Topic description and stories

Fashion for pointy shoes unleashed a plague of bunions in medieval Britain

11 Jun 2021

Researchers analysing skeletal remains in Cambridge find a dramatic increase in ‘hallux valgus’ around the time that pointed shoes became de rigueur...

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The conservationist, the herders and the fashionistas

02 Dec 2020

Respect for the Mongolian landscape is engrained within her, says Onon Bayasgalan. Her work is helping herders in her home country to preserve...

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What next for Japan's women?

30 Jun 2020

Japan's women are experimenting with new femininities in challenging times, a new book reveals

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When real men wore feathers

14 Feb 2019

Ostrich feathers are often associated with glamorous women but this wasn’t always the case. In the sixteenth century, it was Europe’s men who...

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A feather in your cap: inside the symbolic universe of Renaissance Europe

02 Nov 2017

Today, feathers are an extravagant accessory in fashion; 500 years ago, however, they were used to constitute culture, artistry, good health and even...

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Distillation in the 15th century, from Liber de Arte Distillandi de Compositis by Hieronymus Brunschwig

Men in stripes: spot the difference in early modern woodcuts

16 Jul 2015

Sixteenth-century woodcuts often depict young men wearing striped doublets or striped hose. When historian of science Tillmann Taape embarked on a...

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Left - portrait of Charles V; centre - portrait of Henry VIII; right - portrait of Pedro Maria Rossi

What goes up must come down: a brief history of the codpiece

30 Apr 2015

Only briefly in vogue, the codpiece has left a rich legacy in art, literature and – most recently – in televised costume drama. In focusing her...

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Fancy pants: skirmishes with the fashion police in 16th-century Italy

16 Sep 2014

With the autumn 2014 fashion shows in full swing, all eyes are on the top designers. In 16th-century Italy, the latest looks didn't always go down...

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The first book of fashion

01 May 2013

Fashion conveys complex messages. The recreation of an outfit taken from one of an extraordinary series of Renaissance portraits reveals how one man...

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Yasumasa Morimura

Looking the part

05 Mar 2012

Throughout history, clothes have been a powerful part of our identity. Taking place this Friday, a symposium called Appearances of Gender – open to...

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Plaque for the School of the German Shoemakers in Venice,1659

From buskins to brothel-creepers: our love affair with shoes

13 Feb 2012

Tomorrow Cambridge historian Dr Ulinka Rublack will give a public talk that will set footwear at the centre of her argument that in neglecting to...

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RSC busts

Royal Society announces new Fellows

21 May 2010

Seven Cambridge researchers are among the 44 new Fellows announced by the Royal Society this week.

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