About Us
Get to know the Guild and our mission
Who We Are
The British Guild of Historical Costume Makers is a society for historical costume makers and researchers. Our members come from a huge variety of backgrounds, but all have one thing in common: our love for historical dress and fashion. We cover the period of history between Ancient Greece & Rome and The Great War (800 BCE to 1914 CE), with 18th and 19th century fashions being the most popular amongst our members.
Anyone can join the Guild provided that that they:
Are aged 18 or over.
Are passionate about, and are actively engaged in, sewing and historical research (either as a professional or a hobbyist).
Have completed one historical garment (this could be something as simple as a chemise).
The Guild has a dedicated Discord server where most of our online activity occurs, but also relevant social media pages. The server was first created when we saw the need for a more UK-centric online space, in what can be a very US-dominated hobby, to allow us to share local resources, suppliers, and British-focussed research.
Throughout the year we host a calendar of exciting events, and many of our members also organise their own local meet ups.
Our Aims
Promote and grow the craft of historical costume making in the UK, by providing a space where people can share their skills, research, and enthusiasm.
Host a wide range of historical costuming events, from educational, research-driven museum and collection study visits, to recreational outings for our members to show off their projects.
Keep our events as accessible as possible, choosing venues that are easy to get to and offer inclusive pricing to suit various levels of income.
How Are We Organised?
Unlike other societies, the Guild is not a paid-membership organisation; there are no fees to join, and there are no paid staff. We charge for some events where there is a cost to put them on, but we try to keep this low.
Our primary platform for keeping in touch with each other, sharing knowledge and research, chatting about historical costuming, and planning our events, is our Discord server. Members of the Discord server often have a role in organising costuming events in their local area, and also get some advance notice of some of our larger events and a chance to buy tickets before we release that information on our other social media platforms.
Our President and Community Manager keep things ticking over and are the driving force behind organising our larger events. These are usually held somewhere in the Midlands, as this is reachable by most people in the country within a reasonable drive and is an area well served by public transport, but we actively encourage members to organise events in their own local areas.
The opportunities for events are varied, from picnics, teas, dinners and dances, to talks, museum visits, and study days.
Kyla Hislop | KylaVonKassel
President & Founder
Kyla has been costuming for over 10 years, and her favourite eras include the 1780s, 1830s, and 1890s. She founded The British Guild of Historical Costume Makers after seeing a need for a dedicated space for UK costume makers to exchange information about local suppliers and events, and to discuss techniques and seek help for projects.
As President, Kyla is in charge of the overall management of the Guild, including of Discord, social media, and our other communications. She is also the financer of the Guild's website and online advertisements, and is an Event Organiser for our larger events including the biennial Welsh Weekend, and the annual Historical Halloween Ball. She is typically the first person you will hear from upon joining or contacting the Guild.
Kyla is a Curator at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust, and when she's not sewing or at her day job, she enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons, competing in the Hearthstone Battlegrounds, and trying her hand at new musical instruments.
What is
Historical Costuming?
Historical costuming is the making (and wearing) of historical costume. Many of us do a great deal of in-depth research into our favourite historical periods and styles, learning appropriate sewing techniques and using period appropriate materials. However, as we do not directly teach the public as reenactors do, there is often more scope for using modern materials and techniques should we choose to do so, or if they fit our budget better. The aim is to create the fashions people were wearing in the past, and if we like, wear them.
We are not usually hired by a client or a venue to interact with the public when we hold an event, that is a role most usually done by reenactors, although the public may, and often do, ask us questions. Our primary focus is on having fun among ourselves and enjoying the event.
There are a wide variety of other costumed events across the country, some offer a more fully immersive experience with a set dateline or theme, or a more private venue, however the costs for some of these events and the requirements can sometimes feel daunting to someone just starting out in the hobby. The Guild aims to provide a balanced offering of pay-to-attend and free-to-attend events, so that there is something for everyone.
What We Are Not...
We aim for our events to be welcoming and inclusive, especially for those relatively new to costume making, however, our events are intended for those with a serious interest in dress history and historical costume. If you attend one of our events, please respect that spirit. Other hobbies and subcultures are already well served with many fantastic events.
It’s worth stating what some of these are hobbies are, as you might find that they are more what you’re looking for, or you might want to try them as well. Lots of historical costumers do one or more of these too…
Reenactment
Reenactment societies and groups normally work with venues and clients and their focus is on educating the public and setting the past in context. They are usually hired to do this and have an obligation to fulfil what a client has paid them for. They usually display crafts and skills, which most members are happy to teach new members, as well as reenacting battles or specific incidents from history. There is a high premium on knowledge and historical accuracy, as there should be if you are teaching about the past. There is a reenactment society for pretty much every historical period, often several, and most welcome new members.
Historybounding
Historybounding is creating modern clothes and outfits with a historical look, influenced by real historical garments. The term was coined by Youtuber Morgan Donner as a play on “Disneybounding”, where people attend theme parks in outfits inspired by their favourite characters, as Disney parks do not allow members of the public to cosplay (as they may end up being confused for park employees actually dressed as those characters). Historybounding is the same sort of idea; take a historical look and switch it up so it’s more suitable for modern day wear. A good example might be a shortened version of a Victorian skirt, worn with a modern shirt and a waistcoat. It can be a great way to start researching and looking into historical garments, while creating outfits you can wear day-to-day, but historybounding looks should not be worn to our events.
Cosplay
Cosplayers make and wear screen accurate, or interpretive versions, of the costumes worn by characters in films, games, TV and books. Some groups and individuals do this as a business, or for charity, others do it purely for fun. Comic-Cons have become massively popular in the last 15 years or so, and are really popular venues for cosplaying.LARP
At a Live Action Role Play (LARP) event, you play a part in a story designed by those running the game, and dress and act as your chosen character would. How the characters react and interact with each other, and with events, can affect how the story unfolds, creating an immersive storytelling experience. There are a huge variety of LARP events, from history based ones, to future dystopias, to pure fantasy.Steampunk
Steampunk can be hard to describe but one way of putting it is ‘Victorian, but if the sci-fi they wrote was real’, it is essentially a Victorian influenced fantasy world. It has become massively popular in the last decade and there are events all over the country, some of which take over whole towns for the weekend! It has its own unique subculture, with music, games, literature, and a very distinctive look. Victoriana, with lots of added cogs and goggles is just the start. With steampunk the only limit is your imagination.
A Friendly Reminder
Our events are for you if –
You have a genuine interest in historical costume and dress history.
You would like to explore these fascinating subjects further.
You would like to improve your historical costuming skills.
You would like the opportunity to wear the things you make and enjoy that with others who share your enthusiasm.
We would also ask that if you are attending our public events, you consider context and potential for offence or upset when selecting your outfits.
Some of history, especially more recent history needs to be set in its context, and some costumes are best seen in a setting where they are expected by visitors. A particular example of this would be 20th century military uniforms, and we would ask our attendees to avoid these.
If you have an interest in attending public events in 20th century military uniform, there are a number of reenactment societies that might serve your interests and we would encourage you to make contact with them or to seek out dateline specific events (for example, 1940s weekends) which are often held at sites like heritage railways.
