Fashion

General History

Underwear history: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Annie Gray (Photo by Melissa Rodrigues)

“Leisure was built into the whole shopping experience” | Annie Gray on the history of the high street. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

From fire hazard petticoats to garments that caused fainting and even death by poison, some trends in 19th-century women’s fashion were risky business for those who wore them. (Photo by Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

A bodice-ripping revolution: how Victorian women cast off deadly fashion trends. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastFalse rumps & rotten teeth: 400 years of bizarre beauty practices. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A man helps his partner to dress by lacing her whalebone corset.

Victorian corsetsDangerous or misunderstood?

Beauty before durability: the interwar beginnings of fast fashion. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

General ancient history

The Phrygian cap: how did an item of ancient headgear become a symbol of liberty?

From balls to Bridgerton: a brief history of debutantes and the social season

Elizabethans quiz - week one. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Chanel: glamour and controversy on the Riviera. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cast of The New Look

Is The New Look a true story? The real history behind the period drama

Juliette Banoche as Coco Chanel in 'The New Look' and the real Coco Chanel.

Did Coco Chanel collaborate with the Nazis during WW2?

Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) in 'The New Look' and the real Christian Dior.

The real Christian Dior: who was the man behind The New Look, and did he make dresses for Nazi wives?

Catherine Dior (Maisie Williams) in The New Look and the real Catherine Dior.

From French resistance to fashion heir: who was the real Catherine Dior?

Shelley Tobin

My life in historyCostume curator for the National Trust. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ladies in Tudor costume in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. (Photo by Steve Vidler via Alamy)

7 things you (probably) didn't know about Tudor fashion

Vintage photograph of a gentleman from the Victorian era c1880 with a bushy moustache.

General History

A hairy history of the moustache

George IV's coronation. Many men behind him are carrying his cloak.

Five outrageous moments in royal fashion history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jane Austen’s passion for fashion. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

From mysterious knitting needles to strange silhouettes: recreating historical clothing. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Q&AWhat was the fascination behind Tudor codpieces?

Replicas of necklaces belonging to Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife (Photo by Angela-Treasures For A Queen - Etsy)

Queens of bling: the importance of jewellery to Henry VIII's six wives. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

What did the Tudors wear?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Pirate flags & wedding gowns: a patchwork of a Victorian life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Power dressing: the hidden value of clothes in 19th-century America. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dandies, fops & macaronis: fashionable men through history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Bridal accessories, including lace gloves and pearls (Alchemia | Dreamstime.com)

Beyond fashion: 6 accessories that reveal changing attitudes in society, from the Georgians to the 20th century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of Ginger Rogers

Q&AWhen did people start wearing sunglasses?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A third-century monument of a Roman woman having her hair styled by slaves, from Germany. High-status women on the frontiers, including at Hadrian's Wall, tried to follow the latest Roman fashions (Photo by DEA / M. BORCHI / Getty Images)

Roman Britain: what six objects can reveal about life for women at Hadrian’s Wall. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Woman wearing a bikini

Why we should rememberThe launch of the swimsuit that scandalised the world