“The study of history requires investigation, imagination, empathy, and respect.” ~ Jill Lepore

The Society of Antiquaries of London supports the legacy of pioneering fashion historian Janet Arnold in the promotion of yearly grants in her honour.  In 2017, I was fortunate to be awarded a grant to investigate and recreate a rare example of professional embroidery from the Tudor period.  The Broderers’ Crown Project was completed in 2018 and an article was published in April 2020 in Volume 16 of the Medieval Clothing and Textile Journal. 

In 2021, the Janet Arnold Award was expanded to also include three-year grants for larger projects, encouraging applications that would “liberate previously unheard voices and explore new approaches to costume studies.”  The project submitted was Professional Tudor Embroidery: Investigation and Re-creation.  The goal is to broaden the conventional narrative of Tudor embroidery and of those who practised the profession, and to research and re-create examples of embroidery produced during the years 1485 to 1603. 

Informal reports will be posted on this page from time to time.