Anatomical Fashion & Lady Gaga
As friends and family already know, I love me some anatomical charts, grotesque dissections of the intricate layers of the human body, old-timey skeletons and medical charts of muscle groups and the nervous system, etc. It appeals to my love of dissection in general, I think: peeling away layers of a body — or a...
Sandra Backlund: Knit Designer Extraordinaire
I recently happened upon a photo of Tilda Swinton, that delicious quirky fashion muse to Viktor & Rolf, wearing an intense layered dress whose filigreed crocheted bodice resembled a crocheted corset, and whose skirt dissolved into something resembling bulky sweaters piled on a floor (click for closeup): A knitter and crocheter myself, it has always...
Silk Stockings & Russian Communism
Over the summer I watched about half an hour of Silk Stockings (1957), a cheesy musical remake of the Greta Garbo classic Ninotchka (1939) where the cool, efficient, and distinctly anti-fashion Soviet agent Cyd Charisse falls in love with (capitalist) Fred Astaire’s flamboyant American producer character while on a government mission in couture capital Paris....
School Dress Codes Target Gender
After reading the New York Times article “Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?,†exasperation and a wee bit of fury rumbled in my belly. As presented by Jan Hoffman, increasing numbers of school children are pushing the boundaries of so-called acceptable attire by cross dressing– a term used quite loosely here. “Cross dressingâ€...
New Collaboration
+ = I am one of the newest bloggers for the Style section of the Huffington Post, that amazing online newspaper! It’s a no-pay gig, but I am thrilled! First article to appear shortly.
Innerwear as Outerwear – Mid-Century and Today
Though I love me some fashion, I confess I do not keep up with every single fashion collection that graces the runways (is it even possible, I sometimes wonder?). However, I happened to catch Dior’s Fall 09 collection recently and fell in love — both in the playful I-want-to-wear-that way and also the that-epitomizes-such-an-interesting-historical-trend way,...
Kennedy Fashion
With the recent passing of Edward “Teddy” Kennedy, I wanted to write something about Kennedy fashion but for better or worse, I read “The Look of Rich Tradition” article by Robin Givhan that pretty much sums up anything I would’ve said: “their attire so perfectly captures a not-so-distant era in the culture. Those images of...
Coraline & Domestic Sewing Traditions
Last week I watched the movie Coraline (2009), directed by the stop-motion animator master Henry Selick who achieved recognition for his collaboration with Tim Burton in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). I was kind of blown away by his latest effort; it succeeded on many levels, but for the sake of this blog I’ll limit...
The Tea Gown in Fashion and Art
Due to a coveted invitation to my friend’s tea party this weekend, I have that genteel social event on my mind. And since I always have costume on my mind as well, it’s only natural that I should want to dissect a portrait of a young woman enjoying the same activity that I shortly will....
Who Inspired Michael Jackson’s Fashion?
In the wake of Michael Jackson’s recent sudden death, there has been a predictable spike in pictures, radio and videos runs, articles and blog posts about the star. We often have the tendency to think of style icons as Athena: “born,†emerging from Zeus’s head swathed in what was to be her trademark ensemble of...
Fabric Vocabulary You Never Knew
I used to subscribe to a word-of-the-day email service, my lazy version of reading the dictionary. Very slowly. Out of order. In any case, one week they had a theme of vocabulary related to textiles, but they focused on the non-textile definitions. I myself had not been aware of some of the secondary meanings to...
Bicycle Chic & Athletic Aesthetics
You might have noticed, as I have, a proliferation of articles about “bicycle style†in recent months. Mayor Bloomberg has invested money in designating bike paths and adding bike racks to make New York friendlier to the traffic easing, eco-friendly transportation. Fashion has responded and, being the fashion culturalist I am, I’ve been slowly making...
Employment for a Fashion History Writer
I was laid off from the Whitney Museum last week due to budget cuts (not unexpected exactly, but still inconvenient) and so I begin the arduous task of finding a new job. My professional experience has been in administration, marketing, database management, and other non-fashiony things, but for obvious reasons I’d like to use this...
Corporate Collaborations with the Arts
Anna Wintour’s involvement with the Metropolitan Museum is reestablished at this time every year with the Met’s renowned Costume Institute gala, and we are again bombarded with pictures of A-list celebrities, socialites and models attending the lush affair. Whether attendees are portrayed in adoring light or to ridicule their outrageous outfits, the glut of coverage...
Jockey Silks and Spectators
With all the excitement of the Kentucky Derby culminating last weekend, I thought I’d take the opportunity to learn about (and share) the roots of horse racing apparel. To begin with the basics, jockey “silks†are comprised of white breeches and a bib, stock or cravat, and receiving them is a rite of passage for...
Cross-Posting Partnership
+ I have partnered with the lovely Monica Sklar and her team at Worn Through, so I will be cross-posting there every-other week. Monica has multiple co-editors for an intelligent, well-rounded take on fashion history, fashion teaching, fashion book reviews and listings of exhibitions and calls for papers. Check it out here....
Mourning Costumes and Religion
A couple months ago I had the unfortunate call to attend the funeral of my former coworker’s 20 year-old daughter who tragically died — of all unlikely things in a developed country — during childbirth. In dressing for the funeral, I selected a lovely black taffeta dress with an outer layer of sheer black tulle...
The Original Vamps: Silent, Deadly, & Stylish