3 Search Results for: crazy victorians

Those crazy Victorians – take 3: Sanitary toe socks

Remember toe socks? Those 70’s monstrosities that became a fad again in the 1990s? It turns out they weren’t a new invention! Click on the image to learn more than you ever wanted to know about weird Victorian health regimens. I now must find a way to incorporate toe socks into a steampunk ensemble. I wonder if you could have steampunk-esque slippers? Or sandals? In an awful way, I’m liking the idea of ‘crunchy’ steampunk. Enter the steampunk hippies! * If you are wondering what ‘Take 1’ and ‘Take 2’ were, check out these posts.

Those crazy (creepy) Victorians – take 4

Published by The Dreamstress

Some time ago, someone mentioned Walter Potter to me, but foolishly, I didn’t look in to him. Last week, I was reminded again. And boy, have my eyes been opened. This is Walter Potter: He looks like a lovely, staid Victorian gentleman. Until you see what he did for a job. This is Potter’s most famous work: Yes, those are kittens. Taxidermied kittens. Having a tea party. Felicity does not approve. (Damian Hirst does though, go figure) Potter worked with other animals too: Who thinks up exercising toads? I mean, really!?! Apparently they are all mechanised, and do their individual exercises. Freaky. When bunnies at school starts too look ‘normal’, you know you have seen too many of these works. Only the Victorian’s could have thought up, and celebrated, something like this. The genre is called ‘Victorian Whimsy’. Really. Potter ran a museum dedicated to his works in Brighton. Tourists could take special coach trips from Brighton just to see the works too. I kid you not. Should you really feel the need to see …

Rate the Dress: Fancy dress for 1830

Published by The Dreamstress

The Halloween run-up purple and black dress from last week was very divisive. You either loved the dress, or hated it. One thing you did agree on though: the fringe was not good. Perhaps my anti-fringe stance has influenced all of you after all! The pro-black and purple-ites won a slight victory, bringing the rating in at 6.7 out of 10 Last week I gave a taste of the season, and I promised a proper Halloween Rate the Dress for this week, but when I came to pick something, I realised what a mistake my promise was! How was I ever to live up to last year’s Victorian Batgirl? How was I ever to find something else that was said ‘Halloween’ so clearly, that was from a different period (because the whole point is variety), and that wasn’t so historical that the costume would make no sense from a modern perspective. So I thought about the timeless trends in costuming: things that make Halloween costumes Halloween costumes, and it boiled down to three things: scary, …