About this author

Lilia Prier Tisdall is a Costume Mounting Specialist at the Victoria and Albert Museum, a freelance writer and theater reviewer (liliapt.tumblr.com). Daughter of pattern making expert Alice Prier, Lilia has helped to curate many of the museum’s most prestigious exhibitions—Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, Hollywood Costume, and Club to Catwalk—and she also writes for their blog (vam.ac.uk/blog/author/lilia-tisdall). Growing up in her mother’s house full of pins, the question "how can I make it?" always came before "where can I buy it?". It is an attitude that has stayed with her ever since.