Inside a Victorian Bathing Machine
(Wellcome Images)
During the Victorian era, ladies visiting the public beach couldn’t simply wade out into the water and enjoy an invigorating swim. To protect their modesty, most ladies on a seaside holiday utilized a bathing machine. Though the name puts one in mind of a mechanized device, a bathing machine was really nothing more than a wooden dressing room set up on two wheels. The interior was usually equipped with both an entry and an exit door, and generally featured benches on either side, and hooks on the walls.[…]Continue Reading
A Grave but Cordial Thank You: 19th Century Advice on Thanking Gentlemen Strangers
(Met Museum)
Victorians had plenty of advice on how and when a lady should offer a word of gratitude, especially when that gratitude was in response to a service rendered by a gentleman stranger. Some believed that it wasn’t fashionable for ladies to thank strange gentlemen for small courtesies—e.g., holding doors for them or giving up their seats on a crowded public conveyance. To do so was considered unpolished and countrified. Better that ladies say nothing and accept such little services as their due.[…]Continue Reading
Tea and Sympathy: A Prescription for Nineteenth Century Invalids
(Sheffield City Art Galleries)
A cup of tea is the cure for any ill. And, in times of shock, the more sugar the better. This maxim was as true in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as it is today. There was no illness, personal loss, or otherwise calamitous event to which tea could not be applied with sympathy—and vigor.[…]Continue Reading
A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty Paperback Release Day!
Today my non-fiction fashion history book A Victorian Lady’s Guide to Fashion and Beauty is out in paperback in the United States! It’s already available everywhere else in both ebook and paperback. I apologize that it’s taken so long for it to be available in the U.S. (and I doubly apologize if it’s already back-ordered here). […]Continue Reading
Rolled Coiffures of the 1860s, featuring Rats, Cats, and Mice for the Hair
(Met Museum)
During the 1860s, ladies often wore their hair rolled back at the sides and at the nape of their neck. These rolls were usually created using false hair or “rats.” A rat was a homemade hairpiece made from the hair collected from a lady’s brush each evening. It was used to pad out the rolls and to help them keep their shape. Since it was made from a lady’s own hair, it provided the best match in color and texture.[…]Continue Reading
