In this week’s blog post, we find out about the Bloomsbury Fashion Central Bloomsbury Historic Dress in Detail collection of short films, made in collaboration with Crow’s Eye Productions.
'Getting dressed is something we all do; it is both familiar and, in another time and place, deeply unfamiliar, but we can all relate to the process. (It) is an accessible route into understanding the past and other cultures.’, Pauline and Nicole Loven, Crow’s Eye Productions.
Bloomsbury Historic Dress in Detail is collection of short films exploring the history of dress all the way from Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece to the swinging 60s.
Made in collaboration with Crow’s Eye Productions, a two person team consisting of filmmaker Nicole Loven and costume historian and former university lecturer Pauline Loven, it aims to bring period costume to life.
The collection is designed for all those studying and designing costume for performance, as well as for students and researchers within fashion history, and theatre studies.
A key aspect of each video is the act of getting dressed. How the garments were layered and worn in real life is clearly demonstrated, viewing history through the lens of fashion and everyday dress. The immersive films have been thoroughly researched using archaeological and archival source material, including surviving garments from museums and private collections and are filmed in historically accurate settings.
‘When recreating historical clothing it is important to begin with the base layers. It is the foundation garments that dictate the silhouette of a given period, whether it is following the natural figure or creating an artificially contrived and enhanced one.’ – Pauline and Nicole Loven.
The videos are accompanied by complementary articles and resources providing a detailed look at how people dressed in the past by placing the garments in their socioeconomic context, recognising the influence of events such as technological developments in the production of textiles. Practical advice with learning material videos on how to research historic dress and how to create garments without patterns supports the study and recreation of historical garments.
‘One of the ways to look into the heart of a culture is to look at the way they dressed. Apart from the aesthetic and potential inspiration in the details, one can see the cultural aspirations of the society, its attitudes to class and gender, and the socioeconomic environment in which clothing was created.’ – Pauline and Nicole Loven.
Photograph by Nicole Loven, Crow’s Eye Productions
For a taster of this collection, try a preview video on Eighteenth-Century Men’s Suits, available here, in which recreations and museum examples are used to create a guideline to the cut and construction of menswear during the eighteenth century. The supporting article provides the historical background and tailoring advice.
Another video on 1960s dress and its accompanying article explore the dynamic changes in fashion culture in the decade, using reproduction clothing, some made using contemporary patterns and original accessories. Further topics include Roman, Tudor, Regency, Victorian, and Modernist dress, many of which are aligned to designing costume for performance.
Find out more information on Bloomsbury Historic Dress in Detail or other collections on Bloomsbury Fashion Central, including free trials and purchasing.
Members of the Costume Society can try the Bloomsbury Historic Dress in Detail collection for free for 30 days to assess its suitability for their work or teaching, using exclusive login details that we have emailed out to all of our membership. Do let our Membership Secretary know if you have not received your code or if you have any issues accessing this fantastic resource.
