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Summer begins NOW! 🌞 Solstice Splendor Dip Tip

Summer begins NOW! 🌞

Solstice Splendor Dip Tip: Don’t be afraid to take the plunge wearing sumptuous velvet, pearls, and rhinestones...it’s all drip-dry!
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Swim Ensemble by Catalina, 1950-55
Gift of Anonymous Donor
2008.10.4AB
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@catalinaswimwear #catalinaswimwear #swimwear #swimsuit #bathingsuit #summersolstice #summertime #summerfashion #poolsidefashion #glamour #glamourous #summerstyle #1950s #pinupfashion #pinupstyle #1950sfashion #20thcenturyfashion #vintagestyle #vintagefashion #vintageswimwear #fidmmuseum #fashionhistory #fashionmuseum #fashion #sportingfashion #outdoorgirls #sportswear #womeninsports #athletics #fashionliveshere

It can't get any more "Mad Men" than this! Happy F

It can't get any more "Mad Men" than this! Happy Father's Day to the dapper dads out there. The California Men's & Boy's Stylist was a fashion trade publication, but that doesn't mean it was only useful to fashion designers or retailers—many of our copies still have the subscribers' shipping labels affixed. This one was mailed to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Wardrobe Department, right here in Culver City, LA!
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California Men's & Boy's Stylist, April 1959
Gift of Anonymous Donor
SC2018.40.120
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#fathersday #happyfathersday #madmen #madmenfashion #californiafashion #mgmstudios #metrogoldwynmayer #costumedesign #costumedesigners #designinspiration #trendforecasting #menswear #vintagemenswear #mensstyle #1950s #50s #1950sfashion #20thcenturyfashion #vintagefashion #fidmmuseum #fashionhistory #fashionmuseum #fashioncollection #fashion #specialcollections #fashionliveshere

Fierce knows no category or boundary, so work it l

Fierce knows no category or boundary, so work it like you’re Billy Beyond strutting down the Todd Oldham runway!

If you were a fan of Oldham’s fashions in the 90s, chances are you witnessed his presence on the designer’s catwalks—he modeled for eleven seasons alongside the “supers,” including #ChristyTurlington, #NaomiCampbell and #CindyCrawford! Billy Erb (aka Billy Beyond) is a multi-disciplinary artist and queer nightlife impresario who’se done time in the fashion trenches, styling make-up for avant-garde greats like #ThierryMugler, and acting as muse to photographer #DavidLaChapelle. In a 2018 interview with Paper Magazine , Erb discussed his early runway appearances for #AndreWalker and London designers #Bodymap, but also shed light on his connection to Oldham which came through LaChapelle: “He put me in drag immediately. Which really meant put a wig on it and some lip gloss. I didn’t even have a beard! Next thing I knew it was two full pages in Interview magazine in drag...which led to Todd Oldham seeing them while still living in Texas to say ‘That’s my model! Whoever that is.’”

Limitless creativity and open-mindedness in fashion—and modeling—make lasting impressions. Long live the mavericks who prove this with #pride!
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Todd Oldham, Spring/Summer 1994
Photo: Michel Arnaud, Michel Arnaud Fashion Photography Archive/FIDM Museum Special Collections
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#billybeyond #billyerb @billybeyond #drag #crossdressing #genderfluid #queer #gayculture #clubkids #toddoldham @toddoldham @toddoldham_makershop @toddoldhamstudio #90sfashion #1990sfashion #20thcenturyfashion #vintagefashion
@marnaud #fidmmuseum #fashionhistory #fashionmuseum #fashioncollection #fashion #specialcollections #fashionliveshere #fashionphotography #pridemonth

This month, we’re doubling up on #VeryPeri! (can

This month, we’re doubling up on #VeryPeri! (can you forgive us for overlooking May’s dose of this glorious #Pantone hue for 2022?!)

Double the fun, double the delight, double the sweetness with this duo of Claire McCardell dresses! Both are made from a very fine, featherweight cotton chambray with sateen stripes in shades of lavender, periwinkle, and aqua. Note the differences, though. The dress at left came with an unusual hybrid topper: a single-sleeved wrap, which we have shown encircling the bodice and ending as streamers below the belt. You can also see the balance of the skirt is made with solid-colored fabric. The elbow-length-sleeved dress on the right needs no wrap, and makes splendid use of the stripes in mitering and as guidelines for pin-tucked shaping in place of darts on the bodice, cut all-in-one on the bias—a classic “McCardellism,” one of several recurrent design solutions that defined her aesthetic.

Did you notice something else? One look at our accession numbers indicate these dresses were purchased back-to-back. In 2003, curator Kevin Jones spied these “sisters” together, and bought both for our collection because he couldn’t bear to split them up!
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Dress and Matching Wrap by Claire McCardell, c. 1950
FIDM Museum Purchase
2003.5.27A-C

Dress by Claire McCardell, c. 1950
FIDM Museum Purchase
2003.5.28AB
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#clairemccardell #womendesigners #pantonecoloroftheyear #pantone2022 #fashiondesigner #fidmmuseum #stripes #chambray #candystripes #1950s #1950sfashion #50sfashion #theamericanlook #americanfashion #vintagefashion #vintagestyle #fidmmuseum #fashionhistory #fashionmuseum #fashioncollection

Now *that’s* a Star Spangled Banner for #FlagDay

Now *that’s* a Star Spangled Banner for #FlagDay! If there’s one motif Ralph Lauren loves, it’s our stars-and-stripes...
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Tank Top by Ralph/Ralph Lauren, c. 2000
Gift of Mary Dubrow
2016.855.4
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#ralphlauren @RalphLauren #sequins #sequinned #americanflag #stars #stripes #starsandstripes #starspangledbanner #patriotic #patrioticfashion #americana #tanktop #vintagestyle #vintagefashion #preppystyle #y2k #y2kfashion #1990sfashion #90sfashion #2000sfashion #21stcenturyfashion #contemporaryfashion #fidmmuseum #fashionhistory #fashionmuseum #fashioncollection #museumcollection #fashion #fashionliveshere

Many designers know that fashion begins with the f

Many designers know that fashion begins with the fabric—but few knew better than Raymond “Ossie” Clark, born #onthisday in 1942! (The source of his nickname, which he used professionally, was his boyhood residence in Oswaldtwistle, England.) In his teens, he studied architecture; from this discipline, he learned the basics of proportion and scale which he applied to his fashion schooling at London’s Royal College of Arts. Hallmarks of Clark’s designs include bell sleeves, peek-a-boo cutouts, tailored details, fabric-covered buttons in place of zippers, and flowing silhouettes.

Though Clark was responsible for the cut of his garments, Celia Birtwell’s dynamic textiles were crucial to their appeal. The two met while art students in the late 1950s, beginning a friendship that evolved into romance and marriage in 1969, collaborating until they parted ways in the 1970s. The geometric pattern seen on this maxi-dress is less typical of her work, aligning with the late-1960s zeitgeist for Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, and other modern art movements. Her combination of bold stripes, rows of triangles, and tiny dots in an austere palette recall Josef Hoffman’s patterns for the Wiener Werkstätte (compare with his textile design, dated 1910, in the Backhausen collection).

Clark knew how important Birtwell’s textiles were to the success of his designs, even featuring her name on his garment labels. The label inside the dress reads, “Ossie Clark, Made in London, Print by Celia Birtwell.”
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Dress by Ossie Clark, Spring/Summer 1969
Gift of Honeya Barth
2008.923.1A
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#ossieclark #celiabirtwell #wienerwerkstatte #josefhoffman #textiledesign #textiledesigner #fashionbeginswithfabric #britishfashion #swingingsixties #1960s #60s #1960sfashion #20thcenturyfashion #vintagefashion #vintagestyle #fidmmuseum #fashionhistory #fashionmuseum #fashioncollection #fashion #fashiondesigner #fashionliveshere #fashionbirthday #otd

Big Bird, but make it fashion! Here’s a fun rec

Big Bird, but make it fashion!

Here’s a fun recent donation to the museum, made in France for the Frost Brothers department store in San Antonio, Texas. It’s a confection of strips of feathers & silk petals…because sometimes you just need a little fluff in your life!
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#feathers #featherfashion #bigbird #sesamestreet #featherjacket #fluff #fluffy #frenchfashion #1960sfashion #60sfashion #donation #vintagefashion #vintagestyle #vintagejacket
#fidmmuseum #fashionhistory #fashionmuseum #fashioncollection #museumcollection #fashion #fashionliveshere

The next time someone suggests you have a screw lo

The next time someone suggests you have a screw loose, you’ll just smile & think of this fantastic novelty silk!

Most likely intended for men’s accessories such as vests and neckties, this mulberry brocaded satin is scattered with blue and gold screws which really pop off the surface in a brilliant bit of trompe l’oeil realness...
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Textile Sample, 1880s-1910s
Gift of Robert Fortunoff
99.274.185
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#trompeloeil #textilefragment #textilesample #fabricsample #fabricswatch #antiquetextiles #antiquefabric #menswear #vintagemenswear #vintagefashion #vintagestyle #1880sfashion #1890sfashion #1900sfashion #1910sfashion #brocadedsilk #textilehistory #noveltyprint #vintagenoveltyprint #noveltypattern #screwsloose #screws #hardware #fidmmuseum #fashionhistory #fashionmuseum #fashioncollection #museumcollection #fashion #fashionliveshere