Tada!! The three Tang Dynasty versions of Mulan!

Because why not? Which is your favorite? (And I know she also has a third blue & red outfit but it would most likely be a variation on one of these outfits in those colors so... I decided against.)

I am the artist!!! Don’t repost without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: Instagram , Patreon

Áo tấc. Credit to Hoa Niên.

Happy birthday to me 🎈and here is the Ballos of Skópelos, probably my favourite ballos (Greek island couple dance) and a pretty characteristic one, for making good use of the Skopelian woman’s traditional dress and giving her a moment to shine alone. The video quality is not very good but I thought the dance was nice.

Dress, American, 1880s.

The MET Museum

heyyy everyone!

this is a portrait of Cap, based on a period portrait.

Get yourself a fabric store that will light your fabric on fire for you

No but legit I asked what the fiber content of something was and the guy didn’t know so he cut a chunk off and lit it on fire and felt the ashes and was like. Yeah this is mostly cotton with a lil bit of silk. And that was the moment I knew. This is it. This is the fabric store for me. Also that guy is marriage material. Not for me but damn some person is gonna be so happy with him.

Nothing brings me more joy than people learning from history and then modernizing it up a bit.

Like you wanna grow your hair long? Stop washing it so often and brush it more to keep it clean. Your hair will be way healthier too. And stop cutting it (and use a boar bristle brush, it’ll work better as it’ll actually absorb the oils, distribute them better, and work a hell of a lot better than non-absorbent plastic would) Edit: Early on, some well meaning person kindly asked me to inform you that the boar bristle brush technique does not work on curly hair, however I have since been informed by multiple parties that it does! My hair is as straight as a pin so use your own judgment!

You want to keep cool in the summer? Out with the polyester and in with the linen and cotton. Natural fibers are going to keep you cooler because they’re literally made to breathe

You want to preemptively stop the underwire in your bra from poking through? There’s a very simple embroidery stitch you can do that the Edwardians used to do to stop their corset boning from coming through.

We don’t have to just learn from our ancestors mistakes, we can learn from their stakes too

Frieda Leopold ‘Historic Inspired’ Haute Couture Gowns [x][x]

Does anyone want to see the presentation I made on what historical fashion trends we should bring back and which should burn in hell I made for a PowerPoint party?

Had to do it. I love them too much not to <3

I am the artist!!! Don’t repost without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: Instagram , Patreon

Áo ngũ thân in Hội An. Credit to Hoa Niên.

Dupion silk 18th Century Gown by L'Armoirede Mathilde, modeled by Bérénice.

An Introductory Timeline of Western Women's Fashion

I think a good place to start to get into dress history is general overview of the whole timeline. Understanding especially how the silhouettes change is really important ground knowledge to build the rest of the information on.

I'll start the timeline from Middle Ages and go till the first world war. I'll focus on upper class England/French sector, so keep in mind that before 17th century there were huge regional differences in fashion inside Europe and class differences too. There is a lot variance, changes and nuance inside any century and decade I'm about to discuss, but I'll try to keep this short and introductory and very simplified. I used a very scientific method of basically what makes most sense to me to divide the periods. I've made sketches what I would consider to be the basic silhouette of the period stripped mostly out of the detail and then I give couple of primary source examples.

12th century (Middle Ages)

Dress was simple one or more tunics over a chemise. They were overly long for upper classes, made out of straight lines. There were loose tunics often worn over another tunic, and tunics with laced bodice called biaut. In France bliaut sleeves often widened from the elbow, in England they often widened in frists.

13th century (Middle Ages)

Clothing was mostly very similar as in the previous century, though bliaut was mostly gone and new popular style was a loose sleeves surcoat.

14th century (Middle Ages)

Tailoring basically revolutionized clothing production, since clothes weren't made out of rectangles anymore and could be better made to fit form. Also functional buttons and lacing was popularized resulting in very fitted styles. The underlayer tunic, kirtle, became a fitted supporting layer.

15th century (Middle Ages)

Improvements in weaving technology and trade and growing prosperity in Europe showed in clothing as excess of fabric and variety of trends. Houppelande, a loose A-lined overdress lined with fur and fastened with a wide belt under chest, became a very popular clothing item, and in later decades developed into the iconic Burgundian dress (the red dress). Fitted overdress continued to be popular alongside the warmer houppelandes.

1500s-1550s (Tudor period)

In the renaissance era clothing became increasingly structured and elaborate. The bodice was heavily boned and the skirt was also structured.

1560s-1610s (Elizabethan Era)

Both structuring and elaborate decoration reach it's peak during Queen Elizabeth's reign. She became the defining fashion icon of the late renaissance.

1620s-1670s (Baroque)

In baroque era the bodice was still heavily structured, but more curved than the conical Elizabethan bodice. Otherwise though structuring was replaces with dramatic excess of fabric.

1680s-1710s (Baroque)

In the late 17th century there was a huge shift in the clothing industry as mantua, a loose open robe inspired by Japanese kimono, came to dominate fashion. Rigid bodice was replaces by structured under layer, stays. Stays brought back the conical silhouette of Elizabethan era.

1720s-1780s (Rococo)

Mantua developed into the iconic Rococo dress in France, robe à la francaise (first example picture), and in England robe à la anglaise with closed bodice. Rococo fashion was characterized by the wide silhouette of the skirt.

Since Tumblr won't accept more than 10 pictures per a post I'll have to continue in a reblog. So to be continued!

Christmas Dress

my favorite period drama costuming anachronisms:

men are just walking around with their doublets half open at like, formal court events. who let these harlots in.

Shoes Are For Pussies, Real Men Wear Boots

that's not how corsets work

oh ok so we’re just gonna ignore the existence of shifts when it’s not convenient for us. i see how it is.

her dress says period, but her hair says mid 2000s prom

there seems to be a pants shortage in the kingdom, for the only ones left are skintight leather pants!

holy orientalism batman

catholics wearing subdued colors and limited decoration, like goddamn protestants

we get it, you don’t want the romantic leads to look silly in period accurate outfits. but if you don’t know how to make a codpiece look sexy, that’s on you.

More photos from the beautiful project Ένδυμα ψυχής - Raiment of the Soul / A Voyage Within, a collaboration of the National Historical Museum of Greece with photographer Vangelis Kyris and Bulgarian embroidery artist Anatoli Georgiev, in which they present the folklore collection of the museum - outfits often belonging to important historical figures of Greece - through a series of photographs and embroidery art. The project, which consists of 120 photographs in its entirety, has been published in a photographic album you can buy from the shop of the museum. Link here.

Traditional dress of Kérkyra (Corfu) island.

Attire from Argos, Peloponnese, 19th Century.

Dress from Hydra island, owned by Kyriakoula Kriezi, wife to Greece's Prime Minister and Admiral Antonios Kriezis. 19th Century.

The vest and the legendary helmet of Theodoros Kolokotronis (1770- 1843), the General of the Greek War of Independence.

Attire of the famed beauty Katerina "Rosa" Botsari (1818-1872), daughter of war hero Markos Botsaris, and lady-in-waiting in the court of Queen Amalia of Greece.

Attire belonging to Dimitrios Voulgaris (1802-1877), kocabaṣı of Hydra island, then fighter in the Greek Independence War and later 8 times Prime Minister of Greece.

Traditional dress from Astypálea island, 19th Century.

A kid's attire from Archangelos of Rhodes island, 19th Century.

See more gorgeous photos here and here.

The runaway

Hans Zatzka

Austrian, 1859-1945

Historical undergarments (details)

African American female portraits ca.1909

Historical fashion detail in photography.

Three women in Marshall, Texas c. 1899

Photographed by Gabriele Munter