Dressed: The History of Fashion
With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common: everyday, we all get dressed. Join fashion historians April Calahan and Cassidy Zachary in celebrating the who, what, when of why we wear throughout history and around the world.
Episodes
Books are some of the first ways that children are introduced to the fantastical, wonderful, and historical world of fashion. On today's episode, we share some children's books that sparked our own love for fashion history, as well as some more recent publications.
Books discussed in today's episode (some with links to purchase):
- A Treasury of the World’s Greatest Fairy Tales
- Rumplestiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky
- The Lad...
It's time to add Santa Fe to the list of world fashion centers! May marks the debut of SWAIA Native Fashion Week, the very first Indigenous “fashion week” in the US dedicated to showcasing the exciting and dynamic creations of Native American and Indigenous Canadian designers. Amber Dawn Bear Robe, the show's visionary director and producer, joins us to tell us what to expect from this historic event.
We continue our exploration into the fashion history of the Gucci family, in part two of a two part past episode from the Dressed archive.
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Today, the name Gucci, with its iconic double "G" logo, is an internationally renowned luxury fashion label. But what of the Gucci family responsible for its creation? In this week's two-part episode from the Dressed archives, we delve into the fashion history of one of the world's most instantly recognizable brands by centering the family responsible for its creation and its heart.
Our Sponso...
Waleria Dorgova joins us for for the second part of our episode this week on the artist, interior, fashion and textile designer Sonia Delaunay. Dr. Dorogova co-curated the ground-breaking exhibition with Dr. Laura Microulis, research curator of the Bard Graduate Center, where the exhibition Sonia Delaunay: Living Art is on view through July 7, 2024.
Can't make the exhibition? Check out the exceptional catalog for the show here.
W...
Now mostly remembered as a painter, this week we look at the broad spectrum of the work of Sonia Delaunay with a special emphasis on her fashion and textile designs. Waleria Dorogova, co-curator of the exhibition Sonia Delaunay: Living Art which is now on view at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City joins us to speak about the years of research she did with Laura Microulis to deliver this fresh new perspective on Sonia's c...
This week, we are joined by Rebecca Seaver, the Director of Museum & Archive Services for Dolly Parton, and the person responsible for the curated selection of special pieces on view in Dolly's recently published memoir Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. And thanks to the book's audio companion, we even hear from Dolly herself!
A special thank you to Rebecca and the Penguin Random House Audio team for the sound b...
This week, we are joined by Rebecca Seaver, the Director of Museum & Archive Services for Dolly Parton, and the person responsible for the curated selection of special pieces on view in Dolly's recently published memoir Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. And thanks to the book's audio companion, we even hear from Dolly herself!
A special thank you to Rebecca and the Penguin Random ...
When fashion designer Salvacion Lim "Slim" Higgins opened her first atelier in Manila in 1947, she ushered in both the golden age of Filipino couture and her own forty-plus year career. Her son Mark Lewis Higgins joins us to discuss her incredible life and legacy.
Recommended additional resources:
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We revisit a 2021 episode with guest Ayaka Sano who joined us to discuss the early years of the career of Japanese designer Hanae Mori, the first Asian designer admitted to the ranks of French haute couture. Mori's career spanned five decades and the globe, enjoying international success thanks to her seamless and signature blending of euro-American styles with distinctively Japanese textiles and aesthetics.
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In part II of this week's episode in commemorating the 113th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which occurred in Lower Manhattan on March 25, 1911, we examine how the fire started, hear from some of the survivors and learn about the sweeping labor reforms and worker protections which followed in its wake.
Recommended resources:
Cornell University's The 1911 Triangle Factory Fire online portal
As the 113th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory approaches in a few short days, this week we bring you a two-part episode on the nature of the New York City garment trade at the turn of the 20th century, and how a horrific workplace accident on March 25, 1911 reshaped the landscape of workers rights and protections.
Recommended resources:
Cornell University's The 1911 Triangle Factory Fire online portal
This week we chat about the latest in fashion history news including Norma Kamali training an AI to design her legacy, the Oscar nominees for Best Costume Design, a new YSL bookshop in Paris and some of the spectacular pieces up for sale at recent fashion auctions.
Recommended Resources:
- Vogue Archive
- Killers of the Flower Moon article by Christian Allaire
- The Art of Costume podcasts interview with Holly Waddington
- Light, Camera, Au...
In the spirit of prom season being just around the corner, this week we return to a 2020 episode to learn to origins of one of quintessential rites of passage for American teenagers: attending prom. From its roots in debutante culture to its 1850s inception at Ivy League colleges that lead to prom becoming a high school phenomenon, the history of prom spans a surprising 175 years.
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- Our w...
We continue our conversation with Isabel Attyah Flower and Marcel Rosa-Salas about nameplate jewelry, addressing its central and even controversial role in both sub and mainstream cultural expressions, including hip hop.
Recommended resources:
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Isabel Attyah Flower and Marcel Rosa-Salas join us to discuss their book The Nameplate: Jewelry, Culture and Identity, which celebrates the myriad of meanings embedded in the multi-cultural and cross-generational phenomenon of nameplate jewelry.
Recommended resources:
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In the wonderful and often bizarre world of fashion fads from history, we ask the question: which should live on to wear another day and which should be left to history?
Recommended resources:
Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?
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- Our bookshelf with over 100 of our favorite fashion history titles
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* Check...
Maison Margiela's Spring/Summer Paris 2024 Haute Couture collection show delivered a haunting jolt that is hard to forget. Whether you loved the show or hated it, it was a moment. And that moment–which will undoubtedly go down in fashion history–was also packed with references to the history of fashion itself. Alexandre Samson, Curator of Haute Couture from 1947 to Contemporary Design at the Palais Galliera in Paris joins us to...
An exceptionally famous milliner in her day, the life and career of Mildred Blount has been somewhat lost to history. Curator Taylor Bythewood-Porter joins us to shine a light on the first African-American to be admitted to the Motion Pictures Costumers Union and her glorious on-screen creations for films including Gone With the Wind and Gigi as well as her offscreen successes designing hats for Hollywood stars and Harlem high soci...
In the early years of the twentieth century, Madam C.J. Walker built an international, Black hair care empire from the ground floor up, transforming herself from a laundry work making $1.50 a day to the woman Guinness World Records identifies as the “first self-made millionairess.” This week, we learn all about her extraordinary life in an interview with her biographer—and great, great granddaughter—A’Lelia Bundles.
Recommended Res...
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