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Achronal Art

@achronalart.bsky.social

Alessandra Kelley - I make art. TTRPGs. She/her. Cis. White as Wonder Bread with mayo. Sophipygian. Postmodern Pre-Raphaelite. Black lives matter. Trans rights are human rights. I only repost images with ALT text.

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1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy has been protected, although it still shows signs of age. The paper has turned light brown, though it is otherwise in good shape, with no tears, stains, or spots. The colors have been warmed and yellowed by the ageing of the paper. The blue on the left looks entirely grey and the purple is less vivid than it once was, but the watercolor on the figures is clear and distinct.

1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy has been protected, although it still shows signs of age. The paper has turned light brown, though it is otherwise in good shape, with no tears, stains, or spots. The colors have been warmed and yellowed by the ageing of the paper. The blue on the left looks entirely grey and the purple is less vivid than it once was, but the watercolor on the figures is clear and distinct.

1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy has been framed and displayed at some point in its history. You can see the marks of the frame at the edges where the paper is less browned. It also appears to have been glued down to a backing board. There are flecks and signs of chipping and diagonal folding damage. Overall the paper has turned a shade of dirty brown somewhere between a manila folder and a brown paper bag. This somewhat camouflages the color loss. There is no trace visible of the purple watercolor paint that originally colored the middle dress.

1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy has been framed and displayed at some point in its history. You can see the marks of the frame at the edges where the paper is less browned. It also appears to have been glued down to a backing board. There are flecks and signs of chipping and diagonal folding damage. Overall the paper has turned a shade of dirty brown somewhere between a manila folder and a brown paper bag. This somewhat camouflages the color loss. There is no trace visible of the purple watercolor paint that originally colored the middle dress.

These are the original scans from the online collection of the MMA, showing their approximate real life colors after 150+ years of ageing paper and other knocks.

If you look at antique prints irl they will generally look more like these than anything as bright as the above.

🗃️🪡

#FashionHistory

01.03.2026 01:08 — 👍 8    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Digitally restored copy of an 1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy was well protected from light and appears to be in excellent shape. It shows a woman in a blue-grey bustle dress with black velvet trim and another in a bright lavender bustle dress with dark golden brown trim and lining on the bodice. The girl is in a bright light blue bustle dress over a white blouse. A parlor environment is sketched in behind them and delicately colored in pale green, yellow and pink. The rug below them is richly patterned using the same colors, a little more intense but still delicate and paler than the dresses. The colors are intensified from their current state by the digital restoration, and he background is closer to white.

Digitally restored copy of an 1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy was well protected from light and appears to be in excellent shape. It shows a woman in a blue-grey bustle dress with black velvet trim and another in a bright lavender bustle dress with dark golden brown trim and lining on the bodice. The girl is in a bright light blue bustle dress over a white blouse. A parlor environment is sketched in behind them and delicately colored in pale green, yellow and pink. The rug below them is richly patterned using the same colors, a little more intense but still delicate and paler than the dresses. The colors are intensified from their current state by the digital restoration, and he background is closer to white.

Digitally restored copy of an 1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy was evidently exposed to light for some time. The more permanent watercolors used on it, the blues and earth browns, remain, but the others are sadly faded. What was once a lavender dress now looks stark white, a strong contrast to the brown trim that has retained its colors The background has mostly lost its colors and the rug below is pale and muted. The colors are intensified from their current state by the digital restoration, and he background is closer to white.

Digitally restored copy of an 1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy was evidently exposed to light for some time. The more permanent watercolors used on it, the blues and earth browns, remain, but the others are sadly faded. What was once a lavender dress now looks stark white, a strong contrast to the brown trim that has retained its colors The background has mostly lost its colors and the rug below is pale and muted. The colors are intensified from their current state by the digital restoration, and he background is closer to white.

This is why we do not display our antique fashion prints on the wall.

One of these 1871 fashion plates was protected from light, the other exposed to it.

(These are digitally restored copies, lightened and brightened. Actual what-they-really-look-like-irl to follow)

🗃️🪡

#FashionHistory

01.03.2026 01:06 — 👍 15    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
June 1857 fashion plate from the French publication “Journal des Tailleurs”. A footman, butler or waiter offers a tray of cookies to three small children while a young man, hands in pockets, watches. The three young children are all nearly identical, with shoulder-length blonde curls, and are all similarly dressed in tight little bodices, wide knee-length skirts and short drawers. The one on the left is wearing a red and white plaid dress, a straw hat with a bow and a feather on it, and blue boots with black toes. The one in the middle wears a pale pink dress with bright pink ribbons and black crisscross decoration, a hat decorated with lace and pink ribbon, and lace drawers and pink boots. The one on the right wears a white dress with a large lace neckline and sleeves, a dark pillbox-type hat with two feathers in it, and blue boots. The middle child *might* be a girl — but the conventions of 19th century children’s clothes do not guarantee it. The other two are definitely boys. Girls were never depicted with toy swords, for one thing.

June 1857 fashion plate from the French publication “Journal des Tailleurs”. A footman, butler or waiter offers a tray of cookies to three small children while a young man, hands in pockets, watches. The three young children are all nearly identical, with shoulder-length blonde curls, and are all similarly dressed in tight little bodices, wide knee-length skirts and short drawers. The one on the left is wearing a red and white plaid dress, a straw hat with a bow and a feather on it, and blue boots with black toes. The one in the middle wears a pale pink dress with bright pink ribbons and black crisscross decoration, a hat decorated with lace and pink ribbon, and lace drawers and pink boots. The one on the right wears a white dress with a large lace neckline and sleeves, a dark pillbox-type hat with two feathers in it, and blue boots. The middle child *might* be a girl — but the conventions of 19th century children’s clothes do not guarantee it. The other two are definitely boys. Girls were never depicted with toy swords, for one thing.

1857 children's fashions. At least two of the small children here, possibly all three, are boys.

There's something you never see in Civil War epics.

Or, well, any media depiction of the 19th century.

🗃️🪡

#FashionHistory

13.02.2026 21:27 — 👍 57    🔁 19    💬 5    📌 3
circa. 1838 boy's suit. Light brown wool long sleeved knee-length tunic w/ leaf and acorn embroidery around the neckline and hem and at the cuffs of half-length trousers that go under it.

circa. 1838 boy's suit. Light brown wool long sleeved knee-length tunic w/ leaf and acorn embroidery around the neckline and hem and at the cuffs of half-length trousers that go under it.

In the 1840s? He'd be wearing something like this plain wool suit from the collection of the MMA.

The fashion plate above was distributed to an American middle class market thirsty for the latest from Paris that it could adapt into plainer materials...

14.02.2026 19:24 — 👍 8    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0
A boy's dress of almost-plaid material with strong vivid horizontal stripes of red, browns, dark blue and white, and faint vertical stripes of browns, greys and whites. It buttons up the front and has short puffed sleeves and two big pockets on the wide gathered knee-length skirt. White lace shows at the sleeves and skirt hem. Boy's Dress England, circa 1865 Costumes; !Primary Wool plain weave with cotton plain weave with cotton thread embroidery and metal and mother-of-pearl buttons Center back length: 23 7/8 in. (60.64 cm) Gift of Helen Larson (AC1997.191.16) Costume and Textiles Not currently on public view

A boy's dress of almost-plaid material with strong vivid horizontal stripes of red, browns, dark blue and white, and faint vertical stripes of browns, greys and whites. It buttons up the front and has short puffed sleeves and two big pockets on the wide gathered knee-length skirt. White lace shows at the sleeves and skirt hem. Boy's Dress England, circa 1865 Costumes; !Primary Wool plain weave with cotton plain weave with cotton thread embroidery and metal and mother-of-pearl buttons Center back length: 23 7/8 in. (60.64 cm) Gift of Helen Larson (AC1997.191.16) Costume and Textiles Not currently on public view

This is an 1860s middle class boy's dress from the collection of the LACMA. Young boys were put into dresses for most of the 19th century... And it was a respectable aspiring middle class thing. The fancy French fashion plates were aspirational.
collections.lacma.org/node/185686

14.02.2026 19:29 — 👍 16    🔁 1    💬 2    📌 0
Preview
Post by @mimicofmodes · 1 video 💬 4  🔁 2  ❤️ 9 · Is Bernadette Banner right about corsets? · There's this attitude I see pop up periodically on this website that Bernadette Banner is a total sham who dupes people into believing t…

In response to frequent discourse about Bernadette Banner, I went over her corset myths video and found that ... it's actually fine and completely in line with historical scholarship. 🗃️🪡 www.tumblr.com/mimicofmodes...

14.02.2026 17:56 — 👍 46    🔁 10    💬 4    📌 0

Reading the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon - I like that most of her posts (this is what they are) are so short and then she gets to “HATEFUL THINGS” and is like RIGHT THEN and goes on for five pages

14.02.2026 10:38 — 👍 40    🔁 3    💬 4    📌 4

“Trying to live under the radar”

My transness isn’t something I should need to hide. I refuse to feel shame for something innate, usual and human.

Trans+ people living proudly as themselves is not what is causing our persecution.

15.02.2026 13:55 — 👍 88    🔁 23    💬 3    📌 1
Display in the National Museum of African American History and Culture of the 1939 wedding ensemble of Lollaretta Pemberton, who married Dr. Grover Allen in 1939 in Texas. It is a long 1930s style dress with almost-elbow length sleeves and a bodice gathered down the front, giving it a modest V neckline and an inverted V waist, very chic for the 1930s. The display also includes a lace-edged veil spread under the dress and a pointed Tudor-style headpiece, as well as a wedding photo of the artist and other documents.

Display in the National Museum of African American History and Culture of the 1939 wedding ensemble of Lollaretta Pemberton, who married Dr. Grover Allen in 1939 in Texas. It is a long 1930s style dress with almost-elbow length sleeves and a bodice gathered down the front, giving it a modest V neckline and an inverted V waist, very chic for the 1930s. The display also includes a lace-edged veil spread under the dress and a pointed Tudor-style headpiece, as well as a wedding photo of the artist and other documents.

Detail of the bodice of the 1939 wedding dres shandmade by Lollaretta Pemberton and now in the collection of the Smithsonian, in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The dress is made entirely of strips of creamy white lace, about one and a half inches wide, eyeballing it. The sleeves are gathered and softly puffed at the shoulders, then snug on the upper arms. The bodice is made of eight horizontal strips of lace gathered in the center to draw the neckline down and the waistline up into gentle Vs. The skirt is made of long vertical strips of lace snug at the waist and flaring out at the floor-length hem. (We only see the top of the skirt in this detail)

Detail of the bodice of the 1939 wedding dres shandmade by Lollaretta Pemberton and now in the collection of the Smithsonian, in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The dress is made entirely of strips of creamy white lace, about one and a half inches wide, eyeballing it. The sleeves are gathered and softly puffed at the shoulders, then snug on the upper arms. The bodice is made of eight horizontal strips of lace gathered in the center to draw the neckline down and the waistline up into gentle Vs. The skirt is made of long vertical strips of lace snug at the waist and flaring out at the floor-length hem. (We only see the top of the skirt in this detail)

1939 wedding dress made by Lollaretta Pemberton of Texas (moved to California after her marriage) entirely out of lengths of lace, now an exhibit in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this month.

🗃️🪡
#NMAAHC
#FashionHistory

25.09.2025 13:34 — 👍 47    🔁 11    💬 2    📌 0
1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy has been protected, although it still shows signs of age. The paper has turned light brown, though it is otherwise in good shape, with no tears, stains, or spots. The colors have been warmed and yellowed by the ageing of the paper. The blue on the left looks entirely grey and the purple is less vivid than it once was, but the watercolor on the figures is clear and distinct.

1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy has been protected, although it still shows signs of age. The paper has turned light brown, though it is otherwise in good shape, with no tears, stains, or spots. The colors have been warmed and yellowed by the ageing of the paper. The blue on the left looks entirely grey and the purple is less vivid than it once was, but the watercolor on the figures is clear and distinct.

1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy has been framed and displayed at some point in its history. You can see the marks of the frame at the edges where the paper is less browned. It also appears to have been glued down to a backing board. There are flecks and signs of chipping and diagonal folding damage. Overall the paper has turned a shade of dirty brown somewhere between a manila folder and a brown paper bag. This somewhat camouflages the color loss. There is no trace visible of the purple watercolor paint that originally colored the middle dress.

1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy has been framed and displayed at some point in its history. You can see the marks of the frame at the edges where the paper is less browned. It also appears to have been glued down to a backing board. There are flecks and signs of chipping and diagonal folding damage. Overall the paper has turned a shade of dirty brown somewhere between a manila folder and a brown paper bag. This somewhat camouflages the color loss. There is no trace visible of the purple watercolor paint that originally colored the middle dress.

These are the original scans from the online collection of the MMA, showing their approximate real life colors after 150+ years of ageing paper and other knocks.

If you look at antique prints irl they will generally look more like these than anything as bright as the above.

🗃️🪡

#FashionHistory

01.03.2026 01:08 — 👍 8    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Digitally restored copy of an 1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy was well protected from light and appears to be in excellent shape. It shows a woman in a blue-grey bustle dress with black velvet trim and another in a bright lavender bustle dress with dark golden brown trim and lining on the bodice. The girl is in a bright light blue bustle dress over a white blouse. A parlor environment is sketched in behind them and delicately colored in pale green, yellow and pink. The rug below them is richly patterned using the same colors, a little more intense but still delicate and paler than the dresses. The colors are intensified from their current state by the digital restoration, and he background is closer to white.

Digitally restored copy of an 1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy was well protected from light and appears to be in excellent shape. It shows a woman in a blue-grey bustle dress with black velvet trim and another in a bright lavender bustle dress with dark golden brown trim and lining on the bodice. The girl is in a bright light blue bustle dress over a white blouse. A parlor environment is sketched in behind them and delicately colored in pale green, yellow and pink. The rug below them is richly patterned using the same colors, a little more intense but still delicate and paler than the dresses. The colors are intensified from their current state by the digital restoration, and he background is closer to white.

Digitally restored copy of an 1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy was evidently exposed to light for some time. The more permanent watercolors used on it, the blues and earth browns, remain, but the others are sadly faded. What was once a lavender dress now looks stark white, a strong contrast to the brown trim that has retained its colors The background has mostly lost its colors and the rug below is pale and muted. The colors are intensified from their current state by the digital restoration, and he background is closer to white.

Digitally restored copy of an 1871 fashion plate from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Fashion Institute, from "Magasin des Demoiselles", a Paris-based publication, engraved from an original watercolor by Adele-Anaïs Toudouze. Two blonde white women and a girl stand in a parlor-like environment. This copy was evidently exposed to light for some time. The more permanent watercolors used on it, the blues and earth browns, remain, but the others are sadly faded. What was once a lavender dress now looks stark white, a strong contrast to the brown trim that has retained its colors The background has mostly lost its colors and the rug below is pale and muted. The colors are intensified from their current state by the digital restoration, and he background is closer to white.

This is why we do not display our antique fashion prints on the wall.

One of these 1871 fashion plates was protected from light, the other exposed to it.

(These are digitally restored copies, lightened and brightened. Actual what-they-really-look-like-irl to follow)

🗃️🪡

#FashionHistory

01.03.2026 01:06 — 👍 15    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
Preview
2.6.28 - Aurora This is fine. See you in chapter 7!

we'll be back once I get chapter 8 looking all nice and pretty!

comicaurora.com/aurora/2-6-28/

27.02.2026 13:26 — 👍 117    🔁 26    💬 6    📌 0

It is an odd sensation to read a book from the 1990s with otherwise impeccable science and the author keeps talking with deadly seriousness about "the population explosion"

Remember when that was an issue? Remember when folks were wailing about population going up as a bad thing?

25.02.2026 16:36 — 👍 11    🔁 1    💬 3    📌 0

bsky.app/profile/achr...

25.02.2026 16:41 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

It is an odd sensation to read a book from the 1990s with otherwise impeccable science and the author keeps talking with deadly seriousness about "the population explosion"

Remember when that was an issue? Remember when folks were wailing about population going up as a bad thing?

25.02.2026 16:36 — 👍 11    🔁 1    💬 3    📌 0
Video thumbnail

On this episode of the Overly Sarcastic Podcast: Italy's #1 political manipulator plays a nice friendly game of "Ruin Your Opponent's Life" aka league of legends ranked competitive. Niccolò leaves no survivors.

(The OSPodcast is available on all podcast platforms!)
-B

25.02.2026 14:25 — 👍 173    🔁 22    💬 3    📌 1
Preview
2.6.27 - Aurora Chapter ends on Friday!

hello again

comicaurora.com/aurora/2-6-27/

25.02.2026 13:20 — 👍 99    🔁 22    💬 3    📌 0

She's her own steel chair!

23.02.2026 13:32 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Preview
2.6.26 - Aurora studio audience cheers (it’s me I’m the studio audience)

good morning!

comicaurora.com/aurora/2-6-26/

23.02.2026 12:17 — 👍 115    🔁 23    💬 6    📌 2

When you know the reason W.K. Kellogg invented cornflakes, it's even more hilarious...

24.07.2025 19:24 — 👍 22    🔁 3    💬 3    📌 0
Advertisement from the back cover of the April 1914 issue of "McCall's Magazine" Against a background of a subtle greenish zigzag tweed pattern stands the half-length silhouette of a woman carrying an umbrella. Her face and dress are solid black, her neck and a deep-V front filled in with buff color with three red dots suggesting a necklace. Her hat is dark red with a massive bright red bow. Her gloves and umbrella are white. She holds a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes in full color in its colors of the time -- A buff frame around a white background with black, red, and dark red lettering. The legend beside her, in bright red letters that match the font on the box, says "Who's the Lucky Man?"

Advertisement from the back cover of the April 1914 issue of "McCall's Magazine" Against a background of a subtle greenish zigzag tweed pattern stands the half-length silhouette of a woman carrying an umbrella. Her face and dress are solid black, her neck and a deep-V front filled in with buff color with three red dots suggesting a necklace. Her hat is dark red with a massive bright red bow. Her gloves and umbrella are white. She holds a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes in full color in its colors of the time -- A buff frame around a white background with black, red, and dark red lettering. The legend beside her, in bright red letters that match the font on the box, says "Who's the Lucky Man?"

There is, uhh, a LOT to unpack in this 1914 ad for Kellogg's Corn Flakes ...

#VintageAd #VintageAdvertising #VintageAds

24.07.2025 19:24 — 👍 48    🔁 15    💬 2    📌 1
Cover of the Illustrated London News for Christmas 1903. A full color lithograph of a fantasy version of a Saxon-era woman in a hooded red cloak and knee-length blonde braids right off the opera stage, her arms full of very Victorian-looking wrapped packages and toys, walking through the snow in front of a man in vaguely medieval peasant dress carrying a very anachronistic dead plucked New World turkey and more in a basket on his head, in a vaguely medieval setting representing fantasy medieval London.

Cover of the Illustrated London News for Christmas 1903. A full color lithograph of a fantasy version of a Saxon-era woman in a hooded red cloak and knee-length blonde braids right off the opera stage, her arms full of very Victorian-looking wrapped packages and toys, walking through the snow in front of a man in vaguely medieval peasant dress carrying a very anachronistic dead plucked New World turkey and more in a basket on his head, in a vaguely medieval setting representing fantasy medieval London.

This is and should be a copyright-free image so I hunted this magazine down & straightened & cleaned up the cover myself digitally & as long as I have, here's a copyright-free image at as high a resolution as I could manage for free you’re welcome

21.02.2026 17:56 — 👍 16    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

😁

21.02.2026 19:52 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

A lil zap of fire to aid targeting, I suspect

21.02.2026 18:17 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Cover of the Illustrated London News for Christmas 1903. A full color lithograph of a fantasy version of a Saxon-era woman in a hooded red cloak and knee-length blonde braids right off the opera stage, her arms full of very Victorian-looking wrapped packages and toys, walking through the snow in front of a man in vaguely medieval peasant dress carrying a very anachronistic dead plucked New World turkey and more in a basket on his head, in a vaguely medieval setting representing fantasy medieval London.

Cover of the Illustrated London News for Christmas 1903. A full color lithograph of a fantasy version of a Saxon-era woman in a hooded red cloak and knee-length blonde braids right off the opera stage, her arms full of very Victorian-looking wrapped packages and toys, walking through the snow in front of a man in vaguely medieval peasant dress carrying a very anachronistic dead plucked New World turkey and more in a basket on his head, in a vaguely medieval setting representing fantasy medieval London.

This is and should be a copyright-free image so I hunted this magazine down & straightened & cleaned up the cover myself digitally & as long as I have, here's a copyright-free image at as high a resolution as I could manage for free you’re welcome

21.02.2026 17:56 — 👍 16    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
Graph. The left axis is height in cm, from "real short" (0 cm) to "yowza!" (25+ cm) -- the in-between numbers are labeled in 5cm increments. The bottom axis is decades of the 18th century. The graph starts at a moderately high height, about 15cm, in the early decades, drops to almost the scalp between about 1730-1765, and rises slowly to about 1770 and then very rapidly until it peaks at around 1779, then drops like a stone in 1780 and slowly subsides after that. The graph is illustrated with about a dozen and a half women's portraits collaged in at the appropriate dates, to illustrate.

Graph. The left axis is height in cm, from "real short" (0 cm) to "yowza!" (25+ cm) -- the in-between numbers are labeled in 5cm increments. The bottom axis is decades of the 18th century. The graph starts at a moderately high height, about 15cm, in the early decades, drops to almost the scalp between about 1730-1765, and rises slowly to about 1770 and then very rapidly until it peaks at around 1779, then drops like a stone in 1780 and slowly subsides after that. The graph is illustrated with about a dozen and a half women's portraits collaged in at the appropriate dates, to illustrate.

Charting out women's hairstyle heights of the eighteenth century for a video I'm working on

🗃️🪡

#FashionHistory

20.02.2026 15:55 — 👍 23    🔁 5    💬 3    📌 0
1880 fashion plate showing two women in long, close-fitting outfits that cover them completely from chin to ground. One wears all black with red trim, with a hip-length jacket and bell sleeves with black lace trim. The other wears a pale green and darker soft greyish-green dress with a big bow of at the front. The black-clad woman is looking at the green-clad woman, who is looking away over her shoulder. Fashion plate from the Journal des Demoiselles

1880 fashion plate showing two women in long, close-fitting outfits that cover them completely from chin to ground. One wears all black with red trim, with a hip-length jacket and bell sleeves with black lace trim. The other wears a pale green and darker soft greyish-green dress with a big bow of at the front. The black-clad woman is looking at the green-clad woman, who is looking away over her shoulder. Fashion plate from the Journal des Demoiselles

A close up of the 1880 fashion plate. We can see the woman in pale green with a big bow on her front is looking away with a placidly blank expression and wide eyes. The woman in black has pointed, sly feaures and is laser-focused on the bare flesh of the first lady's neck, where a few inches of skin have been exposed by her turning her head .

A close up of the 1880 fashion plate. We can see the woman in pale green with a big bow on her front is looking away with a placidly blank expression and wide eyes. The woman in black has pointed, sly feaures and is laser-focused on the bare flesh of the first lady's neck, where a few inches of skin have been exposed by her turning her head .

Found a vampire

04.01.2026 15:03 — 👍 44    🔁 15    💬 1    📌 0
A graphite pencil sketch by Alessandra Kelleyof a woman dancer in loose trousers, a cropped shirt and fingerless gloves. Her hair is long and black, flying in a curve to the left as she turns her head towards her shoulder and down, arching her back while supporting herself on one hand and the tips of her toes. She is drawn sideways so she appears upright, poised against a wall (instead of on the floor, as she is in reality). There is a small, very quick sketch of her head and arms with one arm slightly raised, because the angle of one arm on the large figure was changed to fit around some writing on the page. There are also several copies of written Persian and Arabic versions of the name "Layla", which was the name of the character this drawing was part of the inspiration for.

A graphite pencil sketch by Alessandra Kelleyof a woman dancer in loose trousers, a cropped shirt and fingerless gloves. Her hair is long and black, flying in a curve to the left as she turns her head towards her shoulder and down, arching her back while supporting herself on one hand and the tips of her toes. She is drawn sideways so she appears upright, poised against a wall (instead of on the floor, as she is in reality). There is a small, very quick sketch of her head and arms with one arm slightly raised, because the angle of one arm on the large figure was changed to fit around some writing on the page. There are also several copies of written Persian and Arabic versions of the name "Layla", which was the name of the character this drawing was part of the inspiration for.

#SketchbookSunday

Study of a dark-haired woman dancer drawn sideways to appear almost flying in a leap (rather than arched on the floor), along with studies of the written name "Layla" in Persian and Arabic.

Fun fact, for a while it seemed like every contemporary vampire novel contained a "Layla".

30.12.2024 03:02 — 👍 29    🔁 4    💬 2    📌 0

Here's an ink wash drawing I made of late tenth century Constantinople seen at night from the southeast over the Sea of Marmara, for a Byzantine vampire game.

Here also is illustrator Kristina Gehrmann's clear and lovely panoramic view of the city at the same period seen from above.

06.12.2023 16:25 — 👍 53    🔁 6    💬 4    📌 0
1777 cartoon of "Tight Lacing, or the Cobler's (sic) Wife in the Fashion" A workman is hitting his wife, who is in a tight corset, a quilted petticoat, and a very tall Marie Antoinette hairstyle. These were all highly fashionable at that moment but thanks to misogyny were also highly criticized.

1777 cartoon of "Tight Lacing, or the Cobler's (sic) Wife in the Fashion" A workman is hitting his wife, who is in a tight corset, a quilted petticoat, and a very tall Marie Antoinette hairstyle. These were all highly fashionable at that moment but thanks to misogyny were also highly criticized.

The humongous tall Marie Antoinette style was a super brief fashion, just a flash in the pan.

Funny how it's become the visual cliché of the entire century.

20.02.2026 15:58 — 👍 6    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0