The Victorian era, a time of corsets and crinolines, the Yorkshire Ripper and when Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.
These beautiful Victorian portraits are a type of early photograph called daguerreotypes. Invented by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre in the 1830s the photographic image is imprinted onto a silvered copper plate, making each portrait unique.
If I had to make a movie of a Thomas Hardy novel,I would definitely choose ‘Far From the Madding Crowd‘, especially since I had to study ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles‘ at school and it was incredibly depressing. Luckily for me, I don’t have to make the movie myself to enjoy a good slice of on-screen(…)
The forecast heatwave seems to have arrived in full force today and it’s far too hot to actually dance, so here are some vintage photos of people dancing their socks off to keep us all entertained. Thinking about doing exercise is almost as good as doing it, right? Oh, and I’d like to know your(…)
Everyone has their own idea of the perfect Mr Darcy (or at least every red-blooded woman with a beating heart). Since I studied Pride and Prejudice at school I’ve been head over heels in love with him, and it’s a book I’ll still re-read fairly regularly. At school we studied Wuthering Heights at the same(…)
During the 1850s British physician Dr. Hugh Welch Diamond took a series of haunting photographs of mentally ill patients under his care. He was one of the pioneers of early photography, starting in 1839 shortly after the medium was invented, and was one of the founding members of the Photographic Society. Diamond (pictured below) had(…)
Did you realize Sherlock Holmes was inspired by a real person? Nope, me neither! Apparently Arthur Conan Doyle (above right) based the fictional character of Sherlock on a doctor he knew called Joseph Bell (above left). Bell was known for his powers of deduction and even helped police with investigations in Scotland. Doyle met Bell,(…)
So, it’s Boxing Day and I’m sitting here (eating chocolates) waiting for it to snow. Apparently we are due to get snow tonight, but I fully expect to wake up in the morning and see cold grey drizzle rather than a beautiful white blanket covering everything. We didn’t have any snow last winter at all,(…)
To try to reduce the number of criminals being sentenced to death the Victorians introduced Hard Labour as an alternative. It involved backbreaking pointless work which was designed to be soul-destroying and painful. This sentence was handed out to children and women as well as men. It could involve anything from walking for up to(…)
Historical stage costumes are by their very nature fabulous. Rarely understated they needed to communicate the nature of a character as soon as they step onto the stage. Some are ridiculous intentionally, some not (I fear poor Andreas Dippel was supposed to look heroic but fell rather short of that), and some are simply wonderful(…)
A touching page from American President Theodore Roosevelt’s diary on Thursday February 14th 1884. The day his wife died 2 days after giving birth. And just to make sure you don’t suddenly think he was a sentimental kind of chap here’s a picture of him proudly standing over a dead bull-elephant he’s just shot. Make of that(…)
I had to share this with you today. It’s a bit different to my usual posts in that it’s not about 20th century fashion, cinema or cake, but I found this book was fascinating and I thought you might too. Anyone who’s a designer out there will know about Pantone and their colour guides. I(…)
It’s spring, and so of course my thoughts have returned to Paris, the beautiful city of blossom and boulevards, baguettes and bicyclette *sigh*. But Paris has always had a certain charm it was a very different place when Zeppelins were in the sky or there were German soldiers on the streets. Take a look at(…)
So, you thought the selfie was something new? Apparently not! Here is the evidence that people have been taking selfies since the late 1800s – even naked selfies! It’s not just the celebrities of today who love showing off their bods! These photos range from the 1890s to the 1970s, some are self-portraits done with(…)
I love the blithe glamour of these vintage corset adverts. They remind me of the uber-glamorous Modess adverts of the 1950s (never before or since have feminine hygiene products been so aspirational). All of these adverts claim comfort (I guess that’s a relative term), and one even has a blissful cherub sleeping snuggled inside it(…)
I’m not sure quite what the story is behind these photos of the Statue of Liberty. It seems that various body parts went on a world tour before they were finally assembled an put into place in 1886. Does anyone know a little more about the history of this? Either way, the photos are fascinating.(…)