lethal clothing

The Plague Shawl The history of disease is filled with cases of contagion spread by textiles. Was the 1878-79 Russian Plague caused by an infected shawl? Could a smallpox survive a year in the folds of a shawl, then kill?

Chignon Satire: Victorian Hairpiece Humor (part 2) We have previously looked at the hair-raising horrors of the parasitic “gregarines” in fashionable ladies’ chignons and waterfalls. Today let us comb through the archives for chignon satire. As with any extreme fashion, these appendages were the subject of much coiffure comedy.

he Chignon Horror: Dis-tressing News about False Hair (part 1) Fashionable ladies in the 1860s and 1870s wore their chignons and waterfalls proudly. They would have been shocked by the horrors that lurked in their modish hairdos.

A Bum-roll, Please – Victorian Bustle Humor Victorian costume humor. Like most fashions, bustles were ridiculed, caricatured, and exaggerated. Here are several examples of bustle humor and a thrilling episode from the history of wardrobe malfunctions.