iTEXTILIS | The IK Workshop Society

Portrait of a Girl with a Dog
17th Century, Unknown artist

(Nationalmuseum Sweden)

The next exhibit I went to was Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast. This was a major exhibit, a rare accumulation of Poiret's works, which made this an exhibition of a lifetime- one of the main reasons I went to Paris this summer. One of the first gowns I saw that stunned me to

From the Archive: Plantæ Tinctoriæ – A Dissertation in 1759 and Carl Linnaeus’ Observations of Natural Dyes (2000 words). www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/pl...

Commander Constantine John Phipps, depicted c. 1775, is one of the many historical visitors to Spitsbergen described in the recently published monograph “Naturae Observatio SPITSBERGEN Science Expeditions.” www.ikfoundation.org/books-and-ar...

A mannequin posed in a long green medieval style dress with long hanging sleeves and a gold belt

A portrait by Sargent of Ellen Terry wearing the green dress posed holding a crown above her head

The book cover of 100 Things to Wear by the National Trust

I am enjoying the new book published by the National Trust looking at 100 of their UK textile treasures. It includes the famous beetle wing dress designed by Alice Comyns-Carr and worn by Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth in the 1880s and immortalised by John Singer Sargent on canvas #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Woman sewing, c. 1650-55

Attributed to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (British Museum)

The colour purple in the Georgian era I have, in the past, looked at a wide variety of colours worn during the Georgian era, and this article is about the colour purple, which was very fashionable throughout the period. According to The Elements of Dying by Claude Louis Berthollet in 1824: Purple has been, almost everywhere, a mark of distinction attached to high birth and dignities. It was an ornament of the first office of Rome; but luxury, which was carried to great excess in that capital of the world, rendered the use of it common among the opulent, till the emperors reserved to themselves the right of wearing it; soon afterwards, it became the symbol of their inauguration.

The colour purple in the Georgian era

I have, in the past, looked at a wide variety of colours worn during the Georgian era, and this article is about the colour purple, which was very fashionable throughout the period. According to The Elements of Dying by Claude Louis Berthollet in 1824: Purple…

A close up detail of a long velvet evening coat. This photograph shows the blue velvet background with hand embroidered florals covering the surface, including the high velvet collar

Full length view of the back of the long blue velvet evening coat embroidered all over with pale sweet cicely flowers and lace inserts around the bottom half

This will be forever one of my favourite garments in the V&A. It is a late #1890s coat from Marshall & Snelgrove, featuring hand embroidered sweet cicely flowers with white felt petals that float on top of blue velvet, V&A #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

A photograph of mannequins wearing two different quilted dressing gowns. One is brown and the other one is pale blue. Both are embroidered with floral patterns and both have silk cord waist belts

Storm Amy is rolling in here today so I propose hot cups of tea all round, a good book & feet up whilst wearing a quilted dressing gown. These were made in Japan in huge numbers for the Western market, quilted & embroidered in a range of floral motifs. Both 1880s #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡 @metmuseum.org

NEW ESSAY: A Handicraft Organisation: 1914 to 1960s – Inspiration and Reconstruction of Traditional Textiles in Sweden. www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/a-...

Today, IK is excited to launch THE DONATION ROOM — our open and public crowdfunding campaign site. This long-term initiative has already secured one-fifth of its funding for the first campaign, ”Green Tech for a Green World”, and we invite you to join us on... www.ikfoundation.org/thedonationr...

From the Archive: Victorian Fashion – in a Museum Collection (1000 words). www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/vi...

This embroidered binding contains a Bible, printed in London in 1651, together with The Whole Book of Psalms, collected unto English Meeter, also London, 1652.

(Victoria & Albert Museum, London)

La Fontaine de Coquillages: Robe du soir de Paquin (The Shell Fountain: Paquin Evening Gown) 1914

by George Barbier (French, 1882-1932)

Illustration of a gown designed by Jeanne Paquin (French, 1869-1936), for the Gazette du Bon Ton, a Parisian fashion magazine published 1912-1915 and 1919-1925.

Girlhood in Eighteenth-Century Britain: The Working Girl This book draws on a wide range of sources to provide the first comprehensive account of the experience of eighteenth-century working girlhood across all regions of Britain, examining the lifecycle st...

Just out!

www.routledge.com/Girlhood-in-...

From the Archive: Reading, Games and Fashion – In an 18th Century Swedish Aristocratic Family (1500 words). www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/re...

Girl reading by candlelight while leaning on a table Guido Reni, undated (b. 4 Nov 1575 - d. 18 Aug 1642 Bologna)

Albertina, Vienna

first page with a black-and-white fashion plate of a ladies dress and a matching embroidery design featuring a flower basket and a floral pattern

a floral design

Eliza Read's collection of embroidery designs from the 1800s has some wonderful patterns:
archive.org/details/MAB....

Side view of a pale red sheer silk long dress with broad sleeves and self decorated hem

Front view of the pale red sheer silk gauze dress showing sleeve proportions and ruched neckline

Hem detail of the pale red sheer silk dress showing the twists of silk that encircle the hem

Aerophane, a fabric that seems to evoke the ethereal nature of its structure, a fine, wispy silk gauze. Here it creates a hazy silhouette of oversized proportions and flame-like embellishments licking at the hem. Late #1820s @lacma.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

NEW ESSAY: Unique Textile Reflections – Diary kept during a Swedish East India Voyage from 1746 to 1749. www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/un...

From the Archive: Sources of Light and Textile Materials – Observations by 18th Century Travelling Naturalists (1500 words). www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/so...

A mannequin wearing a blue silk dress with long full sleeves and a broad long skirt. It has a self coloured belt

A fashion satire of a blue dress with huge sleeves and a triangular skirt. She is wearing a beribboned hat

Fashion satire is illuminating. It shows those very exaggerations which we find curious today were subject to critique in their own time. Here late 1820s/early 1830s is on show through a blue carriage dress a cartoon by William Heath @ngvmelbourne.bsky.social @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

From the Archive: Historical Reproductions – and a Case Study of Swedish Knitting Traditions (2300 words). www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/hi...

Place Pigalle

by Francesc Miralles i Galaup (Catalan, 1848-1901)

Private collection

The latest batch of the new book,”Naturae Observatio SPITSBERGEN Science Expeditions” has just been delivered from the bookbinder. It features 400 pages + over 40 pages of extensive foldouts — essential for anyone seriously interested in the Arctic and Svalbard. www.ikfoundation.org/books-and-ar...

Woman and Man with Eggs After 1635
Frederick Bloemaert, after a drawing by Abraham Bloemaert. (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

The front view of a bodice designed by Worth with elbow length sleeves and a square neckline. It is made from bottle green velvet with cream silk panels embroidered with beadwork in scrolls and flowers

Full lavish Worth on display here, an early #1880s gown deploying the kind of couture techniques that made his name from the choice of fabric to the exquisite beadwork embroidery. The embroidery is likely from the atelier of Michonet, the forerunner of Lesage #newcanaanmuseum #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

From the Archive: A Study of Knitting Sheaths – from North Yorkshire (1000 words) www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/a-...

Boy sitting on the ground, wearing a large hat 30 Aug 1658 Jan de Bisschop (Musée du Louvre)

A new IK iMESSENGER has been published today. The content covers the importance of books, Alexander Pope, and a press release. Explore more here »>