Fashion and Clothing – The UncommonWealth

The Denim Decade

In early 1971 students in Nansemond County petitioned the school board to change the dress code, specifically that "the female students be allowed to wear…

Jessi BennettJune 4, 2025

Archives Newspapers

No Sham Sales! Fashion Ads in Newspapers Over the Years

Occasionally we have researchers who want to know what fashion was like in a certain place in Virginia during a certain time. It might be…

Ginny DunnMarch 4, 2024

Archives Digital Projects

Virginia Senior Portraits: A Fashion Show

We cover a lot of serious and heavy topics on the UncommonWealth blog but every once in a while we like to present something just…

Jessi BennettJune 1, 2022

Manuscripts & Special Collections

10 Holiday Gifts Worth Time-Traveling For!

Everyone has a holiday gift guide now so here are our favorites from the 1956 Miller & Rhoads Christmas Catalog. Or if you don't care…

Library of VirginiaDecember 22, 2021

Newspapers

“A Carol of Clothes:” Winter Fashion and Hints for the Holiday Hostess

The holiday season has long meant family gatherings and a a full social schedule. Women of early twentieth century Richmond who wanted to make sure…

Olin JohnsonDecember 21, 2017

Newspapers

The Casket and The Institute Jewel

Located in Suffolk, Virginia and chartered in 1881, the Suffolk Female Institute was run by Misses Sallie Finney in what had once been the Central…

Kelley EwingMay 20, 2014

"Have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!"

The wool of Merino sheep was highly prized and for centuries the flocks were not allowed to be exported from their home in Spain. One…

Chris KolbeDecember 7, 2011