The Lace Witch @ElenaKanagyLoux Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

The Lace Witch

22 days

Save the Date! “Little Lace: The Work of Brooklyn Lace Guild” opens on October 10 at the Old Stone House in Brooklyn and we are having a party from 6 to 8pm! It’s our FIRST ever exhibition—with work from 26 members in various lace techniques—it’s going to be incredible 🖤🪡

5

67

499

Last Seen Profiles

@bobbisworldrn

@Bahati750649

@rseroter

@khlfy96970

@acgrayling

@marcuisemarak

@ramesh_bafna

@UofTCardio

@rowzyfb

@acakeapple

@HvsjjsB

@femijk

@RumahBenTun

@MollyScarborou1

@Iker090909

@jentlelogy

@suBjZG5mhNqposp

@stw_pdg

@hazalbulusalim

@KeyRowan39955

@jandakembangstw

@D4VIDRDA

@folding_rocks

@nordstadtliga

@BinorRaja

@AndyAyrey

@stw_pdg

@ka_nernn

@BigTone023

@juli_Newells13

@20062007_

@GramblingBeatBB

@BinorRaja

@cukienaknikmati

@jandakembangstw

@account3ady

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

Why are we so comfortable denigrating the creative output of our grandmothers? It may seem insignificant within the context of much more urgent global issues, but in a new piece for Hyperallergic, I argue that it is symptomatic of the systematic devaluation of feminized labor.

50

958

6K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

5 months

This is Germaine, a lacemaker at Kantcentrum, a lace school and museum in Bruges. I saw her working there in 2015 when I was taking a course in binche (a type of bobbin lace she often makes)-- she is incredible! I dream of being this fast. Maybe in a few decades...

Science girl

@gunsnrosesgirl3

5 months

Lace making in Bruges. 📹 sewkaysew

2K

8K

59K

13

548

4K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

Frankly I’m appalled at how “made in China” has become shorthand for cheap/bad quality because China is responsible some of the finest quality textiles & clothing in human history!! But in this case, you literally could not get the prices Shein charges without exploitation.

Cora Harrington

@CoraCHarrington

1 year

Criticizing Shein specifically is not the same as criticizing Chinese manufacturing in the same way criticizing Fashion Nova is not a condemnation of manufacturing in the US.

7

261

3K

6

329

3K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

10 months

It’s always funny when I say something overtly political and people tell me “Stick to lace!” Okay, I’ll stick to involuntary nuns & orphans who were forced toil over lace for the wealthy, and women during the Irish famine and Armenian genocide who sold their lace to survive.

7

240

2K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

What is the oldest piece of lace you have ever seen? This delicate gauze head cloth with a pattern of zoomorphic heads was painstakingly made in the Chancay Valley between the 12th & 15th centuries (north of modern-day Lima, Peru)

15

200

2K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

5 months

@lingerie_addict I also realize that no woman could get away with the kind of takedown posts he does frequently and be so widely (& deservingly) beloved— ime people hate getting lectured by even the kindest, most brilliant & successful women

8

50

1K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

@lingerie_addict I don’t believe these people ranting about her have actually read her book. I am a maximalist collector of things and it was a game changer for me! Keep what you love doesn’t mean you have to be a perfect minimalist.

15

24

1K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

@lingerie_addict Also, it’s telling how Martha Stewart, who gives tips on throwing fancy dinner parties in a mansion, is a treated as a national treasure while Marie Kondo gets endless vitriol. (Side note: I love them both, but when their advice doesn’t work for me, I simply move on.)

8

43

1K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

The most unexpectedly delightful part of seeing the Barbie movie was walking around after and exchanging “Hi Barbies!” with other strangers in pink 🎀

1

69

1K

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

What if I became the lace lady version of the menswear guy

derek guy

@dieworkwear

6 months

I disagree that you dress like Cary Grant. In this thread, I will list some of the ways in which your dress differs and why such important details matter. 🧵

1K

6K

98K

24

11

823

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

The trope of having women in period dramas sneer at needlework and femininity is a huge pet peeve of mine. Not only were choices extremely limited for most women, but needlework taught valuable lessons in mending, literacy, and geography. There are even embroidered math samplers!

Professor Amanda Vickery

@Amanda_Vickery

2 years

Why is every woman in a historical drama - avant garde, MODERN, a woman ahead of her time? Why bother with history?

168

216

3K

15

117

645

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

Palestinian women making point lace in Jerusalem, Palestine, ca. 1930, Library of Congress

1

107

648

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

Doilies, quilts, and other crafts were not just the product of white middle-class leisure: they were often a means of survival, helping keep food on the table in the face of famine and genocide, and a tangible embodiment of maternal love.

My Grandma's Doilies Are Not a Joke

When will art institutions finally pay respect to our foremothers’ artistry?

hyperallergic.com

3

67

553

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

8 months

@lingerie_addict I had someone arrogantly push back at me about something they didn’t realize they learned from *my* TikTok— and I’m sure you’ve experienced the same on Twitter… 🫠

2

454

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

Lacemakers in Donegal, Ireland, ca1865-1914, National Library of Northern Ireland

2

20

426

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Stole my husband’s #VivienneWestwood titty tee for the last day of 2022 ❤️

1

20

398

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

7 months

Ňanduti is part of the Teneriffe lace family which developed from drawnwork techniques into something uniquely vibrant. Elisabeth Horta Correa is a renowned expert on the topic and has virtual events every year celebrating different national variations 🕸️

#WOMENSART

@womensart1

7 months

Ñandutí, Paraguayan lace. The name means "spider web" in Guaraní, the official, indigenous language of the country. Due to Spanish colonialism, it is related to Tenerife lace #WomensArt

10

329

2K

1

115

404

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

10 months

@rikibeth @lingerie_addict @SparklySnarkery Oh I love this bit of info! But after working with museum textiles, starch worries me because the sugars attract bugs! Luckily most of the lace we stored had likely been washed at some point as there were only bits of residue.

1

3

385

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

10 months

Not to mention the many colonial lacemaking endeavors intended to forcibly assimilate Indigenous women. Like so many social historians and people working in textiles more broadly, the deeper our research goes the more it is clear that EVERYTHING is connected & thus “political”

6

35

368

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

Japanese-American women crocheting doilies at the Granada Internment Camp in Amache, Colorado, 1942, Library of Congress

2

26

373

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

These types of people sneer when I say that I study the history of lace, and yet, when I lecture, they’re blown away by how applicable the stories of labor, exploitation, and gender inequality are to today. Only people who don’t understand history think it doesn’t matter.

Jo

@hagenilda

1 year

…of course what she means is *humanities degrees not at Oxbridge*

7

25

186

3

44

325

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

There is so much more to get into in this topic— like Gee’s Bend quilters & gender— that I didn’t have the word count for, but I will add a bonus photo of my great grandmother knitting her 300th bandage for people with Hansen’s disease in the 70s

3

13

331

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

10 months

It is an honor and pleasure to share my love of lace — and also to study its global reach. Just in the last 24 hours I have been researching different lace techniques in Syria with Wafa Ghnaim, in Japanese Internment Camps, and in colonial Mexico. Lace history is human history.

Cora Harrington

@CoraCHarrington

10 months

Gonna do a thread within a thread again because I can’t stop thinking about @ElenaKanagyLoux ’s 4 hour lace lecture in my class, and how probably half of it was dedicated to lace in other contexts than Western Europe.

3

12

256

2

32

321

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

8 months

Making things with our hands instills a great deal of confidence in ourselves & connection to our bodies that is essential to our humanity imo. We don’t need to be experts to enjoy the benefits, but they only increase the more time you invest

Owl! at the Library 😴🧙‍♀️

@SketchesbyBoze

8 months

We need to recover a sense of the dignity of being creative—of putting in the hours to become skilled in a craft or an artistic medium, regardless of the money it brings us. We are not passive consumers of content, we are creators, and creation is a spiritual act.

18

306

1K

1

61

283

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

3 months

@mistresstailor Seriously! People have no idea how many thousands of textiles and garments are declined by museum. This is why we need better material literacy, so people know what is rare/precious and what is totally run of the mill. Upcycling is as ancient as clothing itself!

2

10

272

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Cora is on point here and this is why touch collections of historical textiles are so crucial— most people today have NEVER felt anything resembling the quality of pre-industrial textiles. The decline in quality is shocking.

Cora Harrington

@CoraCHarrington

2 years

I’m quoted in this article talking about clothes and why what you wear now is worse quality! (Thanks, @IzzieRamirez !)

11

265

783

1

32

245

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Let's try a new game: Hand vs. Machine! Can you tell which piece of lace was made by hand and which by machine? Bonus points if you know what type it is! Comment with your best guesses

28

14

236

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

5 months

According to Kantcentrum, she learned to make bobbin lace at age 7. Contrary to popular belief, lacemaking is by no means a "dead" or "lost art," and is made by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, from Brazil to Sri Lanka!

2

7

235

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

Not for the benefit of myself, but for the benefit of the countless lacemakers in history who dedicated their lives—often not by choice—to producing incredibly skilled textiles. My question is really, do I have the desire to produce roasts this catastrophically detailed haha

8

0

225

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

This type of cut and drawnwork is associated with schoolgirl sampler making rather than professional workshops, so I’d bet that it was made by a maternal ancestor 🪡

Foundling Museum

@FoundlingMuseum

1 year

This delicate strip of lace was left at the Foundling Hospital with a baby girl in the 1750s. Could it be a cherished heirloom? Historians have dated it to the seventeenth century, suggesting that it was ❤️

4

71

377

1

14

213

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

Recent obsession: posters from The Womens Domestic Needlework Group of Sydney from the 1970s

3

39

197

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

5 months

This is delightfully consistent for most of the fiber events I've attended, of all types

Alex Arrelia

@AlexArrelia

5 months

Going to a yarn convention was hysterically funny, because there were exactly two kinds of people there, in nearly perfect proportion: Old ladies and queer punks.

33

855

17K

3

5

178

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

I love textile origin stories, even if most are mythical. For silk, the story often goes that a Chinese Empress in the 3rd century BCE was drinking tea when a cocoon dropped into her cup, and she discovered that it unreeled into a lustrous silk filament in the warm water. 🍵

Cora Harrington

@CoraCHarrington

2 years

I wonder what the first person to discover silk and then learn how to make it on-demand must have been like. Just throwing a bunch of worms into some boiling water and unraveling them? That’s wild.

30

88

2K

1

11

151

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

My immediate reaction was — the LABOR!!! The absolutely enormous amount of labor that went into producing just the lace in this portrait alone! It’s astounding

Natalie Grueninger

@OntheTudorTrail

1 year

This family portrait is an absolute feast for the eyes! Landgrave Moritz of Hesse-Kassel with his family, painted by August Erich between 1618-1630. I love the toys, accessories and pets! (© Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel)

42

145

701

8

12

143

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

*Looks at a historical textile* “Wow, people were so lucky back then! They had so much time to make things for fun!”

Adam Rothman

@arothmanhistory

1 year

Annoy a historian with one tweet

188

11

111

2

14

141

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

Announcement time: after six years at the @metmuseum I am leaving to pursue a PhD at @BardGradCenter with the aim of uncovering the stories of early modern lacemakers. I’d love to hear about relevant resources & organizational tips that helped you on your PhD journey!

11

3

135

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

5 months

And here are photos of me learning to make binche bobbin lace!

2

3

128

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: my love of pink has served as an excellent litmus test for id’ing misogynists who assume hyper-femininity = idiocy. Studying the history of lace sometimes elicits the same scorn, bc of course something so loaded as fem can’t be serious

4

5

124

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

5 months

Here’s my video of Germaine from 2015! Watching her make lace is breathtaking ❤️

1

9

124

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

5 months

Speaking of Brazil! I love the use of color in renda de bilro, and they use many local plants for tools like palm leaves for stuffing pillows, cactus thorns for pins, and Brazil nuts for the bobbins. It's on my bucket list to visit!

de Aguiar

@camaiace

5 months

@gunsnrosesgirl3 Similar to what we call here in northeast of Brazil as “renda de bilro”, from portuguese heritage.

16

80

1K

2

7

123

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

It finally happened! I shared a snippet of my research and a random person commented “actually, that’s not entirely accurate, you should read this”… and linked to an article about a project I worked on extensively. Does this mean I’ve made it?!

4

2

117

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

This is for the people who couldn’t believe that Lizzo’s hand-embroidered coat for the Met Gala in 2022 took 22,000 hours 🪡

TikTok - Make Your Day

TikTok - trends start here. On a device or on the web, viewers can watch and discover millions of personalized short videos. Download the app to get started.

www.tiktok.com

0

20

119

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

@MaximillianQui3 @dieworkwear Western men led the fashion for revealing their genitals through embellished and skintight dress for centuries. Take for example, codpieces or the tight leather breeches of the regency period, which made men appear practically nude from the waist down.

1

5

109

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Material literacy, aka being able to ID fiber & technique by sight/touch, used to be common knowledge that helped ppl of all classes choose textiles they knew would last. It’s impossible to avoid all synthetics but it completely changes your world to learn the difference!

Cora Harrington

@CoraCHarrington

2 years

We are currently in a retail climate where the average person doesn’t know the difference between silk and satin, between lace and embroidery, between different grades of cashmere, between cotton and cotton blends, between zigzag stitch and overlock. Yet people are so confident.

6

29

458

1

15

111

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

This is why I don’t bother with trends. I have been a bows & flowers girl since before Gen Z was born, and I will continue to be as a wizened old lady!! 🎀💐

sofía

@nanastudioz

1 year

girl fuck you and your bows and flowers

9

114

966

2

0

111

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Look ma, I'm in Vogue! (And, on Twitter.) Love this thoughtful article about #ThreadsofPower at the Bard Graduate Center. Dr. Leslie Camhi really gets it. ❤️

In New York, an Exquisite Examination of the History—And Future—of Lace

www.vogue.com

3

15

109

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

My mom and I have been researching our family’s Pennsylvania Dutch history together, and she recently found some gems on Amish and Mennonite fashion — feast your eyes on these modest Anabaptist delights! The bonnets!

1

8

106

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

@pilotaparda @aethelfleds That’s so frustrating! I have had multiple well-meaning journalists compliment my perceived youth at the expense of my mentors, and it is not flattering

0

1

102

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

The bonus of having an affinity for pink & hyper feminine dress is that it’s a great litmus test for eliminating people I meet who assume my appearance means I’m not smart 😌

chloe

@chloeikennedy

1 year

you cannot challenge the stereotypes of hyperfemininity by rejecting it

1

82

926

1

6

99

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

He makes a great point but I would argue that people describing things as “details” is the result of a lack of widespread knowledge about materials and embellishments & not the other way around. There really is a huge loss in understanding clothing & textile production today

noah

@pradachurch

2 years

thoughts on wording when describing fashion and "details"?

28

62

1K

2

7

94

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Clearly Menkes is ignorant of the fact that the tambour embroidery techniques used at Parisian ateliers like Lesage were developed in — guess where! — India.

Ari Embroidery

Ari embroidery, or ari work, is a style of chain stitch embroidery generally associated with India. It is worked with a long fine shaftnbsp;ending in a fine hook (ari hook). The hook is normally...

www.trc-leiden.nl

~🪬🧃~

@petrichhore

2 years

Maria Grazia can acknowledge the bare minimum that Indian ateliers keep Parisian couture afloat through the Dior show, but at the end of the day whiteness, it’s condescension and Eurocentric racist attitudes will always prevail for these people. Case in point - Suzy Menkes.

13

92

589

2

17

89

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

It was created by weaving a gauze fabric with twisted warp and weft threads and embroidering the design with heavier threads that were sometimes dyed different colors, predating Italian buratto lace by several centuries

2

6

94

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

In case you’ve wondered why I rarely post these days (but even if you don’t)

0

12

90

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

This particular piece of Chancay gauze is currently on view in the exhibition "Weaving Abstraction" at the @metmuseum and is a testament to the incredible skill & innovation of Andean textile artists

0

3

85

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Having snow deprivation withdrawal in NYC this winter, so here is my favorite video from Vermont in December 2019

2

4

78

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

10 months

@JeanGreige In the museum field, there is a crisis among conservators of fashion to preserve modern clothing made of synthetics because they degrade so much more quickly than natural fibers. Check out the work of Sarah Scaturro & Kaelyn Garcia among others:

The World's Largest Speedo Collection Almost Oozed Away

In 2012, Australia's Powerhouse Museum discovered that something strange was happening with some of their swimsuits.

www.atlasobscura.com

1

6

80

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

8 months

I can attest that channeling emotions into lace doilies is extremely cathartic & I highly recommend it for everyone

Jay Black

@jayblackisfunny

8 months

@ask_aubry Fellas, what if, when you’re feeling bad about what or who you are, instead of turning that feeling into raging misogyny, you tried to learn a skill? Imagine all the sourdough bread or lace doilies you’d have after a year and how *few* insanely awful online comments.

11

31

997

2

6

77

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

I’m giving a virtual lecture on my journey into lace this Saturday, August 19 at 1pm EDT! Sign up at the link:

1

15

75

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

9 months

@lingerie_addict I know a few ateliers that work with crochet lacemakers on behalf of couture houses, like Marasim. My educated guess is that the work was done in India by many hands — hopefully through an ethical org that pays fair wages. But the last part is less common unfortunately

1

0

78

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

9 months

Not to mention, *pants* supposedly came to Europe via Central Asian horseback riders. The list goes on!

derek guy

@dieworkwear

9 months

Quite a bit of Western dress owes itself to other cultures, and specifically to Asia. Most obviously, silk was invented in China. That material would later make up the bulk of neckwear production, an accessory that defined the coat-and-tie aesthetic. But everyone knows that, so

121

929

7K

1

7

76

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

I changed my hair AND left the house! Wow! 💙

1

0

68

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

10 months

@boneysoups I rewatched Legally Blonde and realized how much more nuanced it was in 2001… so same

1

0

68

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

4 months

@MoiraDonegan Once I replied “no, I love hanging out with women!” to a woman who said this to me and she was SO ANGRY lol

1

0

67

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you are feeling loved today 💖✨💘

2

3

67

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

I really hope we get to a place where the public response to the myth that “women didn’t work until the 20th century” is as swift as the backlash against “corsets were bad & painful” that I see frequently these days

Brodie Waddell

@Brodie_Waddell

1 year

"The phrase ‘working mother’ was a mid-nineteenth-century addition to the English lexicon that would have been incomprehensible to the inhabitants of early modern Britain." What a great first line from @AlexShepard10 's new article in @HistoryWO !

1

28

80

1

5

65

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

It would also be a great idea to have a regular person try to reproduce a couture garment to truly understand how complex, labor-intensive, and thus costly they are. “Nailed It” for fashion 🪡

internet hall of fame

@InternetH0F

1 year

765

15K

251K

0

6

63

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

@gremlita Someone thought I was my divorced dad’s new wife at my grandma’s funeral when I WAS 15 it is horrible

0

63

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

10 months

@OgLakyn Exactly! I commented this elsewhere but working in museums there is a conservation crisis bc modern fashion made of synthetics degrade so quickly they are afraid things won’t survive anymore. For example:

The World's Largest Speedo Collection Almost Oozed Away

In 2012, Australia's Powerhouse Museum discovered that something strange was happening with some of their swimsuits.

www.atlasobscura.com

1

8

61

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Time for another round of Hand vs. Machine! Comment with your guesses, and bonus points for the name of the hand technique and type of machine. I’ll post answers at 5pm ET 🪡

9

1

59

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

If you look at affordable fashion catalogues from the 90s, the prices are HIGHER than today because of the quality and use of natural fibers. Clothing today is made to be disposable.

1

7

58

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

When are designers going to realize that what women really want is adult versions of dress up box princess heels with matching gloves and tiaras

3

7

58

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

@the_transit_guy Subway mangoes with lime & chili are my favorite treat

1

0

57

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

The life of a historian of women’s labor 🤪

🦋The Other Happy Place🦋

@otherhappyplace

1 year

one time i was explaining to a very nice woman about how women have always worked, in the fields and in the home, women worked always, i cited sources, gave examples. she turned to her husband "is that all true?" "no" he said rolling his eyes "oh. okay" she said.

193

5K

112K

0

3

53

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

My resolutions for 2023 are to build an accessible educational platform to share the history & making of lace, and to get through my mending pile. Guess which goal is more realistic

2

0

53

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

10 months

@fernm8 What the op misses is that natural fibers are worse today because they have been over processed, not because synthetics are inherently better. Talk to any fashion conservator about how much faster poly fibers degrade than any historic natural fibers, it’s a huge problem

1

5

54

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Drumroll please… machine is on the left, handmade bobbin lace on the right! They are both Valenciennes style, a technique from the border of France and Belgium with a signature braided diamond mesh ground. Thank you to everyone who participated! I have many more ideas!

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Let's try a new game: Hand vs. Machine! Can you tell which piece of lace was made by hand and which by machine? Bonus points if you know what type it is! Comment with your best guesses

28

14

236

1

4

54

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Total textile pedantry but I hate that the fashion industry uses the names of historical techniques for industrial textiles that are made completely differently— e.g., brocade, tapestry, Alençon lace… it’s just confusing 😭

Cora Harrington

@CoraCHarrington

2 years

What is your pettiest fashion gripe? I don't mean something super serious and important. Give me PETTY.

2K

570

7K

2

51

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

If you don’t think that working as a cashier, janitor, or line cook is harder than working in an office, consider yourself privileged for never having had one of those jobs. Salaried office jobs are way cushier.

Nina Turner

@ninaturner

2 years

Yes—janitors, cashiers, & line cooks should be able to afford rent and groceries with their paycheck and have some left over. That’s common sense and common decency.

965

11K

59K

1

5

50

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

6 months

This is one of my former students! Ava is brilliant and I am so proud of her and her classmates!

Richard Hall

@_RichardHall

6 months

Here’s an interview with a Columbia protester named Ava where she talks about why she’s there, anti-Semitism, and the historical echoes of this movement.

67

701

5K

0

2

50

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

4 months

Need more doily turtles pls

Punch Cat

@PunchingCat

5 months

53

7K

101K

0

7

50

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

@zackpinsent This has happened to me too, it’s absolutely wild that people will argue with you about your own life! Once a woman got angry at me at a museum because she insisted I was part of the exhibition (I was not)

1

2

48

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

@lingerie_addict I would welcome them to try sewing at a machine for 12 hours straight and then report back as to whether the machine is doing all the work or not!

1

49

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

8 months

@lingerie_addict That’s far more than I currently earn in NYC & I have gotten plenty of comments that I am rich for saving up for second hand/select special purchases lmao. Vindicated!

0

48

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

3 months

@mistresstailor I suspect that the overly precious treatment of thrifted clothes goes hand in hand with the culture of making excuses for fast fashion overconsumption, but I can’t articulate the connection succinctly enough for a tweet

1

0

47

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

I joined Twitter to connect with historians/academics/thinkers, but more specifically, with maker-historians. Personally, my work as a lacemaker is inextricably linked to my historical research, even if I’ve had to study them in separate spheres.

1

3

45

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

@lingerie_addict I’m dying to touch a piece of spider silk!!! There is also an species of ANT in Madagascar that produces a silk-like fiber and there has been lace made from it. Clearly we need to go to Madagascar 🤩

1

46

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Newspapers reported (though it hasn’t been fully verified) that it took 200 lacemakers around Devon to make the 4-yard by 3/4 yd wide Honiton lace flounce for her dress, for which they were paid £1000 and thrown a tea party 🫖

Victoria Haddock

@vickyhaddock

2 years

Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha #OnThisDay in 1840. The bride commissioned English textile industries to create her wedding dress and wore cream silk satin made from fabric woven in Spitalfields with Honiton lace. @RCT #QueenVictoria #wedding #dress

4

25

135

0

2

43

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

Exactly this. And people think the history of women’s work like lacemaking is just ladies stitching until you dig deeper and find it’s linked to nation-building wealth, international espionage, war, legislation, colonization, etc. The selective teaching of history is criminal

Dr Eleanor Janega

@GoingMedieval

1 year

I am a social historian in that I am interested in how cultures and societies are made, cohere, and change. That's where you find women making the world, and that's where you will find lots of women who are fully obsessed with history.

15

31

634

1

4

43

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

Greta Gerwig could do Oppenheimer but Christopher Nolan could NEVER do Barbie 🎀

1

6

44

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

I might be nuts but I spent the most of my weekend creating lists of archival material I want to visit for dissertation research (in 2+ years) and can hardly sleep in anticipation of beginning my PhD program in two weeks. It feels like Christmas!

1

0

42

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

From the @metmuseum American Wing! I’ve handled this beauty irl ❤️

Historic Women Daily

@historicwomens

1 year

Pillow cover, 1876–77, by Candace Wheeler, traditionally credited as the mother of interior design, one of America's first woman interior and textile designers. She helped open the field of interior design to women, supported craftswomen, and promoted American design reform.

0

4

22

0

41

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

Grade school ➡️ Bachelors ➡️ Masters ➡️ PhD

schway lex.

@Lexual__

1 year

Evolution.

103

3K

25K

1

3

42

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

5 months

@Goldnmyear Exactly! I often compare making bobbin lace to playing the piano-- with years of experience you don't need to look at the keys, or even read the music

1

42

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Highlight of my day: walking down 86th street just now and spotted a very stylish woman in head-to-toe mint green (including gloves) with a vintage stole, and we both turned to each other and said “I love your outfit!” at precisely the same time 💚

0

40

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

To be clear, my point is that it’s a bad thing that prices have gone down because it’s an indicator of just how bad the quality and exploitation is at brands like Shein. You couldn’t buy clothes that cheap in the 90s, because so much more was union made in the US.

1

40

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

Shout it from the rooftops!

Dr. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

@HottyCouture

1 year

Fashion history is labor history!

4

43

251

0

5

40

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

@MaximillianQui3 @dieworkwear I’ll continue to mind my own business and let people wear what they want. If that’s difficult for you, I recommend reading Matthew 5:29

0

40

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

@tielanf @lingerie_addict My take exactly! Her folding technique didn’t work for me, but that’s okay. I still found things that were super helpful!

0

40

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

2 years

Apparently Mary Queen of Scots was executed on this day in 1587, so I’m sharing my current read on her needlework by Clare Hunter 🪡

1

4

39

The Lace Witch

@ElenaKanagyLoux

1 year

The only coronation attire I am interested in is the lace cravat Louis XIV wore for his coronation in 1654, which was allegedly made of human hair by two Venetian sisters 🪡

Dr Isabella Rosner

@IsabellaRosner

1 year

Every time I need a haircut (like right now), I think about lace made out of or involving human hair. These 17th-century examples are from the @V_and_A and @powerhouse and I love them very much

7

32

199

0

3

38