Born in 1886 in Vienna, Austria, the petite (4″ 10′) dynamo, Henrietta Kanengeiser would grow up to become one of the leading figures in American fashion for more than four decades. After a fire destroyed their Vienna home in 1892, Henrietta’s family relocated to the […]
Category: Fashion
The Nina Hyde Collection: an interview with Vionnet, age 98
Madeleine Vionnet and fashion journalist Nina Hyde with the miniature mannequin used by the designer to drape her toiles in the round, 1974. Culling through the collection a few weeks ago in preparation for a patron researching Madeleine Vionnet, I was delighted to find Nina […]
Capturing Cool: the Jamel Shabazz photographs
Only recently was I lamenting the dearth of street fashion photography in our collection to a colleague, when we were put in touch with the visionary street and fashion photographer, Jamel Shabazz. It took us about a millisecond to ponder his query: ‘Would we be […]
Hot Accession! Eva: The Journal of Educated Women
Everyone’s who’s been happening through the department recently has had plenty to say about our new accession, Eva. The Czech-language magazine marketed to “educated women” was first issued in 1928 and is simply smart, chic and drop dead gorgeous. We’re happy to report we have […]
A Victorian Fashion History Mystery…
From time to time, we come across beautiful items in our collection that cause us to stop, take note, and delve more into their history. These dainty and diminutive sketches of Victorian millinery may have been executed by Auguste Félix, or […]
Steichen & Poiret: the first fashion photographs?
Many scholars cite the emergence of modern fashion photography to the April 1911 issue of Art et Decoration, which features the designs of couturier Paul Poiret as photographed by famed photographer Edward Steichen. Certainly, these images are not the earliest fashion photographs—our department contains examples […]
Fashion Designers A-Z: The Collection of The Museum at FIT
The much anticipated publication featuring highlights from The Museum at FIT’s costume collection is finally here! Published by Taschen, with a forward by Suzy Menkes, and text by The Museum at FIT’s Director Valerie Steele, the initial copies of the title are gorgeous limited-editions housed […]
The Frances Neady Collection of fashion illustration
A series of three fashion illustrations by famed fashion illustrator, and FIT alumni, Antonio Lopez. This year, 2013, marks the 30th anniversary of The Frances Neady collection of fashion illustration, a unique collection of the works by prominent fashion illustrators […]
Lady Duff-Gordon mail order catalogs, 1916-1917
It seems only fitting that the first post of our newly christened blog discuss Lucile, aka Lady Duff-Gordon, the English-born couturière who rose to fame in the early twentieth century. Not only do the lovely muses who grace the top of each page of this blog model […]