open today10:00 am - 5:00 pm hours
open today 10am - 5pm hours
Unlocked
Rat Fishing in East Baltimore: Photos by Joseph Kohl
October 12th 2017
In honor of Theo Anthony’s amazing documentary ending its 5-week run at the Parkway Theater, we offer this remembrance of the events that (in part) inspired Rat Film.
Drag Queens and Dramatic Scenes
October 9th 2017
“When you become the image of your own imagination, it's the most powerful thing you could ever do.”
Little Boys in Pink Dresses
October 2nd 2017
Pink for a baby girl, blue for a boy, right? Not so, at least not until the twentieth century. In fact age, not gender, dictated the type of clothing a child would wear. Before age five to seven, boys and girls were dressed similarly, and their clothing was styled after…
Baltimore bands by Joseph Kohl
September 29th 2017
Recently our friends Greg Dohler and Cindy France lent us some amazing images for our upcoming exhibit, Unscripted Moments: The Life & Photography of Joseph Kohl. The opening for this show at MdHS will be on Thursday, November 9, 6:30pm–9pm, and it will feature DJ Landis Expandis. Stay tuned for…
Dressing an 18th Century Gown Today
September 25th 2017
1943.48.1 Gift of Miss Katherine S. Montell How did women get dressed in the 18th century? This question was recently answered by the Lady Lever Art Gallery and National Museums Liverpool with their video reenacting just that. The video grew in populariaty with a feature on…
The Letty Lynton Effect
September 11th 2017
Throughout the history of film, there have been dresses that have become iconic, nearly eclipsing the film in which they were worn; Marilyn Monroe's white halter dress in The Seven Year Itch, Audrey Hepburn's black gown in Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Molly Ringwald's pink floral dress in Pretty in Pink are all examples…
Fun in the Sun During the Roaring Twenties
September 4th 2017
The 1920s is a time known for scandalous dressing, and swimwear was no exception. In honor of the last weekend of summer, today's post is dedicated to this lovely blue swimsuit from in the Fashion Archives here at the Maryland Historical Society.
A Tarlatan Summer Dress
August 21st 2017
"There is nothing so graceful and pretty for a young person as a thin dress"
Jonestown Community Photo Documentation Project
August 14th 2017
In celebration of ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentary “Baltimore Boys” which examines the Dunbar Poets basketball teams of 1981–1983, we present one of our favorite photographs from one of our favorite collections, the Jonestown Community Photo Documentation Project. Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, probably the most famous player from the team, grew…
All That Glitters: Regency Style and Metallic Trim
August 14th 2017
Fashions from 1800-1820 (the British Regency and the American Federal period) reflected the Neoclassical movement that had begun in the previous century. As in architecture and visual arts, women’s fashion emulated ancient Greek and Roman models.
Conserving Transitional Fashions: The 1910s at the MdHS Fashion Archive
August 9th 2017
The early 20th century was a time of dramatic change. During the 1910s, the United States became majority-urban for the first time in its history. Modernism and non-Western influences were reshaping art and architecture, and Western fashion reflects the technological and cultural changes of the era.
1810s Mourning Dress
August 8th 2017
As mentioned in a previous post, within Maryland Historical Society costume collection there exists a “study collection.” Curators accessioned garments and accessories into this collection often because they were incomplete ensembles or required conservation, but were still deemed useful for understanding costume history. When we process these “study” pieces, we…