I’m Alanna McKnight, a dress and labour historian, specializing in 19th century Canadian fashion production, and corsets.

My work sits at the intersection of women’s history, urban history, body theory, and fashion theory. I love the city of Toronto and its history, almost as much as I love corsets. I’ve been making and wearing them since 1999, which informed my decision to pursue Costume Studies at Dalhousie University in 2001. Learning about historic dress fuelled my academic curiosity, and I enrolled in a BA and then MA in history at York University, so I could better understand the world that these garments existed in.

As well as corsets, I specialize in the labour of fashion and the everyday folks who worked in factories and workshops. This extends to the people being exploited by the fashion industry in the Global South today, and the disaster that is Fast Fashion.

My interests in fashion include subcultures and occult fashion.

I’m currently available for consulting engagements.