Fashion-era looks at women's costumes and fashion history and analyses the mood of an era.  Changes in technology, leisure, work, cultural and moral values, homelife, and politics have all contributed to lifestyle trends that influence the clothes women in particular choose to wear.

These are the changes that make any era of society special in relation to the study of the costume of a period.

New eras always herald new fashions.

New fashions are invariably old fashions with a fresh twist, be it a new fabric or a new way of wearing or accessorizing an outfit. We look at fashion and accessories, beauty, makeup, hair and body adornment, jewelry and materials, and other innovations which highlight the new trends and define the era in which we live.

About Pauline Thomas

Pauline Weston Thomas has been an honors Dress, Textiles and Design graduate and British qualified teacher since the 1970s.

At university, she also gained 2 distinctions in her subject field and was 3rd-year student prize winner. She has been interested in women's fashion, textiles, and costume in history since age of 3.

From 1979 she taught practical and theoretical aspects of fashion, garment construction, costume and fashion history, textile science and consumerism to students as well as to teachers and lecturers of the subject within Great Britain.

Current interests include developing web site and web graphic design skills. Other interests include creative fashion design, tailoring, pattern drafting, machine embroidery, computer-linked machine knitting, reading, interior design and making soft furnishings, sugar craft, cooking, and entertaining.

Her favorite sport is shopping until she drops. Her other favorite sport is people watching for trends.

Costume history has been a real passion since she saw a museum exhibition of costumes made for the BBC production The Six Wives of Henry VIII in the early 1970s.

Growing up, Pauline loved historical costume productions on TV especially serializations of the Dickens and Austen novels.

She adored Irene's famous sexy, black lace dress in the original black and white version of The Forsyth Saga and was thrilled with the costumes in the color production of the Pallisers and the Onedin Line.

Nowadays she finds it hard to sit through a TV production without analysing a sleeve or a silhouette, or feeling alarmed at the inappropriate use of synthetic fabric which drapes differently to the natural fibres found in authentic costumes.

Apart from working on her website in the past few years, Pauline has also found time to verify antique costumes from Castle Howard.

Fashion Culture Hub, From Era to Era


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