costumes
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A Murder of Scarecrows Collection #3
As autumn grips us, winter is getting ready to pounce. Today we return to this frosty collection purely because every time we look at those bleak English landscapes, we’re grateful to have somewhere warm to stay. The background story can be found in earlier collections should you wish to read them. Many thanks, TVUP
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The Gothic Artwork of Vincent Pugh Collection #2
Today we have more photography and paintings by Mr Pugh. Like before, it’s often difficult to know which is a photograph and which is a painting. The tropes we’re looking at today are night skies and castle ruins. These were extremely common in the Gothic arts; be it literature, theatre or artworks. With Pugh’s work,…
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The Chess People of Bishops’ Island Collection #1
For several hundred years, a fascinating tribe lived on Bishops’ Island, just off the southwest coast of England. They spoke a rare dying language which sounded similar to Welsh. They also rejected any outsider’s attempt to visit with hostility although some researchers did manage to spend time with them in the summer of 1892. The…
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The Gothic Artwork of Vincent Pugh Collection #1
Today we introduce you to the photographer and artist Vincent Pugh who lived in Berkshire. Vincent was something of a recluse, rarely appearing in public other than to sell his art. The rest of the time he lived in a huge mansion with a breathtaking amount of land. He was also a hopeless romantic who…
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Happy Halloween 2023!
‘May the night be long and frightful, may the trick or treaters be rude and spiteful, Let the lanterns burn big and bright long into the dead of night, See the ghouls be very cruel and the monsters carry some heavy tools, They fill the children up with dread and use those tools to bash…
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Floating Heads Cabaret Collection #2
Today we bring to you more photographs from the west end of London circa 1880 to 1900. As previously mentioned, this club was a hotbed for the advent of European bohemians and creatives. It is recorded that the likes of Squire Bancroft, Ivan Berlyn and John Clayton visited there alongside the highly regarded double act…
alcohol, artists, Avant-garde, costumes, dance, drugs, eccentrics, hats, masks, music, Rebels, satire, theatre, victorian art -
The Victorian Punk Band Collection #2
The Highlanders was a band hailing from Thurso Scotland. You can see the 3 members in photograph #1. From left to right we have military drums played by Tosh, Iron Bruce on vocals and Guthrie on the bagpipes. They played an aggressive type of music which sounded much like the archetypal punk band, and they…
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A Day Out at Louse Park of Lancaster Collection #3
The Queen Victoria Moth House, situated on the grounds of Louse Park, was undoubtedly the most popular photography location for visitors. The ladies were often seen forming huge queues to enter the moth house alone and have their photos taken by one of Mr Bailey’s apprentices. As you can see from this collection, the results…
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A Day Out at Louse Park of Lancaster Collection #1
Today we begin to archive photographs taken at Louse Park of Lancaster. The park has long disappeared in its original form of celebrating the insect. However, during the late 19th century it was a hot spot for ladies to visit; particularly on a Sunday when it was guaranteed that the photographer Maxwell Bailey would be…
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Floating Heads Cabaret Collection #1
These beautiful photographs were taken in a small nocturnal cabaret club in the West End of London circa 1880. This little known style of theatre and dance spread across the European underground for approximately twenty years before disappearing with little trace. The 1880s was an interesting time to be alive. As we’ve noted before, society…
Welcome to the Victorian Underground Project 