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Cabinet of Chic Curiosities

A Real Life Diagon Alley, Buried in Time

It may not have sold wands or grimoires, but this subterranean shopping alley remained just as hidden as J K Rowling’s, until it was accidentally stumbled upon in 2002 by builders renovating the Edwardian Royal Arcade, in Keighley, West Yorkshire, situated above it. Believed to have last been used in the 1890s, it was when…

Before Parisian Runways, Fashion Week was Born on the Side of the Racetrack

In the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century, spectating at the races was a glamorous event beyond comparison. Paris’ Hippodrome de Longchamp racecourse was the place to see and be seen; it was a stage where the bold and the beautiful would strut their perfectly tailored, coiffed and manicured stuff for…

Born into Slavery, She Became the First “Queen of Drag”

It’s a little before 11 PM on April 12th, 1888 in downtown Washington DC. President Grover Cleveland has just finished up a speech on what will become American Somoa, his wife Frances is already asleep, and, four blocks east, at the intersection of F and 12th Street, thirty Black, gay men are having a party.…

Parisian Street Sellers of Yore

Shopping in Belle Epoque Paris wasn’t exactly … well, convenient. General stores and grocery stores were still a very novel concept in the latter half of the 19th century, and the few that existed were only catering to the wealthy elite. There was also a French law that restricted merchants from selling or specialising in…

Bastille Day Street Parties of a Hundred Years Ago

Check out Le Petit Journal’s recap of lavish and loving Bastille Day street parties in 1914: “In none of the innumerable balls which were held in Paris during these festive evenings was a single serious incident reported. Few arguments, no fights. The people of Paris have proven that they know how to have quite a…

Jane Avril, “The Strange” Poster Child of the Moulin Rouge

If you knew that “Satine”, Baz Luhrmann’s lead character in his 2001 movie musical Moulin Rouge! was in fact based on a real-life French can-can dancer called Jane Avril, the decision to cast Nicole Kidman might make even more sense. Avril, with her flaming red hair, thin lips and delicate facial features, tall gaunt physique…

In 19th Century Paris, She Held a Permit to Wear Pants

A cigarette-smoking, pants-wearing, animal-dissecting painter, Rosa Bonheur spent her life doing exactly as she pleased. 2022 marks the bicentenary of the birth an artist who opened countless doors for female creatives, both in her home country of France and abroad. Born in 1822 in Bordeaux, Rosa Bonheur was the daughter of Sophie Marquis, a piano…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCXI)

1. With Tennis in the Brain, check out the Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand Photos by Amanda Mustard found via Present & Correct. 2. This tiny Cor-beurre-sier chair From Instagram’s @suea 3. The picturesque Paris of Czech Artist Tavík František Šimon TavíTavik Frantisek Šimon (TF Šimon) (1877-1942) is one of the most important Czech…

The Lost Art of the Miniature Golf Course

They go large in the States – even when it comes to the small stuff. And perhaps nowhere is that more true than with a particularly kitsch specimen of American vernacular architecture, the miniature golf course. A period of history defined by the automobile and the ease of travel it allowed, post-WW2 prosperity led to…

And Now, Let’s Raise a Teacup to Teetotalism

Before the advent of the speakeasy, the ramshackle bar that sprung up and vanished as was required during the Prohibition era (and now turned a trendy locale for your friendly neighbourhood hipster), there was another hangout fast becoming everyone’s new favourite local in the mid 19th century – the temperance tea party. Held in so-called…
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