Stephanie Whitson and Nancy Moser have started a blog called Footnotes. Both of them write historical fiction, and the blog is about facts and inspirations they’ve gleaned from history. Here is a sample:
To stray from the serious posts about the slums of New York… let’s talk about etiquette. Here are some gems from The Essential Handbook of Victorian Entertaining (adapted by Autumn Stephens) with a few asides from me:
• Do not dress above your station; it is a grievous mistake, and leads to great evils, besides being the proof of a complete lack of taste. So we’re to dress down? I hardly think “slovenly” would be appreciated.
• Do not expose the neck and arms at a dinner party. These should be covered, if not by the dress itself, then by lace or muslin overwaist. How about a nice plaid stadium blanket?
• Do not fail to try the effect of your dress by gaslight and daylight both. Many a color that may look well in daylight may look extremely ugly in gaslight. But facial lines and wrinkles look marvelous! …
(the rest is here)
I just found it. It looks like a fun site.