#^^

[majesticn3wt]

1. Valentines Day

Sonilver Week prompt list

[malthedreamer]

That's how it went, right?

[travellingdragon]

[pepsimanan]

#33 SONiKA

[rocketbirdie]

nyargacuga :3

[shurup-overt]

busy rn so here are some random 2024 sketches

[forestgloss]

say what u want but pinterest doesnt miss

sorry for posting a tumblr screenshot onto tumblr. i couldn't find the og

[cheesebrackers]

SONIC ART ^^ (plus soundwave)

[paper--machete]

my new vrchat avatar is rly cutes

[knightcharlotte]

COLLEGE AU COLLEGE AU COLLEGE AU

[muttsandmustelidae]

ma’am why are you so ears

[araneadillydally]

DillyDally 60

Happy Mother’s Day to the assigned mom friend

[marstabirsehir]

[thedeafprophet]

Prophet's Tip For Historical Fashion Reference Finding

Say you're into a Brand New Historical Fandom, or researching something for a project, or even just endlessly curious about what is worn in the past. You set out to look for reference images, type in victorian fashion into a search bar on google and you get...

this.

A wide range of various different fashions, unpinpointed to specific eras, intermingled with AI garbage. Not exactly the most useful, now is it?

Fret not, for I have some advice for how I, Prophet, go about searching for historical references, that may or may not be useful to you. Keep in mind, this is simply some ways i go about it and not a definitive how to, and also that it will be primarily focusing on western fashion for this guide in specific....

Shall we? Tips under the cut if you're so inclined. I will warn you, it is fairly long.

1.Know What You're Looking For

By this I mean, try to know what you want to find from the beginning. There's so much out there in historical fashion, that trying to go into it all at once is like looking for a specific drop of water in the ocean.

Have a specific subject in mind, even if its just "evening dress worn to an 1860s ball" or "green dress from the 1890s" or 'fashion plates from this specific location and era", or even just "evening gowns". Knowing what you want to find before you start looking is imperitive

If you're brand new to historical fashion, you may not know what any of these terms mean. Here, id suggest looking for a basic overview of clothing. Often information can be found by searching "time period" + "location" + "fashion terms". This is where im really gonna suggest starting small - stick to a specific era and place, or its gonna get overwhelming very quickly.

To get you started, Here is a good tumblr post on different types of 1890s dresses, here is victorian fashion terms A ~ M, and this youtube video on "Victorian Fashion Is Not What You Think" + "1920s Fashion Is Not What You Think"

Its also important to keep in mind, as a general rule, the further back you go, the harder it will be to find information. Theres much more retained contents from say, the 1910s then there is for say, the 1700s, simply because of a) what information was put out and b) the difference in the amount of time passing. That isnt to say there isn't an equal amount of information of both, its simply a matter of what records survived and where.

2. Be Specific - Pick A Year, A Style, A Place, etc.

Its all well and good to say you want an evening gown, for example, but just searching 'victorian evening gown' can still lead to a mix of results and costumes

Lets refine our search. Lets look for an evening gown from 1901.

Thats a little more direct now isn't it? How about if we add green.

And there we go! Obviously, we still got that one clearly not what we're looking for at the and there, but as it stands, theres some very lovely looking dress references avaiable for our needs. Adding the term 'fashion plate' can specify us further to fashion plates at the time

These searches also bring us to further websites, which leads me to my next comment

3. Know Where To Look

Using google is all well and good, but quite evidently, still wont always give us the best look through. Especially these days with the rise of unfiltered AI content heavily messing up searches. There are ways to cirumcvent that, but its never been ideal.

There's a most obvious place of where to look: Museums. Obviously going directly to whats on show in places isnt accessible to many, but a lot of museums have online archives of their records availible for purusing. For example, the Victoria and Albert Museum has a very a searchable online catalog.

Here i can search for fashion plates, and then specify a time period. The advice i gave earlier still applies, but searching will be different depending on the site you're using.

I highly recommend looking through what various museums have avaiable online, especially since many will also have written up information on the items you are looking at.

In terms of other places to get you started, heres a link to the page with all of The Mets fashion plates by year.

And while I would normally never recommend Pinterest as a main source for images, here is actually a rare occasion that I would. For one, objects that are this old are generally all public domain anyways, and two, some images are from auctions and private collections, things that were uploaded once and never seen again. Some images on pinterest may only exist there now, with how easy it is for things to be lost. Many people have also taken the time already to comb through old magazines and uploaded images onto there too in collections/pinterest boards.

speaking of magazines...

4. Learn The Names of Historical Brands and Fashion Magazines

Capatalism was not invented yesterday, and those in the past were well on their way to starting things. Magazines and catalogs contained so many various advertisments, especially for that of clothing. Many of those magazines have been uploaded and can be found online to this day! Combing through and being able to find images directly from their sources is incredibly useful!

Examples of titles include The Delineator [American, some catalogs online can be found here and here] , La Mode Illustrée [ French, can be found here tho i do warn the site is in french lol] , La Moda Elegante [Spanish, can be found here and here]

This is just a few, there were many magazines around all with various years and styles. Many also have articles in them which can be a fascinating insight into what was being promoted at the time. [though of course, a warning for period related bigotries and questionable knowledge is always applicable when looking at old texts]

5. Take Your Time

There are a lot of different sources, a lot of different time periods, a lot of different locations and styles. It can be a lot.

Don't go into this expecting to know and have every single thing right away, and don't put pressure on yourself to get it all 100% accurate right away. Take your time, learn what you want to learn, and find what you want to find. Even I, with all my interest in it, am still constantly finding and learning new things.

A collection of references wont be built in one day. Take your time to find the images you like, to comb through sources and approach it in how you want to, and build it up step by step.

6. Don't Be Afraid To Look And Ask Around

I'm sure if you've been around, you'll notice a lot of blogs and pages dedicated to historical fashion. Many people are engaged and interested, and share and catalog their research online.

Look to historical costumers online, from youtube to tumblr and anywhere inbetween! Look at the historical costume blogs and comb through tags and what you want to find! So many people are interested in things, and theres community just in the images.

And if you have questions and want to learn more, don't be afraid to ask! From my experience, people love sharing their interests and sources and everything they've gathered. If you're looking for something specific, chances are, someone else might already know! I know i'm more than happy to share and help when asked ^^

Seriously. I have. a lot of images saved

If you read through this whole thing, I applaud you, and hope some of this information can be of some help! Feel free to ask any questions, and happy fashion hunting!!!

[supa-kuwameshi-bros]

first post yall let’s get it

[etchif]

teensy tiny pixel victoria