1800s Regency and Victorian

There are very few people in the United States who didn’t grow up reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb or celebrating Thanksgiving, but did you know that we can thank a feisty little woman named Sarah Josepha Hale for them? Impossible circumstances are the forge in which remarkable people are […]

Sarah Josepha Hale

January 19, 2016 in 1800s Regency and Victorian / Historical Tidbits / January 2016 / Newsletter by Shari

For the last six weeks, I have been teaching a young group of girls the basics of handsewing. Though it takes a lot more time than sewing by machine, it is something I enjoy because it helps me to slow down so I can get lost in my thoughts. Lately, […]

Needle Notes…

November 17, 2015 in 0000 Ancient Times / 1700s American Colonial / 1800s Regency and Victorian / 1860s Civil War / 1880s / 1900s Edwardian and Modern / Historical Tidbits / Newsletter / November 2015 / Posts by Shari

The freedom and liberty fought for in the American and French Revolutions fanned the embers of the Industrial Revolution where innovations in textile production, steam power, and iron making led the way to changes in industry that would influence almost every aspect of daily life throughout the 19th century. After […]

Romantic Fashion

October 20, 2015 in 1800s Regency and Victorian / Historical Tidbits by Shari

Fashion is where expression meets practicality and lures it into the realm of the extreme. Though fashion trends have a tendency to push the limits, practicality always manages to bring them back into balance… at least for a time. Full skirts were the hallmark of the early Victrian Era and […]

The Rise and Fall of the Victorian Skirt

August 25, 2015 in 1800s Regency and Victorian / Historical Tidbits by Shari

During the Regency period, etiquette was everything, especially for women, who did not inherit wealth or could not openly find their own means. Although teaching young women reading, writing, and arithmetic had become more acceptable by the 19th century, instruction in proper etiquette remained the most important part […]

Etiquette and Polite Society

August 23, 2015 in 1800s Regency and Victorian / Historical Tidbits by Shari

The years 1795 through 1820 saw a dramatic shift in women’s clothing styles. The stiff courtly gowns that marked the earlier 18th century were discarded for simple peasant style dresses in the midst of the French Revolution as no one wanted to risk being associated with the French Aristocracy […]

The Bib-Front Dress

August 23, 2015 in 1800s Regency and Victorian / Historical Tidbits by Shari

By Shari Fuller Fashion trends, though seemingly superficial, reveal a great deal about the social and political climate at any given period of time. The sudden and profound evolution of fashion during the turbulent years of the French Revolution is a prime example. Up until the Revolution, fashionable clothing […]

The White Muslin Dress

August 23, 2015 in 1700s American Colonial / 1800s Regency and Victorian / Historical Tidbits by Shari

By Shari Fuller The kepi hat, which originated in the French army during the 1830s, was adopted by the United States Army shortly after the Crimean War in the 1850s. Wanting to steer away from the gaudy European uniforms that reflected the autocratic traditions, the U.S. Army redesigned their kepi […]

The Indefatigable Kepi

August 18, 2015 in 1800s Regency and Victorian / 1860s Civil War / August 2015 / Historical Tidbits / Newsletter by Shari

By Shari Fuller By the 1700s, European colonists in America began making their way across the Blue Ridge Mountains, stretching from Pennsylvania through North Carolina, where they began forging respectful, albeit tenuous, relationships with the Native American population. Isolated from the eastern colonies in what became known as the […]

18th Century Hunting Frock

July 21, 2015 in 1700s American Colonial / 1800s Regency and Victorian / Historical Tidbits / July 2015 / Newsletter by Shari

By Shari Fuller As the world entered the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution went into full swing and with it the new branch of science called chemistry. As early chemists began isolating and identifying elements they were able figure out ways to reproduce natural dyes from other other sources. These […]

Judging a Cloth by its Color…. part 3

March 16, 2015 in 0000 Ancient Times / 1700s American Colonial / 1800s Regency and Victorian / 1860s Civil War / 1900s Edwardian and Modern / April 2015 / Historical Tidbits / March 2015 / Newsletter by Shari