Articles of Interest

Nate Dimeo is a longtime radio hero of mine. And praises be, now he has a book out of his stories, called The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of The Past. Enjoy this sampler of his audiobook and a favorite episode of mine. And consider supporting both Articles of Interest and The Memory Palace by donating to Radiotopia. 

Clothes are records of the bodies we’ve lived in. Think of the old sweater that you used to have that’s just not your style anymore, or the jeans that just aren’t your size anymore. We are like snakes who shed our skins and grow new ones as we age. And it all starts in the kids’ department. Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear, created by Avery Trufelman; a six-part series within 99% Invisible, looking at clothing. 

Lumberjacks wore plaid. Punks wore plaid mini skirts. The Beach Boys used to be called the Pendletones, and they wore plaid with their surfboards. Lots of different groups have adopted the pattern over the course of the 20th century, but if we want to explore how this pattern proliferated, we’ve got to go to Scotland. Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear, created by Avery Trufelman; a six-part series from 99% Invisible, looking at clothing.

Womenswear is littered with fake pockets that don’t open, or shallow pockets that can hardly hold more than a paperclip. If women’s clothes have pockets at all, they are often smaller and just fit less than men’s pockets do. And when we talk about pockets, we are talking about who has access to the tools they need. Who can walk through the world comfortably and securely? Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear, created by Avery Trufelman; a six-part series within* 99% Invisible*, looking at clothing.

There are a few ways to tell if you’re looking at an authentic, high-quality aloha shirt. If the pockets match the pattern, that’s a good sign, but it’s not everything. Much of understanding an aloha shirt is about paying attention to what is on the shirt itself. It’s about looking at the pattern to see the story it tells. Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear, created by Avery Trufelman; a six-part series from 99% Invisible, looking at clothing.

For the most part, we tend to keep our clothes relatively clean and avoid spills and rips and tears. But denim is so hard-wearing and hard-working that it just kind of amasses more and more signs of wear. So you can learn a lot from observing an old pair of blue jeans. Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear, created by Avery Trufelman; a six-part series within* 99% Invisible*, looking at clothing.

There is this myth that it’s frivolous or unproductive to care about how you look. Clothing and fashion get trivialized a lot. But think about who get associated with clothing and fashion: young people, women, queers and people of color — groups of people who historically haven’t had a voice have expressed themselves on their bodies, through their style, their hair, their tattoos, their piercings and what they wear. Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear, created by Avery Trufelman; a six-part series within* 99% Invisible*, looking at clothing.

"Articles of Interest" theme song by Sasami Ashworth Sasami’s new album is out now. Get it!

In the wake of World War II, the government of France commissioned its most prominent designers to create a collection of miniature fashion dolls. It might seem like an odd thing to fund, but the fantasy of high fashion inspired hope in postwar Paris. These dolls also forever changed the curator who discovered them almost 40 years later, in a strange museum perched on a cliff in rural Washington state. Articles of Interest is a limited-run podcast series about fashion, housed inside the design and architecture podcast 99% Invisible. Launched in 2018 by Avery Trufelman, the show encourages people to rethink the way we look at what we wear and what it says about us.

Brands hold immense sway over both consumers and the American legal system. Few know this as well as Dapper Dan, who went from street hustler to fashion impresario and has spent time on both sides of American trademark law. Articles of Interest is a limited-run podcast series about fashion, housed inside the design and architecture podcast 99% Invisible. Launched in 2018 by Avery Trufelman, the show encourages people to rethink the way we look at what we wear and what it says about us.

The world of high end perfume is surprisingly lucrative, considering that scent is often the most ignored of our senses. But one can't judge a scent solely by the brand and shape of the bottle. With the right amount of attention, perfume can be a key to a whole olfactory world. Articles of Interest is a limited-run podcast series about fashion, housed inside the design and architecture podcast 99% Invisible. Launched in 2018 by Avery Trufelman, the show encourages people to rethink the way we look at what we wear and what it says about us.

Menswear can seem boring. If you look at any award show, most of the men are dressed in black pants and black jackets. This uniform design can be traced back to American Revolution, classical statuary, and one particular bloke bopping around downtown London way back in the 1770s. Articles of Interest is a limited-run podcast series about fashion, housed inside the design and architecture podcast 99% Invisible. Launched in 2018 by Avery Trufelman, the show encourages people to rethink the way we look at what we wear and what it says about us.

Diamonds represent value, in all its multiple meanings: values, as in ethics, and value as in actual price. But what are these rocks actually worth? The ethics and costs of diamond rings have shifted with society, from their artificial scarcity perpetuated by DeBeers to their artificial creation in labs. Articles of Interest is a limited-run podcast series about fashion, housed inside the design and architecture podcast 99% Invisible. Launched in 2018 by Avery Trufelman, the show encourages people to rethink the way we look at what we wear and what it says about us.

A wedding was once seen as a start of young adulthood. Now, a wedding has come to represent a crowning achievement -- a symbol that your whole life is together and you have accrued the time and space and resources to afford your ascent to another level of fulfillment. And there's no greater symbol for this day, and all the pressure it brings, than a white dress. Articles of Interest is a limited-run podcast series about fashion, housed inside the design and architecture podcast 99% Invisible. Launched in 2018 by Avery Trufelman, the show encourages people to rethink the way we look at what we wear and what it says about us.

Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear. And for a long time, one particular look has come back in style again and again and again. Or maybe it never went away. Season 3 will get to the bottom of it.

A trend forecaster follows up on a trend report from 2016. A prominent fashion buyer tells me his trends for fall 2022. And I wonder why one particular trend, against all odds, seems to come back over and over again To see the jeans of the future, along with more images, notes and transcripts, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com Articles of Interest is made by Avery Trufelman Edited by Kelly Prime Mixed and Mastered by Ian Coss With album art by Helen Shewolfe Tseng and photography by Matty Lynn Barnes Theme songs are by Sasami, with additional music from Rhae Royal Proud member of Radiotopia!

So where does Ivy begin? The short answer: Princeton University. The long answer is a spiral that takes us from a 1940s Chinese prison camp, to the raucous party culture of 1920s London, to the docks of downtown New York City after The War of 1812. To see images, notes and full transcripts, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com Articles of Interest is made by Avery Trufelman Edited by Kelly Prime Mixed and Mastered by Ian Coss Album art by Helen Shewolfe Tseng and photography by Matty Lynn Barnes Theme songs are by Sasami, with additional music from Rhae Royal Proud member of Radiotopia!

The look of the elite somehow becomes the look for everyone. And as more and more people are taking on Ivy, it only becomes cooler and cooler. Which goes against everything I thought I knew about trends. To see images, notes, and full transcripts, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com Articles of Interest is made by Avery Trufelman Edited by Kelly Prime Mixed and Mastered by Ian Coss Album art by Helen Shewolfe Tseng and photography by Matty Lynn Barnes Theme songs are by Sasami, with additional music from Rhae Royal Proud member of Radiotopia!

Ivy starts to go out of style, thanks to the counterculture (with a lot of help from corporate America). But Ivy finds an unlikely savior in a Jewish college dropout from the Bronx. To see images, notes, and full transcripts, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com Articles of Interest is made by Avery Trufelman Edited by Kelly Prime Mixed and Mastered by Ian Coss Album art by Helen Shewolfe Tseng and photography by Matty Lynn Barnes Theme songs are by Sasami, with additional music from Rhae Royal Proud member of Radiotopia!

Ralph Lauren ascends. And so does a slender little joke book that no one expected to be a colossal, massive bestseller. Just in time for the secret fashion revolution of the 1980s that no one ever talks about. To see images, notes, and full transcripts, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com Articles of Interest is made by Avery Trufelman Edited by Kelly Prime Mixed and Mastered by Ian Coss Album art by Helen Shewolfe Tseng and photography by Matty Lynn Barnes Theme songs are by Sasami, with additional music from Rhae Royal Proud member of Radiotopia!