Fashion History Museum

06/25/2026

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=04b8e3cacbdb

An online jigsaw puzzle with 100 pieces.

06/24/2026

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=1e4554b227c3

An online jigsaw puzzle with 96 pieces.

06/23/2026

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=04397ea98a39

An online jigsaw puzzle with 96 pieces.

06/21/2026

There is a fantastic article about the museum in the summer edition of Art House magazine. It begins on page 22:

Created with the Heyzine flipbook maker

06/20/2026

MADE IN FRANCE Now Open until October 11 - Wed thru Sun, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. at Gallery Stratford, 64 Romeo Street

06/18/2026

Opening Saturday!

05/27/2026

Encore Boutique will be debuting at Stratford Vintage Market this Saturday, May 30 with an array of vintage classics and wearable treasures dating from the 1950s to the 1990s. Encore is the FHM's boutique of unique vintage clothing and accessories sold in support of the museum. The FHM, which was in Cambridge for ten years, is now looking for a new home in Stratford, and while we look, we will be opening Encore Vintage at 41 Market Place this coming July 11. This summer the FHM is also mounting two exhibitions: Vogue Voyages - Fashion on the High Seas 1912 – 1939, on display now until November 8 at Castle Kilbride; and Made in France at Gallery Stratford, an exhibition of French fashions from 1870 to 1970, opening June 20 and on display until October 20.

05/20/2026

Today is the Day! is excited to announce its newest exhibit Vogue Voyages: Fashion on the High Seas Travel Clothes 1912 – 1939. Get on board with a fashion display that manifests the grandeur of travel during the steamship era. View clothing and outfits that made waves. In proud partnership with the Fashion History Museum.

04/12/2026

Gender kerfuffle: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15726259/Museum-accused-rewriting-history-telling-visitors-Victorian-boys-dresses-gender-fluid.html

Let's clear things up:

Until the 15th century infants and toddlers were all referred to as 'girls' - it was another word for 'child'. As children aged, girls were called maidens and boys knaves. The term 'boy' was originally used to refer to a servant. That definition survived amongst early English settlers of the Southern United States who referred to their slaves as 'boys' - calling out 'Garçon' (French for boy) is also a derogatory way to get the attention of a waiter in a restaurant.

So infants and toddlers were essentially gender neutral beings that were clothed identically until the early 20th century. This is for practical reasons - it's easier to change diapers, and with many children being born, the same clothing could be used child after child after child. The fancy dresses worn by infants and toddlers in photographs were their 'best' wear, and it was usually a dress chosen by the mother, which often skewed to her taste, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when lace and frills were popular in women's fashion, and having your photo taken was a common practice. The child didn't care how it looked as long as they were fed, changed, and loved.

When a boy was 'breeched' (an historical term meaning he began to be put in pants), it meant he was potty trained and had begun his journey to becoming a man. This usually occurred around the age of four. He would learn how to ride a horse astride and partake in sports; his schooling began so as to enable future success in business or he learned the skills needed for farming or trade, as well as to build strength for manual labour and self defense.

It was only in the 1920s that infants and toddlers became more divided by gender - pink and blue became colours commonly used to denote gender in infancy, and boys were upgraded sooner into pants as toddlers, aided by the addition of elastic and dome fasteners, especially after the 'onesie' became common for the baby boom generation during the 1950s.

The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham, claimed 'gender fluidity is not a recent development' because boys aged between four and seven wore dresses in the 19th century.