Menu
Idea

fashion

148
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 91–120 of 148 results. Go to first page
Book illustration of two people holding a bicycle. Caption reads: The Bicycle- the great dress reformer of the nineteenth century

Cycles of Fashion

A look back at the bicycle’s meteoric rise to the height of nineteenth century fashion, and its subsequent fall, provides striking parallels to today's bike culture.
by Daniel Wortel-London via Narratively on May 14, 2013
Leyendecker’s distinct cross-hatch style is seen in this 1911 painting for Cluett Dress shirts, featuring a particularly intimate gaze between two gentlemen.

Before Rockwell, a Gay Artist Defined the Perfect American Male

Alfredo Villanueva-Collado on his J.C. Leyendecker collection and the fascinating story behind this oft-neglected male image maker.
by Hunter Oatman-Stanford, Alfredo Villanueva-Collado via Collectors Weekly on August 28, 2012

Flora and Femininity: Gender and Botany in Early America

Embroidered orchards and peony hair ornaments testify that women were practitioners of floral display, but many women sought knowledge as well as style.
by Susan Branson via Commonplace on January 1, 2012
Ansel Williamson, the trainer whose horse won the first Kentucky Derby, is depicted on the right in the 1864 painting “Ansel Williamson, Edward Brown, and the Undefeated Asteroid,” by Edward Troye.

They Were Born into Slavery. Then They Won the First Kentucky Derby.

As the 150th Kentucky Derby kicks off, the achievements of jockey Oliver Lewis and trainer Ansel Williamson at the first Derby have been largely forgotten.
by Dave Kindy via Retropolis on May 4, 2024
The cover of "Beyond Norma Rae" by Aimee Loiselle

Who Makes the American Working Class: Women Workers and Culture

Female industrial workers across the country and from diverse racial backgrounds fought to tell their own stories.
by Brock Schnoke via UNC Press Blog on March 13, 2024
Margot Robbie in "Barbie" film.

This is the Real History of Barbie

Before the eagerly-anticipated film hits our screens, we take a look back at the story of the world's most famous doll.
by Marie-Claire Chappet via Harper's Bazaar on July 13, 2023
Portrait of a girl wearing a red coral necklace.

The Labor of Polyps and Persons

The meaning of coral jewelry in nineteenth-century America.
by Michele Currie Navakas via Lapham’s Quarterly on July 12, 2023
A pale woman tanning in a beach chair with a towel and sunglasses covering her face.

The Meaning of Tanning

The popularity of tanning rose in the early twentieth century, when bronzed skin signaled a life of leisure, not labor.
by Katrina Gulliver, Phillip Vannini, Aaron M. McCright via JSTOR Daily on April 27, 2023
Baby Drew in a dress and sitting on a chair, 1913.

Boys in Dresses: The Tradition

It’s difficult to read the gender of children in many old photos. That’s because coding American children via clothing didn’t begin until the 1920s.
by Matthew Wills, Jo B. Paoletti via JSTOR Daily on April 11, 2023
Image of an AR-15

The Gun that Divides a Nation

The AR-15 thrives in times of tension and tragedy. This is how it came to dominate the marketplace – and loom so large in the American psyche.
by Alex Horton, Josh Dawsey, Todd C. Frankel, Shawn Boburg, Ashley Park via Washington Post on March 27, 2023
Two garment workers picketing in New York City during a 1910 strike.

We've Been Fighting Fast Fashion Since the Industrial Revolution

From the Triangle Factory Fire to Shein, fast fashion can’t escape ethical quandaries.
by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox via Zócalo Public Square on March 23, 2023

Just Beans

What was ethical consumption under capitalism?
by Malcolm Harris via The Drift on October 20, 2022
Vintage Levi's held in front of an auction crowd.

A Pair of 1880s Jeans Just Sold for $76k. Their Pocket Reveals a Complicated Piece of Levi’s History.

The vintage pair of jeans was pulled from a dusty abandoned mineshaft.
by Jacob Gallagher via The Wall Street Journal on October 11, 2022
From center: Saundra Williams, the first crowned Miss Black America (1969). At left, 2nd runner-up Linda Johnson; on the right is Theresa Claytor, who was the first runner-up.
partner

The History of Beauty Pageants Reveals the Limits of Black Representation

Black contestants — and winners — have not translated into changed beauty standards or structural transformation.
by Mickell Carter via Made By History on February 16, 2022
Scene from from 'The Gilded Age' in which a wealthy white woman and an African American woman walk in the street, with a stagecoach behind them.

The True History Behind HBO's 'The Gilded Age'

Julian Fellowes' new series dramatizes the late 19th-century clash between New York City's old and new monied elite.
by Kimberly A. Hamlin via Smithsonian on January 20, 2022
Woman's glowing face

“A Revolutionary Beauty Secret!”

On the rise and fall of radium in the beauty industry.
by Lucy Jane Santos via Literary Hub on July 8, 2021
American Girl dolls

The Enduring Nostalgia of American Girl Dolls

The beloved line of fictional characters taught children about American history and encouraged them to realize their potential.
by Meilan Solly via Smithsonian on June 3, 2021
Black and white photo of Barbara Bush, Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, and Nancy Reagan, in 1994.

What Do We Want in a First Lady?

Lady Bird Johnson and Nancy Reagan grappled with the contradictions of a role that is at once public and private, superficial and serious.
by Amy Davidson Sorkin via The New Yorker on April 19, 2021
Lee Miller

Photographer Lee Miller’s Subversive Career Took Her from Vogue to War-Torn Germany

She also acted as a muse to artist Man Ray, with whom she briefly led a relationship.
by Angelica Villa via Art In America on March 19, 2021
Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Trouble with Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman authored the beloved short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," but also supported eugenics and nativism.
by Halle Butler via The Paris Review on March 11, 2021
Collection of People's 50 most beautiful people magazines

Inside the Making of People's Iconic '50 Most Beautiful' Issue

Before People was the juggernaut of the celebrity media, it was a magazine “about people.”
by Joan Summers via Jezebel on March 2, 2021
A photograph of the Chicago River, with telephone wires and the Chicago skyline in the background.

Chicago Was 'Skunk Town' Long Before It Was the Windy City

Chicago has been a skunk haven for centuries.
by Alex Schwartz via Atlas Obscura on July 29, 2020
A printed advertisement for "The Bookman" depicting a fish reacting to "The Bookman" on a hook.

The Power of Flawed Lists

How "The Bookman" invented the best seller.
by Elizabeth Della Zazzera via Lapham’s Quarterly on July 27, 2020
A Continental Army soldier's shirt and a detail from a painting depicting a soldier wearing such a shirt.

“Natives of the Woods of America”

Hunting shirts, backcountry culture, and “playing Indian” in the American Revolution.
by Marta Olmos via The Junto on July 14, 2020
A walkman and a headphone set

The Walkman, Forty Years On

The gadget that taught the world to socially distance.
by Matt Alt via The New Yorker on June 29, 2020

Makers of Living, Breathing History: The Material Culture of Homemade Facemasks

Masks have a history associated with disease, status, gender norms, and more.
by Erika L. Briesacher via Nursing Clio on June 24, 2020

How Training Bras Constructed American Girlhood

In the twentieth century, advertisements for a new type of garment for preteen girls sought to define the femininity they sold.
by Christine Ro via JSTOR Daily on March 18, 2020

The Life And Times Of Mr. Peanut

Mr. Peanut embodies two seemingly-distinct but deeply-connected Virginian worlds; he is a product of the state’s agricultural and aristocratic traditions.
by Rachel Kirby via Contingent on February 13, 2020

The First Drag Queen Was a Former Slave

William Dorsey Swann fought for queer freedom a century before Stonewall.
by Channing Gerard Joseph via The Nation on January 31, 2020
Tourists pose for pictures at the Cape Coast Castle in Ghana.
partner

How a Black Female Fashion Designer Laid the Groundwork for Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’

When Ghana gained independence, Freddye Henderson facilitated African American tourism to the new nation.
by Tiffany M. Gill via Made By History on January 10, 2020
View More
30 of
148

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History