Members of the Chicago Historical Costuming Society know well how fun it is to dress in the style of our predecessors, but of course we cannot claim to be the first generation to discover this wonderful hobby. Some of our own members have previous (and continuing) experience in everything from 20th century military reenactment to performing 14th century music in period-appropriate clothing. But even the historical people whose style we recreate were often themselves adherents to our same hobby. I’m not talking here about the patterns of fashion that tend to draw upon earlier styles, but rather about historical costuming societies like ours, that have existed throughout the centuries. In the account that follows, I’ll work backwards through several instances of people who, like us, have looked to the past for a rebirth of historical style.