Top 10 Chanelisms: Coco’s Wise Words to Mark Her Birthday
Coco Chanel demonstrates the sleeve construction and how the high armhole permits freedom of movement without lifting the hem of the jacket. Yesterday would have been the 129th birthday of Coco...
View ArticleNew York Fashion Week, Past and Present
Philosophy show at Fashion Week, 2008. Today kicked off New York Fashion Week, the debut of the Spring 2013 designer collections, and for the next seven days, if you don’t catch them on the runway,...
View ArticleYayoi Kusama, High Priestess of Polka Dots
Collection of the artist. © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc. Artist Yayoi Kusama established the Church of Self-Obliteration and appointed herself the “High Priestess of Polka...
View ArticleAntonio’s World: The Life and Work of a Celebrated Fashion Illustrator
Maria Snyder, Italian Vanity, Versace, 1983. “I’m from the generation that came to New York to meet their idols. In my case it was Andy Warhol and Antonio Lopez.” —Anna Sui What do Jerry Hall, Jessica...
View ArticleJames Bond’s Dapper Dinner Jackets
Sean Connery getting fitted for one of his classic suit jackets by Anthony Sinclair. Along with the requisite high-tech gadgets and gizmos, it wouldn’t be a James Bond movie without 007 sporting an...
View ArticleA Holiday Shopping Reminder: Do We Really Need That Extra Pair of Jeans?
Higbee’s department store, 1963. via Cleveland State University, Michael Schwartz Library Special Collections, Cleveland Press Collection. With Thanksgiving behind us and the new year on the horizon,...
View ArticleThe Best in Fashion History: Penny Loafers, Forgotten Suitcases and Hermès...
Bass Weejun loafers for Christmas (c. 1960). The Bass Weejun loafer is not named after a Native American tribe. Suitcases sometimes are time capsules. And a postal worker can design high-end scarves....
View ArticleThe Aughts: When People Wore Their Causes on Their Sleeves, Literally
John Kerry at a campaign rally, showing off his wristbands. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert At every stump speech, meet and greet, and town hall gathering during the 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry...
View ArticleA Refreshing Take on Fashion Television: A Q&A with L.A. Frock Stars’ Star...
The Way We Wore team, from left, Jascmeen Bush, Shelly Lyn, owner Doris Raymond, Sarah Bergman, Kyle Blackmon (c) NHNZ If your wardrobe is seriously lacking the next time you have a red carpet event...
View ArticleThe History of the Flapper, Part 5: Who Was Behind the Fashions?
Ballerina Desiree Lubovska in a dress by Jean Patou. Photography by Adolf de Meyer, c. 1921. Have a look at the paintings of Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger and other Cubist painters...
View ArticleLilly Pulitzer: Remembering the ‘Queen of Prep’
Lilly Pulitzer fits a model with one of her creations. Carlo Allegri / Getty Images Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink! —Lilly Pulitzer It all began with an orange juice-stained...
View ArticleWhen The Gap Was Everywhere
Art Club 2000, Untitled (Conrans I), 1992-93. Chromogenic color print, 8 x 10 inches (20.32 x 25.4 cm). Courtesy the artist and the Estate of Colin de Land “We knew that nostalgia goes hand in hand...
View ArticleThe Story of Elizabeth Keckley, Former-Slave-Turned-Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker
Mary T. & Lizzy K. runs through May 5, 2013, at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Illustration by Jody Hewgill. Elizabeth Keckley was born into slavery in 1818 in Virginia....
View ArticleFor Perusing Pleasure, Zandra Rhodes’ New Online Fashion Archive
(c) Zandra Rhodes 2012. Paris, Frills and Button Flowers, Autumn/Winter 1971. If you want to lose a few hours, head over to the online fashion archive of designer Zandra Rhodes. Born in 1940 in...
View ArticleThe Story Behind the Lacoste Crocodile Shirt
When French tennis players Henri Cochet and René Lacoste met at the net in this undated photo, Lacoste was sporting his signature crocodile on his blazer.© Underwood & Underwood/Corbis Frenchman...
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