Dressed: The History of Fashion

In this episode, we revisit two past Fashion History Mystery minisodes from the Dressed archive where we explored the fascinating origin stories of polka dots and artificial silk!  Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We return to a 2019 interview with Clarissa Esguerra, Curator of Textiles and Costume at Los Angeles County Museum of Art  (LACMA), who taught us all about the sophisticated resist-dying ikat technique responsible for the resplendent textiles and garments on display in the LACMA exhibition Power of Pattern: Central Asian Ikats. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part-two of our 2022 exploration of the career of American fashion designer Claire McCardell, we discuss her work during WWII which yielded some of her most iconic designs. For additional reading, check out Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson's recently released biography Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free (2025). Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Called the "designer's designer," Claire McCardell turned the American fashion industry on its head starting in the 1930s with her fresh modern take on sportswear. This week we examine her career and legacy in a two-part episode from 2022. For additional reading, check out Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson's recently released biography Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free (2025) Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fifth generation Diné (Navajo) weavers Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas have been instrumental in rewriting the history and narrative surrounding Navajo weaving, a realm that for too long has been dominated by non-Navajo voices. This is exemplified by their two groundbreaking books Spider Woman’s Children: Navajo Weavers Today and How to Weave a Navajo Rug and Other Lessons from Spider Woman, as well as their integral role in the creation of the exhibition Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest at the Bard Graduate Center, New York. Curator Hadley Jensen also joins us in this 2023 two-part episode from the Dressed archive. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we travel into the Dressed archive to revisit a two-part episode on the sacred cultural practice and art form of Diné (Navajo) weaving with internationally acclaimed authors, educators, and fifth generation weavers Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas.  Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of our 2022 two-part episode, we continue our deep dive into the inner fashion sanctoms of nineteenth century "dudedom," exploring everything from dude fashion trends to the epic, nationally publicized battle to be "King of the Dudes."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this two-part episode from 2022, we travel back in time to a bygone era when "dude" meant "dandy" and learn all about the now lost fashionable connotations of one of the most popular slang terms in modern parlance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nothing gets between a woman and her fashion! Dr. Elizabeth Block joins us for part two of our 2023 episode on Gilded Age fashion in a discussion on fashionable smuggling, thievery, and the costumes of Gilded Age Season 2! Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

French haute couturiers reigned supreme during the late 19th and 20th centuries--but they did not achieve this status on their own. This week we revisit our two-part interview with Dr. Elizabeth Block, who joined us in 2023 to discuss her book Dressing Up: The Women Who Influenced French Fashion which celebrates the lesser known figures behind the international success of the French haute couture, including their elite American clientele which were driving forces of Gilded Age 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 Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices