Claim OwnershipDressed: The History of Fashion
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© 2023 Dressed Media
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With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day we all get dressed. Join Dressed as we explore the social and cultural histories behind the who, what, when of why we wear.
583 Episodes
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This week, we investigate the historical fashion trends written about in an 1884 Harper’s Bazar article entitled “The Follies of Fashion.” Covering everything from Ancient Roman curling irons to Cleopatra’s donkey milk baths to “barbarous” steel corsets, we decipher fashion fact from fashion fiction.
Primary Sources
Box for rouge and patches, 1750-55
Jean de la Bruyère’s translation of The Characters of Theophrastus
Memoirs of Madame de la Tour de Pin
Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia
Secondary Sources:
Sarah Bendall’s Shaping Femininity: Foundation Garments, the Body and Women in Early Modern England
Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell’s Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
Donkey Milk article in Beverages
Micaela Higgs’s “The Entirely False History of Tricking Men with Makeup”
Kelly Olson’s “Fashion and Adornment,” in A Cultural History of Hair in Antiquity
Valerie Steele’s The Corset: A Cultural History
Caroline Weber’s Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
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From the most toxic makeup in history to the world's first sunglasses, in this 2023 episode, we discuss all things fashion and Guinness World Records with Senior Editor Ben Hollingum.
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From clothes curtains to computer microchips to calico doll dresses, in the latest edition of Fashion History Now, we explore the fascinating--and surprising-- stories quite literally woven into the clothes we wear and the technology we use. Other things we love in this episode: Catherine Martin X Upcycled by Miu Miu. Check out Catherine's directorial debut fashion film here. Sarah Espeute's incredible clothes curtains: @sarahespeute and Oeuvres Sensibles for pre-order. Dressed happenings: Cassidy's Vintage Fashion History 101 and What Women Wore to the Revolution class, April's Fashion History Tours of the MET
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Emilie Flöge may best be remembered as the long-time companion of artist Gustav Klimt, but in this week's Dressed Classic episode from 2022, we explore her work as a fashion designer and dress reformer in early 20th century Vienna.
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For years, you have heard us singing the praises of today's guest! Haute couture embroiderer, textile expert, and our dear friend Rebecca Devaney joins us to talk about her many contributions to our annual fashion history tours of Paris, which features behind the seams experiences of Paris's most treasured ateliers including UltraMod, Acaba, Annie Bouquet, Au Ver à Soie, and Atelier Caraco.
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The palace of Versailles during the 18th century was one of the most extravagant locales in the world. This week we break down some of the basics of fashion and etiquette at the French court.
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A spectacular summer in Paris for fashion lovers, in part I of this two-part episode, we walk you through some of the fashion exhibitions we visited this year on our 7 day fashion history tours of the City of Lights. You still have time through the end of 2025 to catch the shows at the Palais Galliera and the Musée des arts décoratifs!
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In part two of our 2022 conversation with Justine Picardie, we learn about Catherine Dior's courageous resistance efforts during WWII and the continuance of her legacy at the House of Dior to this very day.
Recommended reading: Justine Picardie's Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture
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International best selling author Justine Picardie joined us in this 2022, two-part episode to discuss the life and legacy of Christian Dior's beloved sister Catherine, a WWII French resistance fighter, concentration camp survivor, and inspiration behind Dior's most famous scent Miss Dior.
Recommended reading: Justine Picardie's Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture
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Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles
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This week we revisit a 2020 Fashion History Mystery where we answer a listener query about the origin of women's shorts.
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Fashion history and true crime come together in this 2022 episode where we explore a scandal of the 1860s involving a British cosmetics maven who bilked her clients out of fortunes with the promise to halt the aging process and make them beautful forever.
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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!
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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.
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Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles
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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).
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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?
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Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles
Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network
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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
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Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles
Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network
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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."
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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.
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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?
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Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles
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please would you help me delve deeper? remind me of the Marie Antoinette memories book mentioned? love your work! best podcast ever.
I was listening to a completely different podcast about decor. To my surprise, within the first minute or so, I was listening to a description of Barbie's business outfit that converts to an evening outfit. I was stunned because just a few days ago I also heard about it on this podcast!
❤️🙏🌹
👍👍
Please be the voice of Iranians. They're taking down the internet and KILLING AND TORTURING INNOCENT PEOPLE. please be our voice
My grandmother worn cats eyes glasses and they were not a sexy or classy look at all.
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Great talk! So unfortunate that the mic quality is mediocre :(
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ouch huge bummer i had to listen to more than 2 minutes of obnoxious TelaNovela advertisements before the actual podcast.
Fantastic guest, so interesting to listen to not only the history, but also how she has recreated period garments.
Love this way of covering the history of fashion, and I found the history of fans really interesting.
Loved this episode so much I bought both books. Thank you for a wonderful podcast. It has opened my eyes to fashion, history, culture and encouraged my creative side. keep up the amazing work.
Just a compliment to the hosts to say how much I enjoy this podcast. It's one of my favourites. I love all things clothes and I've learned so much by listening!
Amazing! What a fantastic man and interview!
Swooning over every episode. Love your work ladies!!!!!
OMG, I thank God for you ladies and this podcast. I am about to show my first full collection in May and I was trying to decide if I wanted to attempt to do my 12 looks by hand or sewing machine. I am establishing a haute couture label and brand but starting out I do not have the luxurious fabrics so I wanted to at least hone the craft of hand sewing. This episode has lifted a great burden off of my heart and mind. Thank you ladies!!!!
Well done lovely to listen to thank you.
I recently stumbled upon your podcast......and I must say that I am completely addicted to it!
I enjoyed your history of the swimsuit. In the course of my own research for an article on the history of the bikini, I found a couple of things which might be of interest to you and your listeners. The bikini at its debut was actually, believe it or not, a g-string. (Louis Reard himself referred to it as, "Three triangles of nothing".) It was only later in the year of its premeire that Reard introduced a four-panel version. Also, Jacques Heim first designed the Atom in 1932. Its premiere in 1946 was actually his third attempt to introduce it to the public. He first tried in 1932/33, and then again in 1939. Unfortunately for him this latter attempt coincided with the outbreak of world war II. Really enjoying your show. Keep up the great work!