Style and Fashion
Hatched, Matched, Dispatched – and Patched! One of Three Exhibits to See at the American Museum
Mourning garments, heavily beaded with jet, contrast with delicate bridal gowns originating from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as christening robes crafted from cascades of handmade broderie anglaise lace. A tablecloth embroidered with the names of colleagues and friends of an American soldier who took part in the D-Day landings is incomplete. His British fiancée stopped embroidering the cloth when she heard he had been killed in action. The stitched decoration remains unfinished, the needle still in the cloth. more »
Gemeente Museum in The Hague: Romantic Fashions: Mr. Darcy Meets Eline Vere
Rustling silk, breathtaking embroidery, frills and flounces, vast crinolines... Sharply tailored suits for dandies and elegant ball gowns for ladies… This autumn's 19th-century fashion exhibition at the Gemeente Museum in The Hague features costumes from the time of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Eline Vere and Downton Abbey. more »
Indigo: A Technology Has the Potential to Transform the Jeans Dyeing industry From a Polluting Industry Into a Green One
Commercial synthesis of indigo dye replaced the plant source around 1900. Today, the jean industry uses about 40,000 tons of indigo a year. But there is a dark side. Industrial synthesis of indigo from petroleum is a "dirty" chemical process. Chemical production of indigo into an effective dye requires a chemical that becomes toxic to fish and some other aquatic life. And when sent to waste water treatment plants, it severely corrodes the piping. more »
Clothes Encounters: Where were the modest plaid skirts, bow-tied blouses, and shiny loafers my girl friends and I wore to high school?
Rose Madeline Mula writes: Something was definitely wrong with this picture. Earrings, nose rings, eyebrow rings, bizarre hair-dos, purple nail polish ... on the boys. Even weirder, one of them was actually wearing a bathrobe and slippers. I swear. The others sported second-skin-tight bicycle shorts or kaleidoscopic, ridiculously baggy pants obviously stolen from Barnum & Bailey. more »