Strasdin manages to deftly flesh out her narrative by drawing upon newspaper articles, censuses, ship manifests, etiquette guides, surviving letters and contemporary literature. More impressive still is the fact that she conducted the bulk of her research remotely during the pandemic, which limited her to online sources. Strasdin’s detailed explication of Victorian-era dress is sure to delight the fashion history enthusiast, but “The Dress Diary” has much wider appeal. It is a work of sociology, and a testament to fashion history as an inherently interdisciplinary field inextricably combining industry and aesthetics, technology and trade. This diary serves as a record of their very existence, and provides a glimpse into the ephemeral world inhabited by the unsung “participants in everyday life.”

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Persons: Hannah Coubrough, Strasdin, “ Bridget Anne Peacock ”, Kate Strasdin, Anne Sykes, ”