When I was an undergrad at Harvard, one of my favorite places to study was in the reading room of Widener Library. It’s a beautiful building. In order to get to the reference and reading rooms on the second floor,… Read More
Why do many women in medieval paintings look pregnant? Fat Queen Isabella made it fashionable to be plump. Thin women strapped pillows around their middles.… Read More
The 1600s were a foppish time for male fashion–men of rank wore make-up, high heels, and elaborate curls. In 1625, poisoner Signora Toffana invented a makeup made of liquid arsenic. Her Aqua Toffana was used to dispatch as many as… Read More
Queen Victoria’s portly son, Edward VII, wore his vest unbuttoned at the bottom because it wouldn’t close over his girth. To this day, men still leave the bottom button undone.
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About This Blog
I’m still learning my way around the art of blogging, but now that my new site has been up for a couple of weeks, I’m starting to get the hang of this. My goal is to blog… Read More
Men’s “dress” breeches in the late 1700s were skin tight and made of leather (the only fabric that wouldn’t split at the seams). It was impossible to sit down in them.… Read More
In most card games, the king was once the highest card in a suit. But after the French Revolution, the ace was introduced as an act of civil defiance, as the power of nobility declined.