The Costume Rag
Victorian dresses offer a huge choice of styles for retro lovers, Steampunks and fashionistas alike. That’s not surprising considering Victoria ruled for 64 years with many changes of Victorian fashion taking place in that time. Where to buy Victorian dresses: Premier Victorian (good balance of quality and price) Victorian Choice (more mass-produced but still reasonable) … Read more
Make your own unique outfit with these amazing victorian dress patterns. These suppliers vary from authentic and historically accurate patterns to more theatrical and steampunk costume designs. Of course the real joy of making your own outfit is not only having your own choice of fabrics and trims but the freedom to alter patterns to … Read more
Watch three paintings by Edward Burne-Jones brought to life in the trailer for the artist’s retrospective at the Tate Britain in London. The exhibition is now into its final weeks before its close on 24 February 2019. Born in 1833, Burne-Jones rejected the industrial world of the Victorians, looking instead for inspiration from medieval art, religion, myths … Read more
In the first decade of the twentieth century 80% of the population of German-occupied Namibia belonging to the Herero tribe were wiped out in a brutal genocide decades before the infamous murders of the Holocaust. Those who survived of the once 80,000-strong people were left with no property and no rights. German general Lothar von Trotha … Read more
“There is one thing that bothers me recently, but I don’t think I’m brave enough to make a video on it as it may be perceived as controversial – and it’s implementing modern mindsets in period dramas,” renowned costume blogger Karolina Zebrowska told The Costume Rag in a recent interview. “Especially women hating corsets and perceiving it … Read more
Uniforms believed to have been worn in the 1964 classic film Zulu – which made Michael Caine’s career – have sold on Ebay for a total of £1580. The red tunics dressed the characters of Gonville Bromhead and John Chard who fought at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift in January 1879 and were played by Michael Caine and … Read more
A group of costume interpretation students stunned London’s Comic Con by turning up as historically-accurate versions of Disney characters. They met at UAL’s Wimbledon college on one of the UK’s top costume courses on making historical garments and adapting them for theatre and screen and – despite the incredible skills shown by these costumes – … Read more
In 1825 using the off-cuts from his brother Cyrus’ tannery, James Clark created his first sheepskin slipper in the village of Somerset, England. Within a year sales of the ‘Brown Petersburg’ shoe reached 1,000 pairs a month and formed a success story that would culminate in two awards at the Great Exhibition in 1851, leading to … Read more
The female hosts of Westworld show the most significant of the many role-reversals between seasons one and two. The women who were literally constructed to please wealthy male patrons have rebelled and become truly terrifying figures of unmerciful vengeance. With production staff told little of where the series might go, the costume design that is … Read more
If you have a stash of trims you’ve been lying to yourself about for years – waiting for the perfect project for them to miraclously arise – then redemption is finally here. Amazon’s new production of Picnic at Hanging Rock stars Natalie Dormer as stern headmistress Mrs. Appleyard amidst the disappearance of several schoolgirls and their … Read more