Comparing Victorian fashion magazines to Cosmo | Fashion history in print

The first 1000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: https://skl.sh/snappydragon08211 Fashion magazines like Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar aren't new, they've existed since Victorian times! But what do they tell us about fashion history, and about what life was like over a hundred years ago? I compared two modern "womens" magazines to two Victorian ones : Godey's Ladies' Book from 1857, and Harper's Bazar from 1897, to see how different fashion magazines and the parts of life they talked about are— or aren't. "Fashion plates" are the most common part of historical magazines for historical costumers to use, because they show us detailed pictures of Victorian dress designs. Just like modern magazines show us pictures of fashion trends, these 19th century fashion plates were to inspire the reader. The key differences in Victorian fashion plates versus modern fashion editorial photos tells us so much about the changes in how clothes are produced : Instead of combining designs we like into a customized, custom-fitted outfit, we have to choose from mass-produced options. Furthermore, they show us the huge strides we've made in representation in fashion, and the ways in which the fashion world is still lacking in diversity. But what else is in these magazines, past and present? Magazines contain a wealth of cultural information, from news and current events to literary content, reviews, and articles about pop culture. You wouldn't expect a 19th c