First Post!

There's hardly anything more wonderful than a new beginning -- whatever kind of beginning it may be.  In my case, it's the first post in my new blog on my new website!  I think that qualifies as exciting (at least to me it does!). 

For years I coped with a plain vanilla, ludicrously basic DIY website that really didn't serve my needs well, but at least gave me a spot on the internet.  Then came my Facebook page, which was much better in many ways, but still didn't give me a really efficient place to permanently organize and access all the thoughts, articles, and projects that I'd want to share.  With Facebook, everything moves down the scroll and out of sight so quickly.  Good luck trying to locate a short post on an obscure topic six months later! 
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So here I am, and I hope you'll discover something of interest, learn something you didn't yet know, or just come across something new.  I'll be adding and uploading many more items to the Blog and the "Research & Essays" section over the next few weeks, so be sure to bookmark this site. 

And incidentally, if you haven't tried a PDF print-at-home pattern, be sure to give one of the free patterns here a try (see "Free PDF Patterns" under 'Categories').  I'm thrilled to be able to share my decades of experience and skills with other costume history enthusiasts! 

A couple of disclaimers, and a couple of apologies: 

• First, I am no digital wizard.  This is also a DIY website (although admittedly a lot more sophisticated than the previous one I had), and I've done the best I could to set it up and get it working with my modest technical abilities.  So if you find something amiss, something that is not working properly, or something in the wrong place, please let me know! 
• Secondly, I apologize in advance to all those who love cosplay, Hallowe'en, and fantasy costuming -- these are not my areas of interest, at all.  So sorry!  You will find nothing on those subjects on this site, unless a historical topic happens to touch tangentially on all costume matters.  My focus is solely on researching, understanding, and creating historical fashion.  
• Thirdly, I enjoy and invite robust debate and differing opinions, as I feel much is often learned through this route.  But debate should be conducted as you might expect in a university seminar, in other words, in the spirit of collegiality, with courtesy and respect.  At the same time, please keep in mind that disagreeing is not equivalent to insulting.  Don't take umbrage or feel you're being personally attacked because someone doesn't share your opinion, or asks for validation or evidence for an opinion.   Present your case in a polite way in return.  Take as many lines as you need to do so clearly and respectfully, you're not limited to one sentence on my blog!  And here's my disclaimer: since it is my site, I'll be acting as arbiter -- comments will require my approval to be posted, and a clearly unkind or prickly retort will not get through.  'Nuf said', as they say.  :-)
• Lastly, by way of apology, I'm still working on content for this blog (and for my "Research & Essays" section).  Some of that material has to be uploaded from other locations and posted here as I have time, some I'm still revising and editing, some is still in the initial stages.  In order to get the site live as quickly as possible, I'm leaving most of the populating of all this material to later, as I go along.  

To anyone who has tried to access my old website, I'm afraid I was obliged to delete it in order to set this one up, but with luck (or persistence) you've found me again, thank you!   

To everyone who stops by, I hope you'll find something of interest on this site, no matter what your area of focus, and that you'll join me here from time to time!  

Much more content to come in the following weeks...