This gallery contains 7 photos.
After a self-imposed hiatus due to a spectacular year-long renovation (and two moves of our entire collection!), Material Mode is pleased to share one of the special items brought into the collection during our time away. A few years back, … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
