Tag Archives: designers

Grannies on the Red Carpet, 2024

It’s not every day that older women can steal the show on the red carpet.  However, that was the case recently when Chang Li Hua and Yi Yan Fuei showed up in Hollywood dressed in custom Rodarte.  Vogue even took … Continue reading

Posted in 2020s | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Eunice Johnson–Black Power Fashion

It is hard to overestimate the contribution of Eunice Johnson (1916-2010) to African American fashion in the United States.  She and her husband were the founders of Ebony and Jet.  Although she worked as secretary and treasurer for the Johnson … Continue reading

Posted in 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990, 2000s, 2010s, General | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lois Alexander and the Black Fashion Museum

Most fashion museums focus on the works of famous designers and the clothes of the well-off women who supported them.  The Black Fashion Museum, which existed from 1979 to 2007, had a different mission.  Under the leadership of the visionary … Continue reading

Posted in 1970s, 1980s, 1990, 2000s | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hope Skillman Fabrics

I’ve been wanting to write about textile designer and manufacturer Hope Skillman (1908-1981) for a long time, but pictures of her—especially with any sense of what she wore—are hard to find.  This Vogue advertisement, featuring her fabric on a dress … Continue reading

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On the Road with Gloria Swanson for Forever Young

In the 1951 contract that Gloria Swanson signed with Puritan Dress was a clause promising that she would make a month long promotional trip every year to promote her line of Forever Young dresses.  Her archive is filled with documents … Continue reading

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Gloria Swanson and Puritan Dresses

Film star and entrepreneur Gloria Swanson was something of a pack rack, as evidenced by over 620 boxes of materials housed in her archive at the Henry Ransom Center.  Only about twenty boxes—a tiny fraction–have anything to do with her … Continue reading

Posted in 1950s, 1960s, General | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Fashion Climbing by Bill Cunningham

In this book, you meet a different Bill Cunningham than the one presented in the documentary, Bill Cunningham New York, or in his New York Times photos.  This is a memoir of his early years in New York when he … Continue reading

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The Famous Blue-Green Dress by Mollie Parnis, 1955

If you spend any time studying the clothes of well off women of the 1950s and 1960s, the name Mollie Parnis will come up sooner or later.  She was a well known designer of the era who dressed a number … Continue reading

Posted in 1950s | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Ann Lowe, Custom Designer for the Upper Crust

Ann Lowe (1898-1981) was the first African American to open a custom dress studio on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. During the fifties and sixties, she was a favorite designer for the moneyed elite, creating debutante and wedding dresses. Perhaps her … Continue reading

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How New was the “New Look”?

In many fashion histories, the “New Look” introduced by Christian Dior in 1948 is portrayed as nothing short of a revolution.  With his famous collection featuring soft shoulders, nipped waists, full skirts, and longer lengths, he singlehandedly ended prevailing World … Continue reading

Posted in 1940s | Tagged , | 5 Comments