis. Jeffries Davis was a historian (and librarian!) who played a pivotal role in the founding of the IHR.

A long sleeveless cream satin ballgown decorated with gold trelliswork and floral embroidery

A black and white photograph of women embroiderers from the 1940s working for Norman Hartnell. Two women are working at a frame in front of them beading a piece of silk

An embroidery sample showing a spray of flowers created by Hartnell’s embroiderers for the coronation gown of Queen Elizabeth II

Happy International Women’s Day! Acknowledging the hands of countless women in the needle trades through the lens of the women in Norman Hartnell’s embroidery workroom. Their legacy survives in the glittering gowns they embellished. Dress 1950s #RCT #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Dassah Saulpaugh, 1962

Shawl
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/96816

Happy #InternationalWomensDay Founded to investigate science, literature and antiquities, @ria.ie encouraged debate between scholars of diverse background & interests so long as they were male. Our blog, 'Skirting the issue', looks at the first women of the Academy www.dib.ie/blog/skirtin...

#Ootd is this 1934 orange velvet evening dress with a spectacular back clip bejeweled in rhinestones. The long fluid lines are characteristic of the 1930s, as it emphasized the feminine curves of the figure instead of the androgynous boxy silhouette of the 1920s. #Fashionhistory

A long pale pink dress with black and silver floral sequin embellishments around the décolletage. I t has a matching coat with long hanging sleeves lined in black

Back view of the long pink coat and dress ensemble that shows the drama of the long hanging sleeves an the black and silver floral sequin embellishments around decorating the back of the bodice of the coat

A black and white photograph of the pale pink dress and coat worn in the mid 1950s

The Fontana sisters designed this dramatic ensemble for Ava Gardner in the 1954 film The Barefoot Contessa, a confection of black and pink and sleeves and collar for maximum impact. Dreamy….. @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Joan Crawford won the Oscar for Best Actress at the 18th Academy Awards held #OnThisDay in 1946. She wore this Milo Anderson designed three-piece acid green silk boucle skirt suit in her winning role as Mildred Pierce. Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design #Oscars #costume

Gift of Mrs. F. W. Russell, 1942

Bertha
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/101133

A green satin structured sleeveless evening dress with contoured fitted bodice and a high low hem

Few words this evening, my brain won’t quite compute after much teaching and driving so something soothing for weary heads, some #1960s structural Balenciaga #FIDMMuseum #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Worn #onthisday in 1968 in Bergdorf Goodman's "import show" in New York, NY. Nina Ricci's "heavily beaded white linen evening gown with red and green sequin flowers" was "the most expensive fashion" per the @nytimes.com; it "clinked and clanked as a model pranced through the salon in it." #OTD 📷MCNY

Oh Julie, I am so very sorry to hear that. I send you love and hope that you get some quiet moments to breathe and process ❤️❤️

A green and black ensemble by Elsa Schiaparelli consisting of her famous bow sweater and a black skirt

An illustration of Schiaparelli’s early 1930s bow sweaters, the trompe l’oeil design that made her name

A black and white photograph of Elsa Schiaparelli wearing a different version of her 1930s bow sweater with a cloche hat as an accessory

It’s World Book Day and a favourite of mine is Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle. Whilst I know that the Mortmain family would not necessarily have sported any Schiaparelli for me it has something of its spirit #RISDMuseum #1930s
#FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Here we have yet another 1890s satin dress, but this time from America, through the designer M. J. Miles. This is the only work I can find from them though, which is unfortunate as it is very lovely. It gives off classic Gilded Era vibes. #fashionhistory #ootd

This week's #ThirtiesThursday garment is this romantic couture evening dress of white organza and net with a floral motif, designed by Madeleine Vionnet in 1935. This dress formed part of the wardrobe of Lady Minoru Foley. V&A collection. #fashionhistory

Oops, bit tired…..

Front view of a mannequin wearing a gauzy flapper style dress in ombré shades from palest to darker green. It has a scarf style neckline and leaflike abstract embroidered motifs

Side view of Vionnet’s late 1920s evening dress with asymmetric layers of ombré silk gauze and scarf style neckline

The back view of the late 1920s asymmetric evening dress with abstract swirls of embroidery

Madeleine #Vionnet did love a challenge. She often took the finest of gauzy fabrics and then experimented with embroidery in collaboration with artisan studios in Paris such as #Lesage. This is a lovely late #1920s example #madparisfr #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mary W. Bangs, 1965

Cuffs
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/101350

English actress Joan Greenwood was born #OnThisDay in 1921. She wore this Anthony Mendleson designed pale pink satin 17th century inspired dress embroidered with silver thread and trimmed with white moiré silk as Sophie Dorothea in Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948). #film #costume

Yes they were calico printers. Terms are really tricky because calico meant one type of fabric in one place and another in other places.

A long printed cotton dress with tight sleeves and bodice and a repeat printed in a green, pink and red motif against a cream background

A closer detail of the pattern covering the 1840s cotton dress with a complex design of stylised florals

An engraving from the 1840s that shows a calico printing workshop with the large expanse of cotton that was able to be roller printed in longer lengths

Cutting edge technologies are always at the heart of textile manufacture. In the 1840s that involved roller printing, the process that replaced wood block textile prints with a faster method and more complex patterns. I do love an #1840s printed cotton @ngvmelbourne.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Following yesterday's #ootd, we have this Worth outfit from almost the same time- 1889. However, this is a walking suit. It was made with darker, tougher fabrics, although that is not necessarily the case here, as the front of the skirt is fairly bright and it's made of silk.

Gift of The United Piece Dye Works, 1936

Suspenders
https://botfrens.com/collections/223/contents/1381722