Bernadette Banner (born ) is an American

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...

, author, and former costume assistant currently based in London. She is known for her interest in and promotion of historical dress reconstruction and study of a range of historical fashion periods from the early

Medieval era In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire an ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, with a primary focus on the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

and

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

eras. She has focused on the lack of quality in modern

fast fashion Fast fashion is a term used to describe the clothing industry's business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail stores quickly, while demand is at it ...

. She is also known for sewing in Original Practice, the art of crafting clothes using historically informed methods and materials. A significant area investigated by Banner has been the accuracy in reproductions of historical clothing, for example in films like ''Little Women'' (2019) and ''Beauty and the Beast'' (2017). In addition, she has also been featured by

Glamour Glamour may refer to: Arts Film * ''Glamour'' (1931 film), a British film * ''Glamour'' (1934 film), an American film * ''Glamour'' (2000 film), a Hungarian film Writing * ''Glamour'' (magazine), a magazine for women * ''The Glamour ...

as commentary for an analysis of ''Mary Poppins''' dressing. In 2019, a 15th-century-inspired gown Banner made was poorly copied and sold by an online merchant using Banner's photo in the sales listing. Banner bought the dress and made a public video in which she criticized its poor construction. On her channel, Banner is an active spokesperson against the

industry, highlighting its environmental devastation and poor labor practices as reason for people to do what they can to abstain from buying clothes from such brands. In place of consuming fast fashion products, Banner has described her own move towards limiting her number of wardrobe pieces to sustainable and long-lasting garments, many of which she has created herself. Banner studied in the Design and Production Studio at

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

. After that, she did an internship for

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning costume designer

Jenny Tiramani Jennifer Jane Tiramani (born 16 August 1954) is a British costume, stage and production designer. Since 2012 she has been principal of the School of Historical Dress in London. Early life Tiramani was born on 16 August 1954, the daughter of Fre ...

at the School of Historical Dress in London. She formerly worked as a costume assistant for

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, and later on a parody preview video of the Broadway musical '' Frozen''. In 2022, she authored a non-fiction book, ''Make, Sew and Mend'', published by Page Street Publishing. It was a

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trade paperback bestseller for the third week of May.

Publications

Banner, Bernadette. ''Make, Sew and Mend: Traditional Techniques to Sustainably Maintain and Refashion Your Clothes.'' United States: Page Street Publishing, 2022.

References

External links

Official website
*
YouTube channel review
in '' The Daily Star'' History of clothing Fashion YouTubers Living people Patreon creators 1990s births Fashion historians {{fashion-bio-stub