Vintage Chat — fashion history RSS

Have you ever wondered what vintage sellers are talking about when they speak of corset covers, camisoles, chemisettes, chemises and so on? Have you wondered why tap pants are called tap pants, and whether they're the same as French knickers? And what is a guimpe, for Heaven's sake? I've set out upon what is proving to be the ambitious task of creating an illustrated glossary or companion to vintage fashion. After spending the weekend compiling a modest number of entries covering letters A-C I realise that this is going to be a labor of love and will evolve over a longer period of time. I've made it a fixed page on the website rather than a blog entry that may...

A mind blowing experience for the lover of vintage fashion - The Krystyna Campbell-Pretty Fashion Gift is now on display at the National Gallery of Victoria. It's free, and don't miss it. If you're not in Australia, well you can see some biased highlights here.

The 1910s and 1920s saw a huge rise in the popularity of casual clothing, and in stretch clothing, as women's new found rights and freedoms led to an increasingly active lifestyle. Enjoy my recently acquired pattern book for examples.