The school of historical dress

SAVE THE DATE! The UK launch and study day of our new book ‘PATTERNS OF FASHION 7: The content, cut, construction and context of tailored menswear c. 1620-1720’ will be held IN LONDON at CONWAY HALL on SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2026. Programme and tickets will be available in June. We are also proud and excited to be launching the book on another continent at the beginning of OCTOBER. Follow us for dates and details to be announced soon!

The book will on sale to the general public from the end of October.

Image 1. A half-scale handmade reconstruction of a silk coat c.1710 from the book. In the background is a 1709 dated portrait in our library of a merchant from Hanover wearing a chintz informal gown.

Image 2. The fully dressed miniature doll of Lord Clapham c.1690-1700, now in the V&A collections.

Image 3. Inspired by the Lord Clapham doll, we have commissioned from Rachel Frost a similar doll of our own called Lord Lambeth, because our School is in Lambeth Road, London. Lord Lambeth will be a time traveller and could wear all the clothes seen here which are dated from c.1620-1710, the time period covered in our new pattern book.

Yesterday Adrien and Sébastien , members of our School team working on the next three ‘Patterns of Fashion’ books on menswear c.1620 to 1900, displayed and sold our books, posters and postcards during Zack Pinsent’s Soirée as part of the 2026 Brighton Festival.
Earlier in the day, Jenny Tiramani joined Zack for the presentation his ongoing research and reconstruction project ‘Dressing Admiral Nelson’ based on Janet Arnold’s unpublished pattern of Nelson’s effigy clothing now on display in Westminster Abbey.

While we were in the city of Bhuj in Gujarat, India we visited some wonderful artists, craftspeople and collectors. At SIDR craft we were welcomed by Abdul Jabber Khatri who showed us the process of bandani - the art of tie-dyeing.
1. A detail of a silk scarf decorated with bandani.
2. Abdul Jabbar Khatri demonstrating the technique of bandhani with a stencil pattern laid over a sample of white silk textile.
3. A detail of small holes in the stencil.
4. Rubbing and brushing the stencil with water, dye and soap to mark the pattern onto the silk sample through the small holes.
5. Tying fine thread tightly round each tiny mark with the aid of a long glass bead through which the thread is held.
6. View of one of the vats in the indigo house showing fermentation occurring.
7. A view of the finished silk scarf in Image 1. when the threads had all be removed. A bundle of them is also seen here. This scarf went through two tie and dye processes and a bleaching process. Not every process is shown in these images!

sidrcraft

If you love the 18th century, then don't miss our very special weekend course on the 8th and 9th November, dedicated to an indispensable accessory for women of all social classes: tie-on pockets! The silk damask pocket in our collection is surprisingly more than just one large pocket bag...

You will then study pocket hoops in more detail and how to make them, using the specific, appropriate way of covering and stitching baleen in.

Our courses use extant examples and reconstructions in the room.

To purchase a place please go to the online shop
https://shop.theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk/

All classes are held at
THE SCHOOL OF HISTORICAL DRESS
52 LAMBETH ROAD
LONDON, SE1 7PP

CONCESSIONS - Unwaged, full-time students, over 65 years of age and anyone receiving jobseeker’s allowance, income support or disability benefit.

We don’t always know who made items in our collection at The School of Historical Dress but we thought this cloth might have been printed by a member of the Khatri family in Kutch, Gujarat, India.
Image captions below.
1. We brought this double-sided hand block-printed (ajrakh) cotton cloth to India from our School collection to show it to Sufiyan Ismail Khatri and his father in Ajrakhpur in Kutch, India yesterday.
2. Sufiyan wearing the new turban cloth which he then gifted to our School.
3.& 4. Two of the 16 stage processes of creating a double-sided block print at Sufiyan’s farm.
5. Sufiyan and his father Dr. Ismail Mohamed Khatri holding the cloth we brought from our School. Ismail told us he definitely printed 12 cloths with this design in 1998 to take and sell in Vienna, Austria when he was invited to go there.
6. Ismail signed our School cloth by hand in natural pigments for us to bring it back to London.
7. A turban printed by the Khatri family, on display in the Living and Learning Design Centre in Ajrakhpur. This turban is worn by the Raau Node muslim community in Kutch.
8. 9. & 10. We (Hattie Barsby and Jenny Tiramani) then tried block-printing 3-colour designs on calico with modern pigments at the LLDC.

We have a few places left on our course on the different styles of 18th century woman's dress on September 28.

You will be able study up-close a very rare example of an embroidered Court Mantua c.1740 that was recently donated to our School, as well as our earlier example of a c.1715 mantua in blue damask, that was unpicked in the past and our recent interpretation of what it could have looked like.

Mantua gowns were a type of formal gowns worn in Britain in the 18th century, evolving from the French 'manteaux' worn from the 1670s onwards. The mantua itself is an open-fronted garment, with a very long train arranged in elaborate folds at the back, worn with a matching petticoat, over a very wide hoop-petticoat at Court.

Many more styles will be explained in detail throughout the course, to identify the specificity of each silhouette.

The course will take place at The School of Historical Dress, 52 Lambeth Road, London, SE1 7PP. Book directly on our webshop:
https://shop.theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk/

This year marks Jane Austen's 250th birthday.

This Sunday 21st September, come and discover more about Regency dress in our new course 'How to Uncover the Stories of Clothing in Regency England'. Last places available!

Inspired by Janet Arnold’s Handbook of Costume published in 1973, this course will teach students how to use documentary and visual sources to research textiles and clothing of the Regency.

Items from our collection from c.1775–c.1817 will be used to illustrate how layers of information can help uncover the stories of the people that may have worn and used them.

The course will take place at The School of Historical Dress, 52 Lambeth Road, London, SE1 7PP

Book on our webshop: Instagram
https://shop.theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk/product-category/courses/

There are still a few places available on some of our Autumn courses!

Amongst others, we are offering courses on the evolution of styles for Georgian Women's Dress, an introduction to Regency Dress, how to research the Cut and Construction of Historical Dress, the fascinating techniques used in making farthingales in the 16th and 17th centuries, the wonders of embroidery in the 18th century and last but certainly not least the secrets of women's tie-on pockets!

You can book them on our webshop:
https://shop.theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk/product-category/courses/

Students may keep all toiles/samples at the end of the courses. All materials will be provided.

All classes are held at
THE SCHOOL OF HISTORICAL DRESS
52 LAMBETH ROAD
LONDON, SE1 7PP

This weekend will be your last chance to visit our exhibition 'Our Collection by Colour, n. 6: RAINBOW' - Virtual tour on Saturday 16th at 6.30pm BST.

Friday 4pm to 7.30pm
Saturday/Sunday 1pm to 5pm

FREE entry, donation very welcome. No booking in advance is required.
52 Lambeth Road, London SE1 7PP, United Kingdom.
Our bookshop will be open on those days and you can buy all 6 volumes of Patterns of Fashion as well our posters and postcards by cash or card.

If you are unable to visit in person you can book for our virtual tour on our webshop:
https://shop.theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk/events/
If you have already booked you should receive a link shortly.

Photo: Cuff of a Court Mantua c.1740 embroidered with polychrome silk.

On International Cat Day, we remember our lovely Tyson the School cat, who sadly passed away last month at the venerable age of 19.
He was curious, loving and sometimes a bit mischievous, always "helping" while we were working on the books or sewing. He was always kind and loved by all who visited our School for the past 9 years.
He will live on forever as the hidden star of the Staymaker's tale and the Mantua-maker's tale in Patterns of Fashion volumes 5 & 6. Janet Arnold was also a cat lover and we have many photographs that she took of her cats and of those she met on her travels.