Unboxing my Victorian Clothing Haul : antiques with secrets

I recently won three antique coats at an auction which turned out to be full of secrets and surprises! They have dramatically different makers, styles, and materials ranging from department store mass-production to actual French couture. How different are they inside? Can we tell the difference in quality? The Victorian and Edwardian eras are known from some pretty extreme fashion after all.

Join this channel to get access to perks:

Socials

00:00 Labels & History
08:34 1908 Department Store
18:32 1894 Baltimore Tailor
27:10 1898 French Couture

[BethanyG]

"not in the best condition, but glitters nonetheless" is a quote for an inspirational poster of some kind, for sure

[ateisate]

I love that the department store one is basically similar to modern fast fashion: flashy, looks good in store, but in the end a simple pattern and relatively shoddily made.

[TheClosetHistorian]

The beading on that 🤩 It must have looked gorgeous when the beads were black, but I love the look with a sorta "gunmetal" bead 😍I may have to use a similar pattern on a cape I'll be making soon!

[AuthenticWe]

The second coat Mrs Lottie's That fur is hand plucked beaver 🦫 pelts.... The collar however is K9 fox/wolf/coyote it's hard to tell because most people use the breast fur which looks the same on all 3. I can do a short video explaining furs and how to add them if you're interested I have remnants of K9s and feline so you can see the difference between them,
in Iowa, we use furs alot because we like to remember our lovely animals, even tho most people don't like it, we don't hunt/trape we raise and love

[LynnHermione]

this is so cool but also i cant help but think about the ghost of that poor tailor watching his work be analyzed seam by seam like it's a high end cosplay contest. scary XD

[sariahmarier]

Seeing the inner workings of historic garments definitely makes me feel better about my own sewing and hand stitching! I'm such a perfectionist I'm always wondering if each stich is perfect enough. The answer is, yes. Absolutely good enough. Now I hope someday a hundred years from now, someone like Nicole will take the time to care.

[modkhi]

Dieulafait is also just a French family name! It may not necessarily be specific for the couture house... but of course, if you have a name like that, it's good to use it 😂

[ladyicondraco]

I love how excited Nicole gets about wear and tear!

[ZaydaFleming]

The beading on the couture jacket… slays me. I am obsessed. So gorgeous. Almost makes me want to do some beading on one of my jackets.

[marikotrue]

It never occurred to me, but wear and tear is such a good opportunity to examine the inner workings of a vintage garment without doing additional damage. Are you planning on making replicas of any (or all) of these three coats? I am a fan of appropriate (as in not going crazy with a bedazzling tool) beading and embroidery, thus one vote here for the replicating the French Couture version, but maybe without (real or fake) fur and less feathers?

[bernadmanny]

I feel like Nicole should borrow a endoscope and make a detective story by going in through the gaps.

[euansmith]

As someone who always wears a black hoodie, black t-shirt and black cargoes; I love texture, colours and details on these three coats. This is such a fun and interesting channel.

[bellablue]

The beaded one must have been a beauty in its time, but all three are pretty amazing

[edwardgurney]

That department store building is gorgeous😍 Its crazy to think its just a regular shop now.

[maryeckel]

I worked at Carson's in the 1990s. It was a good work culture, and I won a year's supply (which lasted much longer with care) of Hanes black tights for selling the most Hanes hosiery. In its heyday, it was a really nice store even in the outer Chicago suburbs where we were. The flagship store was beautiful and so fun to shop.

[Yotam]

I would love it if you could one day talk about handling and caring for historical garments - gloves, boxes, tissues, mounting...

[renatagoetz]

I wasn't expecting a Carson's shoutout when I clicked this video lol - the State Street Target is so jarring and terrible also it's true. If anyone has to make conversation with a Chicagoland-area woman above a certain age a surefire way is to bring up the closures of Carson's and Marshall Field's. It was all anyone's mom and grandma could talk about in the mid-00s and they're still mad, trust.

[RianShafer]

These are fantastic! When I was young I had a growth spurt from one Winter to the next, my mother cut off the bottom of my "fur" coat & fashioned sleeve cuffs to accommodate my longer arms. I'm curious what someone like you would have to say if they came across it now, 60+ years later. She was not a seamstress by any means but she did a beautiful job & I was thrilled to wear it & felt so grown up in it! I believe it was really a super plush velvet/velour.

[Redboots]

the fur on that fur-trimmed coat might be belgian rabbit. my great-grandmother had a coat of it in the 1940s (it even has the 'storage instructions' tag still with it including the hilarious tip of 'don't let your dog near this coat'!) and it looks remarkably similar to that, though I'm not an expert either lol

[nanettebromley]

I do love these types of videos. Its like archaeology for clothing.