Bernadette Banner

Bernadette Banner is an American YouTuber and author based in London who studies historical dress through practical reconstruction. Trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a former Broadway costume assistant, she began posting garment-making videos in 2018.

Her focus spans the early medieval era to the First World War, with the Victorian and Edwardian periods at its heart. She sews in "Original Practice" — using historically informed methods and materials — and her long-form videos walk through the research, pattern drafting and hand stitching behind each garment.

Alongside the sewing she debunks myths about Victorian clothing, from corsets to mourning dress, and critiques fast fashion with a historian's eye. Her book Make, Sew and Mend (2022) collects her slow-fashion techniques for modern wardrobes.