New Books Network Lottie Whalen, "Radicals & Rogues: The Women Who Made New York Modern" (Reaktion, 2023)
Jan 16, 2026
Lottie Whalen, an author and co-founder of Decorating Dissidents, discusses her enlightening book about women who shaped early twentieth-century New York's avant-garde scene. She explores the creative and political activism of icons like Mina Loy and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Whalen highlights how fashion became a political statement and reveals the risks these women faced within misogynistic artistic circles. Through her research, she uncovers forgotten histories and the vibrant social networks that defined a modernizing city.
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Mina Loy Framed A Larger Shift
- Lottie Whalen discovered her topic through a PhD focus on Mina Loy that revealed overlooked artistic practices.
- Loy's two New York experiences show how women's cultural roles shifted from central to marginalized within decades.
Community Made Modernity
- Whalen frames early-20th-century New York as a moment where art, politics, and daily life merged.
- She emphasizes community, salons, galleries, and domestic hosts as central engines of cultural change.
Fashion As Political Language
- Fashion acted as political language: dress signaled modernity and bodily freedom for women.
- Writers like Louise Norton explicitly connected clothing to enfranchisement and political participation.
