Back in July 2008, I joined a relatively new ‘microblogging’ website and set about finding all of my online friends who I’d met through various hobbies like blogging or Lomography. Having moved to London a couple of years before, I’d pretty much run out of time and ideas for writing full blog posts due to... Continue Reading →
On change, growth and learning from the past
Have you ever looked back at Past You and cringed? Maybe you found an old photograph and wondered what possessed you to buy, let alone wear, that hideous outfit. Perhaps Facebook showed you a post you wrote nearly a decade ago and you couldn't quite believe you were that naive back then. You might have... Continue Reading →
The Underpinnings Museum Twitter Conference
As part of its quest to bring the history of underwear to a wider audience, making collections and research freely accessible online, The Underpinnings Museum is hosting a Twitter conference on Friday 12th January 2018. Anyone with a public Twitter account and an interest in the history of underwear is invited to submit their idea... Continue Reading →
How to live-tweet a conference
Since returning to academia, I have attended a lot of conferences and panel discussion events. Ever since I live-tweeted the Costume Society's Study Day in 2012, people have been telling me that they really enjoy my reporting of events like this via social media. It started as an easy way for me to keep track... Continue Reading →
Doctor Who Scarf Day
I don't remember being a massive Doctor Who fan as a child, but I do recall watching the fourth Doctor regenerate into the fifth. Despite being six years old when it was broadcast, I clearly remember seeing Tom Baker become Peter Davison and - although Davison's years on the show are my most fondly remembered... Continue Reading →
Finding a new me, via illustration
Back in 2010, I snapped a self portrait with my phone using an app called Toy Camera. As this was the first ever Android phone, and so it would be another two years until I could install Instagram, I was still trying to find a camera app that would recreate some of the features that... Continue Reading →
Why Fashion Matters
When I tell people I'm studying the history and culture of fashion, I get a mixture of responses. Perhaps because I'm female and dress to stand out rather than fit in, people often react as if I couldn't possibly be studying anything else. Some folk take the opportunity to declare that they, personally, know nothing... Continue Reading →
Intersectionali… what?
Today, The Guardian reposted an article from Louise Mensch's blog, entitled how about some reality-based feminism? In it, Mensch makes some very good points about the current propensity for feminists on Twitter to lose their point under a pile of buzzwords. I completely agree that feminism has become alienating to those who don't understand words... Continue Reading →
Abuse, discrimination and solidarity
Have you ever been yelled at in the street or discriminated against because of your gender? Laura Bates has, and she set up the Everyday Sexism Project in 2012 to document women's routine experiences of prejudice in order to prove how bad the problem is and create some solidarity. Since then, the project has helped... Continue Reading →
Customer Service: A lesson from Foyles
Telling companies they're doin' it wrong often feels like a pointless exercise. How many times have you seen something in a shop or on a company's website that makes you seethe with rage? These days it's easier than ever to point out the error of their ways, but that doesn't always mean that you'll get... Continue Reading →