
I have a big stack of vintage and antique photos that I’ve never shared, and whenever I get ready to post a new Vintage Miscellany, I go through the stack to find one that resonates with my mood. The date on the basketball – 1920 – and the ages of the girls struck a chord. These girls and their teacher were among the first women to gain the right to vote under the 19th Amendment.
The girls were too young to vote for president in 1920, but I hope the coach got registered and exercised her new-found legal right. But what really amazes me is that when I cast my first vote for President, Jimmy Carter, in 1976, it is very likely that some of these girls voted in the same election. The past is really not so long ago!
And now for some news…
- My first historical love was the 18th Century, and I find myself still intrigued, especially when it comes to shoes.
- Sometimes I’m amazed at some artifacts that survive, like the dress Carlotta Walls wore on her first day of school in 1957 at Little Rock Central High School.
- Mutton dressed as lamb? Susan at Witness2Fashion addresses the concept.
- A little late, but the Met has finally opened the spring exhibition, About Time. I’d love to hear from anyone who has seen it. There’s an awful lot of black.
- In 1920 Jackson, Wyoming elected an all-female government.
- Fred Perry did the right thing and pulled from the market a polo shirt that had been appropriated by a White supremacist group.
- Fashion designer Kenzo died on October 4, 2020.
- Powerful Western clothing companies continue to cheat clothing sewers.
- Video: A look inside the Costume Design Center at Colonial Williamsburg.
- Do we need a documentary on Audrey Hepburn? Yes, of course we do.
- The pandemic has had another effect – the breaking down of the worldwide trade in used clothing. I’m seeing this on a local level. Many thrift stores are no longer taking donations due to a glut of stuff.
- Video: Watch how FIDM dresses a mannequin in preparation for exhibition.
- Help save the roof of the Jane Austen house.
- Here’s more proof of the significance of what we choose to wear.
- And that leads me to the obvious political nature of the above link. In the past I have been criticised for allowing politics on a fashion history site. But as I have pointed out, clothing is more than just pretty frocks. We cannot separate culture from politics. And yes, I have criticized the clothing choices of the now lame duck administration. Not to do so would have been ignoring the elephant in the room. And yes. I was not neutral, but this is my blog, and I provide the content free of charge. So, please, no comments about how unfair I was to the former-president-to be and his sponges. I am over it.