Fashion Findings | The British Newspaper Archive Blog

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Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

This week at The Archive we are getting creative with the addition of brand new title Fashion and Craft (Creative Needlecraft), a publication devoted to all things dress and design. Meanwhile, our presses have been whirring over the past seven days to bring you another new title, the Halifax Daily Guardian, as we have added 243,130 brand new pages in all. We have also reached a landmark 74 million pages this week. Meanwhile from Deal to Dundee, from Mearns to

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The Legacy of Charles Frederick Worth – The First Couturier

Known as the ‘first couturier‘ and the ‘Napoleon of costumiers,’ British fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth is regarded by many as the father of haute couture. Born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, on 13 October 1825, Charles Frederick Worth would make his name in Paris as the founder of the House of Worth, and the man who revolutionised the business of fashion. In this special blog, we will explore the life and legacy of Charles Frederick Worth via newspapers published in his

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The Butcher, Baker and Candlestick Maker – Shopping in the Eighteenth Century

On 2 April 1748 the Ipswich Journal reported on ‘the most terrible‘ fire which had broken out at a Mr. Elridge’s, a peruke maker, in Exchange Alley, London. Rumours soon spread that a boy had left a candle near some wig boxes, which had been set on fire, and then: The Flames [had] extended themselves into Cornhill, and burnt down the Houses of Mr. Walthoe, Mr. Strahan, Mr. Meadows, Mr. Brotherton, and Mr. Astley, Booksellers; Toca’s and the Rainbow Coffee-Houses, the Fleece

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Selfridges Steps Out – The Opening of a Department Store As Told By Our Newspapers

This December, we have been looking at the history of shopping, and no history of shopping would be complete without looking at the one of London’s most iconic department stores – Selfridges. The brainchild of American entrepreneur, Harry Gordon Selfridge (1858-1947), the Oxford Street department store was opened on 15 March 1909, to great fanfare. And in this special blog, we will look at the opening of ‘London’s biggest shop,’ and how the opening was reported in the newspapers to

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‘The Girls Behind the Counter’ – The Daily Life of a Victorian Shop Girl

In November 1846, the ‘Friends of a respectable young Woman’ placed this advertisement in the ‘Wants‘ column of Saunders’s News-Letter: The Friends of a respectable young Woman wish to procure for her a Situation either as Attendant on a Lady or in a Nursery, or as a Shop Girl; she is adequate to any of the above capacities, and is willing to make herself generally useful, being of an humble, quiet and obliging disposition; she is a good needleworker, and can teach

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‘Vive La Miniskirt!’ – Celebrating One of Fashions Greatest Revolutions

When the miniskirt first burst onto the fashion scene in the early 1960s, its presence was divisive. Immediately, many women took to it, but others were not so sure, wondering whether it was just a passing fad. But the miniskirt was to become a symbol of the 1960s, from embodying ‘Swinging London’ to representing the greater emancipation it afforded to women – sexual, social and moral. And so, in this special blog, using newspapers taken from The Archive, we will

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Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

This week at The Archive has been a truly remarkable one, as we have achieved the landmark of 44 million pages all now available to view on the site. Furthermore, we have added another 201,178 brand new pages over the past seven days, with the addition of an incredible fifteen new titles, including specialist sporting and fashion titles. So read on to discover all about our new titles of the week, which include famed fashion industry publication the Tailor & Cutter, as well as to

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Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

We have had a truly extraordinary week here at The Archive as we have added 262,572 brand new pages to our collection, with the addition of a remarkable 27 brand new titles from across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. So read on to discover more about this bumper crop of new titles which we have harvested for you, which cover over a hundred years of headlines, as well as specialist interests such as politics and fashion. Plus, we will be exploring summer fashions

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Celebrating Vesta Tilley and Other Incredible Male Impersonators

Vesta Tilley, Annie Hindle, Hetty King and Ella Shields – just a few of the incredible male impersonators who were the superstars of their day. In music halls across the world, from London to Baltimore, from South Africa to Australia, these pioneering women hit the heights of fame during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Music Hall and Theatre Review | 12 June 1896 In this special blog, we will celebrate the legacies of these early drag kings, exploring their

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‘Make-Do Make-Up’ – Makeup During the Second World War

Flung into new roles in the armed services and other industries, their home life turned upside down during blackouts and air raids, how did women use makeup during the Second World War? In this our fourth and final blog looking at the history of makeup, we delve into how makeup was used during the Second World War. The Sketch | 5 June 1940 Using pages taken from the British Newspaper Archive, we will discover how women in the three branches of

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