Hi All! I received a question from
Rachel and
KittyKatt, asking how I found the era of history that was my favorite to start making clothes for, so I thought I would answer it in a post, in case anybody else wants to know.
I started this blog several years ago, when I wanted to be an owl for Halloween. My dear friend
Maggie and I thought it would be cool to interpret animals - she was a fox, I was an owl - through the lens of historical garments, and for whatever reason I thought a big, feather-covered 18th century dress was a great idea.
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| Maggie the Fox at left; me as an "owl" at right. Maggie is still a fox...and, well, I stay up late at night, does that count? |
I started researching, looking at pictures, and just fell in love with the styles of the 1780s and 1790s. I became intrigued by aspects that didn't really have anything to do with my owl costume, such as types of hats, hedgehog wigs, etc., and blogging about those things so much that I decided to change the name of this blog from "The Barn Owl Gown" (inspired, right? blah) to "American Duchess," and focus on 18th century costuming.
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| My first blog banner from back-in-the-day |
I suppose you know you've "found" your era when it continually holds fascination and inspiration for you. I also deeply love the fashions of the late 16th century, as well as the 1930s, but for years now it's been the late 18th century. Drooling over pretty dresses is where to start, but when you find yourself spending hours learning about laws on the import and export of textiles, how block printing works, and what kind of seam finishes were used, along with the period widths of fabrics (and the difference between European widths and Chinese widths)...well, then you've entered into major geek territory, and I would say you've found your era.
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| Writing an article on 18th century dogs? Yeah...I went there. #geek #nerd #obsessivehistoryfreak |
Of course, nobody is limited to just one era. You may have three loves, and not love one particularly more than the other. Your loves may change over time. That's all okay! This is for fun, education, satisfaction in crafting, all sorts of reasons that I hope are all positive for you. :-)
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| Historical accuracy is important to me, but I also don't take myself too seriously. |
So ask yourself what you keep coming back to. What do you spend the most time drooling over, pinning to your Pinterest, and saving to your research folder? Then you will have a pretty good idea of what your favorite era is.
