The hidden fabric of a Victorian womans life told through her unique scrapbook.In 1838 Anne Sykes was given a diary on her wedding day. Using it to collect snippets of fabric she created a record of her life and times. Nearly two hundred years later the diary fell into the hands of fashion historian Kate Strasdin who spent the next six years unravelling the secrets contained within its pages.Piece by piece she charts Annes life and times. Fragments of cloth become windows into Victorian life pirates in Borneo the complicated etiquette of mourning poisonous dyes the British Empire in full swing rioting over working conditions and the terrible human cost of Britains cotton industry. Through the evidence of waistcoats ball gowns and mourning outfits Strasdin lays bare the whole of human experience in the most intimate of mediums the clothes we choose to wear.Flawless Amber ButchartFascinating Clare HunterIrresistible The Times