Bertha Wagner looks like she is having a pleasant ride on her bicycle. By the time this photo was taken in 1917, the big bicycle craze was over. This form of transportation that was so important just a few years earlier was rapidly being supplanted by the automobile.
* In 1894, Annie “Londonderry” Cohen Kopchovsky decided to ride a bicycle around the world. This site tells the fascinating story.
* The BBC has an interesting story about what is probably the first fashion book. It is the record of what Matthaeus Schwarz, an accountant in Augsburg, Germany wore starting in 1520.
* Threads of Feeling, the show that featured the scraps of fabric that were used to identify children at the Foundling Hospital in 18th century London, is now at Colonial Williamsburg. Now through September 1, 2014.
* There’s more on that fascinating Irene Saltern archive at American Age Fashion.
* People have been picnicking for a very long time. Listen to a short history at NPR.
* Advance notice: Costumes from Downton Abbey will be on display at Winterthur (Delaware) March 1, 2014 through January 4, 2015.
* Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, will be having an Icons and Idols fashion auction on October 11 and 12. Featured will be items from the estate of William Travilla.
* This blogger looks for the inspiration for modern fashion in art and fashion of the past. Part Nouveau.
* ArtSpace has an interesting article about the rise of fashion exhibitions. It explores the fashion as serious art angle, and asks some hard questions about the corporate influence we so often see in conjunction with fashion exhibitions.
* And finally, Colin McDowell tells us what is wrong with fashion today, and it is plenty.
The Vintage Traveler 
John Meyer of Norwich exhibition at Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury ct http://www.mattatuckmuseum.org/changing
Elise Meyer http://Www.muchadoaboutstuffing.com @elisemey
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Elise, thanks so much for the notice. This sounds like a great exhibition.
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Beth does look like she’s having a fabulous time! Her bicycle is quite big too.
Thanks for sharing another great set of links.
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I loved that story about the first fashion book (fashion blogger, even?)!
I also read Colin McDowell’s piece. Very interesting. You know, I haven’t looked at a fashion magazine in a few years now, so I don’t know if much has really changed recently, but I’ve never found that they ever really “spoke” to me…occasionally I’ve seen an inspired/inspiring shoot, but they’ve never quite inspired me in the same way that some bloggers have. I do love and agree with this quote about fashion from the article: “It is enjoyed by increasing numbers and there are more joining the queue, ready to pay very high prices for objects that are ultimately expendable, even after a very short life, because conspicuous consumption is the best game in town and, as it requires no skills, the excess it encourages is open to us all.”
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Thanks for the info! And, I wish the bike craze never left.
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