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Hot New Accession: La Femme dans la Décoration Moderne

by April Calahan Posted on August 26, 2016

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Created in 1902, Julius Klinger’s book of design and ornament, La Femme dans la Décoration Moderne, is a graphic celebration of the feminine.  The 30 pages of motifs contained within—which all feature women—were intended to be sources of inspiration for practitioners of … Continue reading →

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Couture Copies in America: A Case-Study

by April Calahan Posted on May 11, 2016

This gallery contains 2 photos.

  Over the last few years, Material Mode has frequently referenced the symbiotic relationship between Parisian couture and American fashion during the first half of the 20th century.  US-based ready-to-wear manufacturers looked to Paris to set the mode, which they … Continue reading →

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Eleanor Lambert: The Empress of 7th Avenue

by April Calahan Posted on March 2, 2016

This gallery contains 2 photos.

One of the most seminal figures in the history of American fashion was not, in fact, a designer at all.  For more than seven decades, Eleanor Lambert (1903-2003) was American fashion’s greatest champion and advocate, pulling the strings behind the … Continue reading →

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The Fit Flapper

by April Calahan Posted on December 4, 2015

This gallery contains 5 photos.

In 1924, American Vogue opined, “At the beginning of beauty lies the beautiful figure. For it is the single thing about a woman that comes nearest to dominating in the ensemble of her attractiveness.” It may not be able to … Continue reading →

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Screen Shot 2015-11-11 at 9.30.59 AMJust released this week, Fashion Plates:  150 Years of Style, which features 200 fashion plates from our collection.  Many of these beautiful images, which date between 1778-1928, have not been reproduced since their original date of publication.

Thank you to Yale University Press for their unerring support of this project which is currently available as a slipcased, luxury edition.

An interview about the book can be found on the podcast Stuff Missed in History Class.

by April Calahan Posted on November 11, 2015 | Comments Off on Fashion Plates: 150 Years of Style

From Russia with Love: Fira Benenson

by April Calahan Posted on November 5, 2015

This gallery contains 4 photos.

While sorting though a recent donation, a small collection of exquisitely detailed sketches by one Fira Benenson came to perk my curiosity.  Her name was unfamiliar to me, and as someone who spends a great deal of time immersed in … Continue reading →

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Tennis in the ’20s

by April Calahan Posted on August 3, 2015

This gallery contains 6 photos.

                   Three tennis looks, created by an unidentified French designer in 1926, the year women’s professional tennis was established. Material Mode has a quibble. After attending the exhibition The Rise of Sneaker … Continue reading →

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What to Wear to a Revolution

by April Calahan Posted on July 14, 2015

This gallery contains 2 photos.

  (click to enlarge) In early November 1793, amidst the most violent period of the French Revolution, the National Convention issued this decree declaring that the citizens of France were “free to wear such garments appropriate to their sex in … Continue reading →

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The Myth of Poiret as Debunked by 1906

by April Calahan Posted on July 9, 2015

This gallery contains 6 photos.

As a fashion historian, working in a Special Collections unit which focuses almost entirely on the history of design, is both a fantastic job and a wonderful education in its own right.  The objects which encompass my day-to-day routine continually … Continue reading →

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Oral History Project of the Creative Industries

by April Calahan Posted on June 2, 2015

This gallery contains 1 photo.

  Beginning in the late 1970s, FIT library director John Touhey initiated the collection of oral histories as told by prominent members of the American fashion industry.  Over the course of several decades, fashion designers, department store executives, Hollywood costume … Continue reading →

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    Please note that research appointments will not be held after November 25, 2020 for the remainder of the fall semester.  Appointments will resume TBD.

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