In this exciting collaboration episode of Silhouettes, we're stepping into the immersive world of Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style, the captivating new exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands. This episode will offer you, my listeners, a unique glimpse into this remarkable celebration of the Jewish Londoners who played a pivotal role in building London's reputation as a fashion capital. From Dot Cotton's iconic coat to a Mr. Fish smoking dress, this exhibition illuminates the significant contributions of Jewish designers to London's fashion narrative. Join us as we u ..read more

In this episode of Silhouettes, I am joined by Elisabeth Gernerd, 18th century dress historian and author of The Modern Venus: Dress, underwear, and accessories in the late 18th century. This episode continues our Valentines special season all about the history of undergarments, lingerie and underwear. ‘The Modern Venus’ highlights the significance of this element of a woman’s wardrobe in the 1770s and 1780s, detailing how undergarments played their part in transforming fashionable dress at a time when clothes were expanding to both new heights and new volumes, exploring the socio-political p ..read more

Personal styling has a rather unique and often complicated history, spanning all the way from the French Revolution to the Advent of the AI assisted styling that we see emerging today. In this episode, written in collaboration with Sydney Yeager of dressedcodes, we learn just how influential stylists have been in the annals of fashion history, how they have come to define fashion concepts such as ‘dressing for success’ & ‘you are what you wear’ and how they changed the landscape when it came to curating and defining personal style across the world. This episode of our short hist ..read more

Mirror, mirror, on the wall... On this episode of Silhouettes, we reflect on the fascinating and often fragile history of mirrors. Starting with polished glass, to scientific developments in treated glass, mirrors hold up a reflection to our societies; dictating when, why and how vanity, self-styling and personal care have become important throughout time. Examples include use in Greek mythology, their importance in Roman culture, cultural impact across high society and the important role of empowerment mirrors played during the slave trade. Join the Behind The Seams family to support the po ..read more

In this episode I am joined by prominent historian Elizabeth L. Block to discuss all things 19th century fashion! Her book, Dressing Up chronicles how wealthy American women-as consumers and as influencers-helped shape French couture of the late nineteenth and examines the couturiers' influential clientele--wealthy American women who bolstered the French fashion industry with a steady stream of orders from the United States.  Countering the usual narrative of the designer as solo creative genius, Block tell us just how these women-as high-volume customers and as pre-Internet influencers ..read more

In this Halloween special episode, I’m joined by Katie Godman, author of Gothic Fashion: The History to talk all about her wonderfully Gothic book, as we trace Gothic fashion history from barbarians to haute couture and delve into the long, fascinating and sometimes unexpected evolution of all things Gothic. We discuss just how Gothic fashion has evolved from its ancient roots to the Victorian Gothic, all the way to the Goth subculture movements of more recent history. Katie’s book Gothic Fashion: A History is published by Unicorn Publishing and available to buy through their website. Katie ..read more

From Buffy, to Bram Stroker, to Twilight - Vampires have had a fascinating journey in the public eye. In this episode of Silhouettes, we discuss the iconic vampire image that has inspired Halloween costumes across the globe, tracing the routes of the vampire's origins, to Dracula and his famous incarnations in cinema, from Universal Studios and Hammer Horror, and vampiric influence on Goth culture the world over. Happy Spooky Season! Join the Behind The Seams family to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content: www.patreon.com/silhouettespodcast Thanks for listening, and sta ..read more

In today’s episode of Silhouettes I’m chatting with Isabella Rosner, host of the Sew What? Podcast, curator of the Royal School of Needlework and research consultant for Whitney Antiques. She also runs the Instagram page Historic Embroidery, and is a wealth of knowledge on everything to do with historic embroidery and needlework; from the 16th century onward. On this episode we discuss how studying historic embroidery can teach us about lives of teenage girls, the transition of girlhood, how we can trace what was important to people and their lives through fashion and how needle work as a prac ..read more

Fashion History is often overlooked for it's importance in conversations about the past, but in this episode of Silhouettes we take the podcast on the road for the first time and look behind the curtain of one of the UK's only standalone Fashion Museums; Blandford Fashion Museum. I was lucky enough to be invited out to the South-Coast of the UK to Blandford explore everything the museum has to offer with their wonderful body of staff and volunteers. In this episode I speak with Operations Manager Katie Godman about the history of the collection and it's origins, Funding Manager Kathrine about ..read more

History is not short on women who've been robbed of their reputations, be that in their lifetimes or the years that followed, and in this episode I'm joined by Grace of the Wicked Women Podcast to discuss exactly that. We delve into the fashion of some of history's most notorious women and how they weaponized the clothes they wore to either dismantle or enforce the reputations society had given them. Thanks to Grace for joining me on this episode. Listen to the first part of our conversation via Wicked Women HERE Join the Behind The Seams community to support the podcast and gain access to ..read more