#fashion-history

#fashion-history

In 1926, Coco Chanel published a short, simple black dress in American Vogue . Calf-length, straight-cut, and decorated only with a few diagonal lines, Vogue dubbed it 'Chanel's Ford'. The implication was clear: the LBD would be democratic, practical, and accessible to women across social classes - 'a sort of uniform for all women of taste,' as the magazine put it. Few fashion predictions have proved quite so prophetic.

Marcello Mastroianni propelled the sunglasses brand Persol into the stratosphere by wearing different frames in La Dolce Vita and Divorzio All'Italiana, exposing the brand to a glamorous audience.

Manoir du Mée, a 5,400-square-foot mansion, wasn't just beautiful but historic as well. The manse was built in 1749—40 years before the French Revolution.

Emily Porter found a woven sweater labeled 'Maria Rodriguez Chicago' at a resale shop, highlighting the significance of local designers in Chicago's fashion history.

In 1971, Manolo Blahnik created shoes for the designer Ossie Clark's catwalk show in London. Relatively new to shoemaking, the Spanish designer forgot to put steel pins in the heels of the shoes, which meant that models wobbled, unbalanced, down the catwalk.

Lorena Bradford started monthly tours in American Sign Language, established a program for individuals with memory loss, and brought in medical students to learn soft skills to apply in their caregiving. 'I was a sub-department of one,' she joked to writer Emma Cieslik, who spoke with Bradford over Zoom and at the NGA about her own circuitous path into the profession, and the future of the field of museum accessibility.

For Hollywood's biggest night, celebrities pay as much attention to their red-carpet attire as their speeches. It's a night to leave a mark not just on Hollywood but on best-dressed lists and even make fashion history.

Fashion is more than a visual medium. The thoughts, ideas and voices of designers drive our industry also. For the past quarter-century, we have been fortunate enough to speak to its greatest names, those who have defined and redefined their metier in the 21st century.

The dress, conversely, is 80 years old, and it isn't his. It's by Pierre Balmain - Tron shows me a René Gruau illustration of the look where, with a platter hat, white fox stole and opera-length gloves, the look is borne back ceaselessly into the past. It's an illustration in a book titled The New French Style, of Balmain outfits with an essay by Alice B Toklas, the partner of Gertrude Stein.

To honour him, the cover of Vogue Italia's February issue out this month will be a take on Valentino red, while Donatella Versace wore a bright red suit when she went to pay tribute to her fellow designer, as he lay in state in Rome on Thursday. If most of the mourners at his funeral on Friday including the actor Anne Hathaway, and fashion's Anna Wintour,

The corporate neckwear is the everyday counterpart to the traditionally more luxurious cravat a voluminous neckscarf that conjures up images of opulent dinners aboard a yacht sailing through the Mediterranean. President Abraham Lincoln wore cravats, as did Hollywood actor Cary Grant and the extravagant entertainer Liberace. In more recent times, the garment has been popularized in the American mainstream by the likes of Madonna and the late Diane Keaton.

I always pack at least one animal-printed item in my suitcase, whether it's a zebra handbag or a cheetah flat. I do this because it's stylish, but also because it's an effortless way to spruce up any outfit. Animal prints like leopard, snakeskin, and cow print might look busy on paper, but in practice, they behave like a neutral. These prints go with every color and fabric in my carry-on: black, white, red, denim, linen, you name it.

pulls together research and different articles I've written over the years as a kind of anthology. Part contested history, part polemic on what it is about workwear that is so enduring, and how it's got the stage of de-facto uniform today. And then a little personal resonance -stories about silly things I got up to when wearing it. The book isn't too serious -it's meant to be approachable,

Costume Art ,

Worn in Iraq by a Cornell alumnus, the combat uniform set a template for contemporary camouflage and tactical design, according to exhibition notes. The khaki trench coat, originally designed for British officers, evolved from battlefield necessity into a fashion staple. The Hawaiian shirt reflects the early influence of Japanese textiles - designs and motifs forced to shift after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

"That was just a fun idea that I had," Kardashian told . "There was a shoot, and someone wanted to, like, have hair down there once. And I was like, 'Couldn't this just be easy and have it on a thong?' And so we made that happen."

Rudi Gernreich, an Austrian-born designer in LA, rebelled against the ban on nudity by creating the thong, a piece of fabric covering only the bare minimum.

Deborah Carnegie's photography archive chronicals Black British women's Saturday night fashion from 1950 to the present, showcasing a vibrant and sacred pre-night out ritual with cultural significance.

Charles Frederick Worth, the nineteenth-century designer widely credited as the inventor of haute couture, embodied the excesses of his time, attracting an elite clientele with extravagant gowns rich in detail.

Louis XIV, known as the 'Sun King', significantly influenced fashion in France during his reign by enforcing strict rules about attire and banning textile imports.

In 1978, Chris Evert's diamond bracelet broke during a match at the US Open, leading her to request a pause so she could retrieve it.

"Every decade since, we've looked back to the 1920s for inspiration... you don't get the full effect of what these dresses look like until you see what they look like worn on a human body."

"The Japanese have such skill when it comes to denim...They've got a great understanding of how to create beautiful fabrics, and an amazing capability when it comes to washing and construction."

"In 1960 my grandmother gave me a book on the history of costume. Every night I was learning, sketching, trying to understand. I was not only fascinated, I was totally obsessed."