Category Archives: 2000s

Age Affirmative Advertising

How do you sell products designed for older people? The linguistic twists and turns of advertisers have always interested me, so I took a look at the collection The Aging Consumer, edited by Aimee Doret (New York, 2010.)  The most … Continue reading

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Today’s Fit Patterns by Sandra Betzina—A Line for Older Women?

In the Spring of 1999, Vogue Patterns launched a new line by well-known sewing expert, Sandra Betzina.  This wasn’t just a collection of new designs; instead, Betzina introduced a new sizing system that she called “Today’s Fit.”  “Today’s woman doesn’t … Continue reading

Posted in 1990, 2000s, 2010s, General | Tagged , | 7 Comments

The Wearing of the Green

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, and I’m fascinated by the American convention of wearing green for this holiday.  Do the Irish themselves do it, I wonder? And is there any other holiday when a certain color is considered a requirement? … Continue reading

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Olive Kitteridge’s Homemade Dress

I found Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel Olive Kitteridge quite by accident at my local library’s used bookstore. It examines a difficult woman growing old, starting at a tough spot in her marriage on through to widowhood. Olive is … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Woman I Wanted to Be by Diane von Furstenberg

Back in the days when I wore dresses, I didn’t find the wrap dress very practical. When I wore it, the style was given to constant wardrobe malfunctions both on the top and the bottom. Since Diane von Furstenberg’s career … Continue reading

Posted in 1970s, 1980s, 1990, 2000s, 2010s | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Oscar de la Renta and the Older Woman

The Oscar de la Renta fashion exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco has one unusual element: perhaps half of the clothes on display came from the collections of contemporary women.  A good portion of these were red … Continue reading

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Donna Karan in the Black

I’ve never bought anything by American designer Donna Karan—her clothes are far above my price range.  But after reading her new autobiography, My Journey, I think I might have been influenced by her approach to clothing. In the late eighties, … Continue reading

Posted in 1980s, 1990, 2000s, 2010s | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Koko Beall—A Life in Fashion Design

When I wrote about a favorite Vogue Pattern designer Koko Beall in 2014, I didn’t know whether or not she was still alive. Through the magic of the internet, her daughter Victoria Beall found my post. She sent the happy … Continue reading

Posted in 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990, 2000s, 2010s | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Claire Shaeffer: Collector, Teacher, Writer

Claire Shaeffer and her husband Charlie are collectors. When you enter their spacious Palm Springs home, their many passions are everywhere on display. The walls are filled bits and pieces they have collected through the years. When you look more … Continue reading

Posted in 1970s, 1980s, 1990, 2000s, 2010s, General | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Marion Higa—A Life of Sewing

When some people say that they have been sewing forever, it’s an exaggeration. Not so for Marion Higa, now in her early seventies. She started sewing as a young girl, part of Japanese language and culture classes many Japanese Americans … Continue reading

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