I Would Also Like To Mention My Good Friend @a-french-guardsman Who Is Also Trans And Dresses In Edwardian

I would also like to mention my good friend @a-french-guardsman who is also trans and dresses in Edwardian stuff/reenactment and does occasional sewing.

hi uh, i really enjoy your art and your sewing, I'm even subbed over on youtube, but I jsut wanna say thanks for being you. It's really cool to learn you're trans, and it's revitalizing my desire to get back into historic sewing. I didn't know if or how big the trans communityw as in the recreation sewing, but knowing we're out there in this community too is really assuring. I'm super excited to start working on patterns and styles I haven't been able to do before. Thank you for all you do!

Hello, thank you!! There are quite a lot of trans people who are into historical sewing! I can't think of very many here on tumblr - there's @rowzien who does lovely early 19th century stuff, and @lebedame-wegelagerin does a lot of 18th century (she doesn't post many pictures, but we chat about sewing often) and I'm sure plenty of trans costuming people will say "same hat!" in the comments of this post.

There are a lot more that I know of on instagram, so I'll just list a bunch off. (I pretty much never look at my instagram feed and don't remember the names of most of the people I follow, let alone their genders, so I likely missed some but ah well.) Some of these are more cosplay, larp, or vintage focused accounts, but there's some sort of sewing and/or costuming on all of them.

jonesyollie (friend who made the timesheet from the previous post!), bequeermakestuff, evilqueenbeecosplays (sadly there aren't many ladies in this post, but I'm sure there are more out there!), ora_lin (they sell patterns!), noodle.stitch, ashlgcostumes (they have a lot of youtube videos and a nice speaking voice), rose_prince_lee, qtcostumer, enby.vintage, kiyoteacups, transcending_time_costuming, slightly_teddy (he's also on tumblr but hasn't posted in ages), angryhistoryguy (he once said in a facebook comment that he has so many transmasc reenactor friends that they could make a Monstrous Regiment), woodsmokeandwords, and marlowelune (SUCH good historical/fantasy everyday clothes, agh! love their wardrobe and illustrations!).

Honourable mention to matthewpcarlsen and dario_princiotta, who haven't put pronouns in their bios and I don't want to speculate on anyone's gender, but it's some good gender juice either way. Matthew pairs a bushy moustache with perfectly fitted Victorian gowns and looks amazing in them, and Dario is really into tightlacing and weird sculptural corsetry.

This is, alas, not a particularly diverse list of people. Like the costuming community at large, it skews towards white and afab, but that does seem to be gradually improving over the years - I certainly see a lot more people of colour doing historical costuming now than I did a decade ago. (I've been into historical sewing since approximately 2010).

As your ask demonstrates, when people don't see themselves represented in a space they're more likely to avoid it/assume it's not for them, which is the entire reason I occasionally mention being trans in my posts!

The number of drafting systems being patented and published proliferated steadily during the 1830s, and then jumped dramatically in the 1840s, by which time methods for drafting men's garments constituted a whole subsidiary trade of competing patents, legal entanglements, regional subscription agents, aggressive advertising, and price wars. [...]

In 1842 the American Institute awarded a prize at its annual industrial fair for the first time to "the best system for drawing garments."

— Michael Zakim, Ready-Made Democracy: A History of Men's Dress in the American Republic, 1760-1860

Illustrations from A Treatise on Cutting Garments to Fit the Human Form: Containing Fifty Diagrams and Designs Reduced to Mathematical Principles, by Scott & Wilson (New York, NY), 1841. (full text on Internet Archive)

your new icon is really good

Thank you so much, truly it was an arduous process. It took me months at a time with every fine detail. I say, I shan’t ever come close to it’s beauty again.

MEOWACKULOUS TYE FOOLS DAY!!

William Pratt, Freemen of Color, Richmond, Virginia c. 1850

2 Sisters Selling Flags during World War I to raise money for Indian soldiers, circa 1914-18