Recent Posts

Bucks History Festival 202011th September 2020
Very excited and honoured to be part of the upcoming Bucks History Festival, 12th-13th September 2020. Having grown up in Buckinghamshire, I know the county well. My podcast covers some basic questions about smocks including: Who wore smocks? What are they made of? When did people start wearing them? What colours are they? It also…
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Cottagecore and the smock20th July 2020
I wrote a few months ago about the popularity of smocking in current women’s fashion. Now I have come to the conclusion that it is also re-entering male fashion, albeit in a very small way, at the moment anyway. This has been helped by ‘cottagecore’, a subcultural online movement, which expresses a yearning for the…
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The smock as protective clothing against outbreaks of disease29th April 2020
As the Covid 19 Pandemic continues across the world, a PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) crisis has developed as frontline workers try to deal with protecting both themselves and others, and prevent further spreading the virus, by using protective clothing. Plague masks are well-known as historical protective wear but during the nineteenth century the smock frock…
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Thomas Pitkin of Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire, phot

Thomas Pitkin of Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire, photographed wearing his smock in 1894. A farm labourer during his active working life, he was well-known for wearing a smock but he was also a Methodist preacher, a district councillor and was questioned by the Prince of Wales as part of the Royal Commission on old age pensions.

#smock #smockfrock #swanbourne #1894 #methodistpreacher #workingclothing #activeretirement #farmlabourer

An embellished round smock, probably from the seco

An embellished round smock, probably from the second half of the 19th century, the embroidered bands over the smocking reminding me of knitting patterns. @metmuseum

#smock #smocking #smockfrock #19thcenturyclothing #needlework #embroidery #ruraldress

Have come across the 'Gaffers' series of crockery,

Have come across the 'Gaffers' series of crockery, produced by Royal Doulton from 1921, during the interwar period. Depicting a variety of elderly men wearing smocks in rural settings, the 'gaffers', it plays on nostalgia for the countryside during this period.

#smock #smockfrock #rurallife #royaldoulton #gaffers #1921 #zummerset #cottagedoor #teasetgoals

Not sure he is terribly thrilled about being dress

Not sure he is terribly thrilled about being dressed in a smock, but this portrait, taken around 1900 by Caleb Court Cole in Oxford, illustrates well the fashion for dressing up children in this period, often in clothing derived from working-class dress.

#smock #smockfrock #smocking #childrenswear #dressingup #calebcourtcole #1900 #oxford #oxfordphotographer

The reverse of a smock, including the smocking and

The reverse of a smock, including the smocking and feather stitch, and some good knots to start and end the needlework.

#smock #smockfrock #smocking #needlework #featherstitch #knot #workwear

Perhaps appropriate for this time of year, 'The Sq

Perhaps appropriate for this time of year, 'The Squire gives a Harvest Supper', another Tom Browne illustration for the 'Country Life' series of postcards, this one stamped 1907.

#smock #smockfrock #harvestsupper #tombrowne #1907 #postcard #countrylife #caricature #harvestbeer

If in a dilemma about what to wear #wfh, may I sug

If in a dilemma about what to wear #wfh, may I suggest a Liberty Blouse Smock in Astron cotton with corded silk embroidery, in 'many charming & useful colours'. Daily Mirror, 1917.

#smocking #smock #embroidery #1917 #liberty #libertyclothing #fashionhistory #womenswear #housecoat #astroncotton

A carte-de-visite portrait by Frank Gaudrion Morga

A carte-de-visite portrait by Frank Gaudrion Morgan, a chemist and early photographer in Petworth, Sussex. He took up photography in the mid-1850s, with a studio attached to his shop, photographing the Petworth House servants. From the reverse design, this portrait seems to date from the late 1860s, the name 'Batchelor' written on the back, along with 'Shimming', a valley nearby. Mr Batchelor wears an unusual variant of the Sussex smock, with a fall front appearing to button at the collar.

#smocking #smock #smockfrock #sussexsmock #petworth #shimming #victorianphotograph #cdv #late1860s #workwear #workingclothing

This child's dress of dark green silk taffeta uses

This child's dress of dark green silk taffeta uses smocking around the shoulders to help shape and gather in the short puffed sleeves, 1820-5, @mfaboston

#smocking #childrenswear #1820s #fabricmanipulation #fashionhistory #needlework

I feel that this photograph may be a little posed

I feel that this photograph may be a little posed but I do like the details including the clay pipe, the gaiters and, of course, the smock.

#smock #smockfrock #gamekeeper #claypipe #rurallife #workingclothing #pubscene #gaiters

I love Tom Browne's graphic style. An illustrator,

I love Tom Browne's graphic style. An illustrator, painter and cartoonist, who is perhaps most famous for the figure on the Johnnie Walker whiskey label, his influence can be seen in comics such as 'The Beano'. This is a postcard stamped 1906.

#smock #smockfrock #bluesmock #tombrowne #farmersclothing #1906

Smock in action! – mid 19th- century print. #smoc

Smock in action! - mid 19th- century print.

#smock #smocking #smockfrock #19thcenturyclothing #workingclothing #workwear #agriculture #harrowing #menswear

'Honeycomb' stitch, or smocking, was a technique u

'Honeycomb' stitch, or smocking, was a technique used to shape women's and children's dress from the early 19th century. This is the back of an American satin wedding dress from around 1840, the smocking gathering in material at the waistband and sleeves, @mfaboston

#smocking #honeycomb #fabricmanipulation #fashionhistory #needlework #weddingdress #1840 #1840sfashion

The light catching smocking and feather stitch on

The light catching smocking and feather stitch on 19th century smock frock.

#smock #smockfrock #smocking #needlework #embroidery #thankyou500followers

'An English Rustic', postcard from the 'British Ch

'An English Rustic', postcard from the 'British Character Studies' series produced by Raphael Tuck & Sons, post marked 1906.

#smock #smockfrock #englishrustic #raphaeltuck #1906 #workingclothing #ruraldress

The popularity of Kate Greenaway's illustrations d

The popularity of Kate Greenaway's illustrations during the 1880s has often been credited with introducing the fashion for smocking for middle- class children's clothing. In her work, Greenaway drew partly on nostalgia for her own childhood, depicting rural boys and youths in smocks, often coloured, which would have been commonly worn in and around Newark, Nottinghamshire, close to where she grew up. Newark was a centre for smock manufacturing during the mid 19th century.

#twoatastile #kategreenaway #1880s #newark #smock #smockfrock #nostalgia #smocking #childrenswear

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