Elizabeth Emerson Designs

03/29/2026

1891 French jewelry designs. Including perfume bottles, fan guards, and more. Such a stunning era of beauty

03/28/2026

I needed to share something joyful and beautiful to try and offset my concern for the world. Here is a French publication with extraordinary example of mid-1920s French fashion

That butterfly coat? Swoon

01/28/2026

This is a swoon worthy accomplishment

01/24/2026

I was FINALLY able to find an original version of a famous hairdresser to the French Royal Court… from 1767, in PDF format! This means you can download it and have it free as open source! I have always tried to provide to and trends. I want to ensure everyone that I am slowly getting back there! is committed to providing as many free sources as possible.

Well thanks to our digital overlords- I cannot provide you with open source information, which I painstakingly translated from 18thc French (as best I could- AI is a godsend since my Traumatic Brain Injury!) corrected it to be in more modern language and now can’t share it 😑 No matter! Here is the original! Go to the “file basket with a down arrow”, which if you are on your phone, will be on the right. Pop up-> select PDF, and agree to terms (like to aren’t going to do what scalpers do and CHARGE for these free documents).

It now yours. In digital format. I wish I had the spoons to retranslate it, but that was a lot of work and I don’t know how to share it 😕

01/13/2026

Such a fabulous sewist! Like art

4 gowns in less than 8 months. 2024 was a busy year for 18th century sewing, and within a matter of 8 months, these 4 robe à la française gowns came out of the Ensembles of the Past studio! It was a big year for this style of dress, and française gowns are some of the largest gowns to work on (and wear) for the mid to latter half of the 18th century. 💙

I've been meaning to share this post for awhile, but today's word prompt for is "Large" so I thought this would fit perfectly! ✨

The Gowns:

Upper left: Wedding gown made for Elizabeth Emerson Designs. The base for this gown (made by Sophia Khan) was sent to me, after which I altered it and added all the trimming entirely by hand! This gown was completed in September.

Upper right: Custom gown made for Elizabeth Figler from the ground up! Made from iridescent silk taffeta and based on original portraits of American colonists. Gown completed in December.

Lower left: Custom gown made for Jennifer Tucci from the ground up! Made from ice blue duchess satin with silver lace and rhinestones. This gown was completed in May for Fete Galantes in France.

Lower right: My new robe a la francaise gown! Custom from the ground up! Made from 3 different pink silk fabrics and French lace. Made for Fete Galantes 2024, and completed in May, about an hour before this photo was taken!

Lower two photos taken by ALS Photo - Jean-Christophe Peyrard.
Upper two photos taken by Sara Gonzalez

12/29/2025

This is so cool! It is a description of various types of fabrics we often read about, but often never see! It also shows the weave layouts as well for visuals.




https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/bfp_glos_1.pdf

12/27/2025

This is an oldie but a goody! It has excellent photos and clear instructions. Everything thing from fan leaves to parasols to fringe! Enjoy



https://archive.org/details/BeetonRed/mode/1up

10/19/2025

In redo me on sight into one of the most intricately dressed time in Indian History. They were able to make such fine light cottons that they were like gossamer.

The first book ever published on the subject of costumes and textiles of Awadh.

10/17/2025

I have a 1780s original uncut waistcoat and frock coats on a fine light mint satin. Similar to the one found here. Just such unbridled talent! The pink gown looks so similar to my wedding gown! If i just sownt a million hours embroidering it 😂

A catalogue of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century historical fashion and textiles.

10/14/2025

Incredible source on Indian textiles

Welcome to Issuu’s blog: home to product news, tips, resources, interviews (and more) related to content marketing and publishing.

10/11/2025

Be prepared to be AMAZED! This is the origin of that awesome embroidered “Christmas tree” gown from the later 1700s!

Cora Ginsburg 2018 Catalogue, featuring antique textiles and costume.