Take the time to look closely enough and a garment can be read almost as clearly as words on a page. In this way, archives of garments can provide a unique window into the past, revealing valuable clues to how previous generations shopped, dressed and laundered their clothes. Intact department store tags allow us to... Continue Reading →
As part of my Master's degree research, I took a look into the history of an icon of the British high street - Marks & Spencer. This post is an extract from my dissertation and forms part of an occasional 'brief history of' series. Freelance writer and broadcaster Stephen Armstrong perfectly sums up the significance... Continue Reading →
After an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign, today is the launch of The Underpinnings Museum website. Thank you so much to everyone who pledged their support to the project and ensure that, not only did we raise enough to purchase period-specific mannequins and pay for more of the collection to be photographed, but we smashed through... Continue Reading →
Oasis have been knocking out the park in the last couple of years with their spectacular collaborations. I absolutely loved the collections that were inspired by prints from the V&A's archives - I bought four pieces from the second collection! - and their AW15 collaboration with photographer John Grant was full of stunning dark florals.... Continue Reading →
Those of you who follow me on social media will know that I've been involved in a side project over the last few months, unsurprisingly relating to underwear. The history of lingerie is an important part of the history of women's changing role in society, yet it is rarely given the attention it deserves. The... Continue Reading →
As you've probably noticed, I appear to have lost my blogging mojo this month. I felt a bit guilty when the lovely Shasleigh from My Betty Woo mentioned Rarely Wears Lipstick in her recent post on blogs she loves reading, as there's not been much new content here lately. Not a single blog post has... Continue Reading →
As regular readers will already know, I am a massive fan of the M&S Company Archive in Leeds. I visited it in 2014 as part of the research for my Master's dissertation, again in 2015 to research a conference paper on M&S underwear in the 1960s, and I even gave a talk there last November.... Continue Reading →
Over the past few years, I have become rather fond of archives. As I wrote in my post The Joy of Archives, I've always had a fondness for old clothes as touching a piece of the past is a powerful window into history. Whilst looking at images of what people used to wear is fascinating;... Continue Reading →
I'm a massive fan of the high street chain Oasis. I first discovered them about six years ago when I worked near Russell Square and wandered into one of their shops there during my lunch break. I bought the puff sleeved red jersey polkadot top that features in my social media profile pic and that... Continue Reading →
Last week I popped into Topshop at Oxford Circus to buy a gift card as a birthday present for my teenage niece and I spotted some clothing with a delightfully retro label. You can imagine my joy when a closer look revealed that this was a cute mini collection inspired by items from their archive!... Continue Reading →