Dressed: The History of Fashion

Where some people study fashion history, today's guest Anneliese Mack lives it! Anneliese joins us to talk about her multifaceted career as a historical interpreter and costumer, educator, seamstress, weaver, and founder of the popular blog and Instagram account The Sewphisticate.  Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 100 of our...

Today's episode is dedicated to one of the greatest visual storytellers of our time, costume designer Sandy Powell who joins us to talk about her prolific 40 year career creating movie magic. Her work is the subject of a current exhibition Sandy Powell Dressing the Part: Costume Design for Film on view now at SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion and Film until March 2025. The exhibition is the first retros...

In part II of this episode, we continue our conversation with Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir who joins us all this week to speak about her book Eyeliner: A Cultural History, which is a deep dive into one of the world’s oldest cosmetic practices. From its origins in Ancient Egypt to contemporary drag, we traverse the globe in a two-part episode to discuss the ways that eyeliner has connec...

This week Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir joins us to speak about her book Eyeliner: A Cultural History, which is a deep dive into one of the world’s oldest cosmetic practices. From its origins in Ancient Egypt to contemporary drag, we traverse the globe in a two-part episode to discuss the ways that eyeliner has connected us over more than 3,000 years of human history. Want more Dressed:...

From the houses of the great haute couturiers and courtesans to the oldest haberdasheries and perfume makers in France, this week we take you behind the seams of our recent fashion history tours of Paris. Recommendations: La Païva La Galerie Dior Les Puces Fondation Azzedine Alaïa Hôtel Drouot  Atelier Caraco Rebecca's Textile Tours of Paris Ultramod Annie Bouquet La Droguerie  Mokuba Au Ver à Soi...

From the houses of the great haute couturiers and courtesans to the oldest haberdasheries and perfume makers in France, this week we take you behind the seams of our recent fashion history tours of Paris. Recommendations: La Païva La Galerie Dior Les Puces Fondation Azzedine Alaïa Hôtel Drouot  Atelier Caraco Rebecca's Textile Tours of Paris Ultramod Annie Bouquet La Droguerie  Mokuba Au Ver à Soi...

What stories can our clothes tell? This week we celebrate the groundbreaking exhibition Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore with curators Kiki Smith and Keren Ben-Horin. The exhibit is the first to display the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection which prizes the everyday clothing of ordinary women, from hard-worn house dresses to psychedelic micro minis and modern suits t...

What stories can our clothes tell? This week we celebrate the groundbreaking exhibition Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore with curators Kiki Smith and Keren Ben-Horin. The exhibit is the first to display the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection which prizes the everyday clothing of ordinary women, from hard-worn house dresses to psychedelic micro minis and modern suits t...

Researchers rejoice! Today we continue our deep dive on American fashion history with Natalie Nudell, who joins us for an update on her multivalent project analyzing and making accessible the Fashion Calendar. Ruth Finley’s Fashion Calendar served as American fashion’s organizational hub for more than seven decades and is an invaluable record of time, place, commerce and the history of design. Rec...

This week’s deep dive into the history of American fashion begins with a conversation with Nancy MacDonell who joins us to discuss her newest book Empresses of 7th Avenue: WWII, New York City and the Birth of American Fashion which details the pantheon of women behind the rise of American fashion during the 1940s. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Ou...

In this week’s two part episode, Dr. Elizabeth L. Block joins us to discuss the cultural significance of hair and hairdressing in 19th century America, introducing us to the spaces and faces that defined this booming industry and profession and are the subject of her new book Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing. More from Elizabeth L. Block: Beyond Vanity: The History and Power o...

We've often discussed what stories are woven into the clothes we wear, but what about those braided into our hair? In this week’s two part episode, Dr. Elizabeth L. Block joins us to discuss the cultural significance of hair and hairdressing in 19th century America, introducing us to the spaces and faces that defined this booming industry and profession and are the subject of her new book Beyond V...

Following up on our wildly popular 2022 episode on obscure fashion terms from history, we bring you an all new two-part episode from A to Z! Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dressed-the-history-of-fashion/donations Learn more about your...

Following up on our wildly popular 2022 episode on obscure fashion terms from history, we bring you an all new two-part episode from A to Z! Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dressed-the-history-of-fashion/donations Learn more about your...

Based on her one-woman show, WHat I wORE to Work, this week Jo Weldon joins us for a two-part episode to explore the "intersection of fashion, culture and sex work." In part II, we hear about the laws governing what strippers can and cannot wear, what Jo herself wore in her many roles within the sex industry and her ongoing work as a sex worker activist. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion? ...

Based on her one-woman show, WHat I wORE to Work, this week Jo Weldon joins us for a two-part episode to explore the "intersection of fashion, culture and sex work." From the brothels of Ancient Greece to Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's, part I explores sex worker style throughout history and its centuries-long influence on high fashion. Want more Dressed: The History o...

Amber-Dawn Bear Robe joins us to discuss the Indigenous fashion on view on and off the runway at this year's SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market. More SWAIA Fashion: Website and Instagram Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 100 of our favorite fashion history titles Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dressed-the-history-of...

Innovation and Indigenous fashion have gone hand in hand for time  immemorial. From the original "couturiers" of America to those that represent the art form today, we explore the past, present and future of Indigenous design innovation with a compilation of past guest interviews. Guests featured in order of appearance: Christian Allaire joined us in 2020 and 2021 Orlando Dugi joined us in 2022 Am...

We conclude our original four part series on Dressing the Summer Olympic Athlete with a brand new episode celebrating fashion—and fashion history—at this year’s Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (Paris Olympics 2024). Recommended reading: Vogue World Gymnastic Leotards Michel & Amazonka Instagram Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 1...

From Sappho to Stonewall-and-beyond, this week we explore than 2,600 years of lesbian fashion history as Eleanor Medhurst joins us to discuss her recently released book Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Support this podcast at — https://redcir...

This week we celebrate six years and 500 episodes of Dressed with a live, two part podcast event featuring surprise past Dressed guests and our beloved listeners.  Past Dressed guests in order of appearance for part II of this episode: From Basic Instinct to Bridgerton, a Conversation with Ellen Mirojnick The Art and Activism of Dress with Michael Sylvan Robinson Ethics and Responsibility in the J...

This week we celebrate six years and 500 episodes of Dressed with a live, two part podcast event featuring surprise past Dressed guests and our beloved listeners.  Past Dressed guests in order of appearance: Chicago's Fashionable Past with Jessica Pushor, Part I and Part II Living History: An interview with Cheyney McKnight, Part I and Part II FHN #23 Cutting Portraits with Silhouette Artist Charl...

This week, we are joined by theo tyson and Emily Stoehrer, the co-curators of the MFA Boston's current exhibition Dress Up, which celebrates the equally significant role that dress and jewelry play in the deeply personal act and art of dressing up. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 100 of our favorite fashion history titles Su...

In part II of our episode on The Met's exhibition Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, we chat with Associate Conservator Elizabeth Shaeffer and Collections Specialist Bethany Gingrich about their roles at The Costume Institute and the hidden labor that goes into mounting blockbuster fashion exhibitions. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our books...

Andrew Bolton joins us in part I of this two-part episode exploring The Metropolitan Museum of Art's blockbuster exhibition Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. With more than 220 objects--all united under the theme of the natural world--the show seeks to evoke the sensory and ephemeral nature of fashion. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our book...