The HSF Challenge #16: Separates
Working in museums, one of the things we often talk about is the disparity in what ends up in a museum costume collection compared to what people actually wear. Collections are full of wedding gowns and ballgowns: memories of the grandest moments of our lives. On a day to day basis though, people wear much simpler clothes: practical, interchangeable items. Today this is jeans and t-shirts, but throughout history even the wealthiest have worn simple separates for the less momentous occasions. The Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #16 is all about Separates: items that can be paired with other pieces in your wardrobe to extend a look. My favourite anecdote about separates involves Queen Victoria and her future daughter-in-law Alexandra. On being introduced the Alexandra, the Queen noticed that she wore a skirt with one jacket one day, and the same skirt, with a different jacket, the next day. Victoria was delighted. To her, this indicated a frugal and practical nature: just the thing to balance the son that she and Albert had viewed as overly …