On the Wings of Beetles: An ode to one of the most beautiful trends in Victorian Fashion.

27th Jun 201927th Jun 2019 wildhistoryLeave a comment

Victorian Dress embellished with the wings of Jewel Beetles.

The Victorian Era was not an overtly ostentatious time for fashion, with its ankle-length skirts, poke bonnets and full-sleeved dresses. The monarch, whom the era took its name from, dressed very modestly and didn’t wear makeup – a far cry from her predecessors (looking at you Queen Elizabeth I). Women were expected to follow her lead to achieve the perfect picture of grace, beauty and maternity – as well as to protect themselves from lustful men, in case they became too beautiful and attracted unwanted advances.

It was restrictive, uncomfortable and often dismal dressing in the 1800’s, and while a modest life was the ideal, exotic tastes were common at the time and often seen as romantic, whimsical even. Take for example one of my favourite trends from this period, adapted from Asian fashion that had been practiced in places like Myanmar and Thailand for centuries before the Victorians stumbled across it; Beetlewing.

Keeping Up with The Kingdoms: Makeup and Cosmetics in the Middle Ages

26th Jun 20191st Jul 2019 wildhistoryLeave a comment

Things that run through my mind at 3am: Why did I do that embarrassing thing 19 years ago? Is that a pile of clothes on the chair or a demon? How did women in the Middle Ages wear makeup?

Makeup in 2019 is inescapable. Every few scrolls of my Facebook feed bring up yet another tutorial on how to perfectly contour my face or create a sexy smoky eye. Beauty Influencers are like some kind of sparkly, gorgeous hydra and they’re everywhere, so I often wonder if makeup was as accessible and easy to apply as it is now – how did medieval women achieve their look?

In the Middle Ages, the church viewed makeup as immoral and sinful, stating that it was vanity to paint one’s face. If a woman was disfigured from an illness, like pox, then she was permitted to use makeup – so she didn’t repulse her husband – but otherwise you were a stone cold sinner.

Despite the church and their bare-face policies, women still wore makeup, sometimes going to surprising lengths to achieve the desired look of the day. Delve into some fascinating facts about Medieval beauty below!

WYSK Stefanie St Clair, The Queen of Harlem.

26th Jun 20191st Oct 2020 wildhistory3 Comments

When we conjure the image of Prohibition-Era mobsters, figures like Al Capone spring to mind – Tommy Guns in hand, low brimmed hats and pin-striped suits, arrogant and fearsome. It’s seldom that we associate women with the gangster lifestyle, however in Harlem during the 1920’s, Stephanie St Clair – an immigrant from The Caribbean, who rose to fame as Queen of the Numbers Rackets and went on to earn a cool quarter of a million dollars per year – was centre stage. She was by all accounts a gangster, but she was also a Civil Rights activist and beloved figure in Harlem, with a tongue that could cut even the most hardened mobsters. This is the story of the Queen of Harlem.