Just a glimpse…
Now that you’ve been introduced to the FIDM Museum, you’re probably wondering where and how we’ve acquired our objects. Museums acquire new objects in a variety of ways, but purchases, bequests and donations are the most common avenues by... Read Article ››

Louella Ballerino
Louella Ballerino? Who's that?Though you may not recognize her name, her design sensibility was crucial to the creation and popularization of the California look--casual, functional, colorful clothing designed to complement the relaxed California... Read Article ››

Sewing patterns
All devotees of home sewing should know these two names: Madame Demorest and Ebenezer Butterick. Madame Demorest, wife of a successful New York merchant, was the first pattern maven. In the 1850s, she began selling tissue-paper patterns for home sewers via... Read Article ››

John Galliano for Christian Dior
When creating a collection, fashion designers typically mine multiple sources for their inspiration. This inspiration takes visual form on what is usually called a “mood board,” a group of visual references intended to guide the look and feel of a... Read Article ››

Vivienne Westwood
British designer Vivienne Westwood (b.1941) began her fashion career in the early 1970s, just as the prevailing fashions began a shift towards the aggressive look of punk. Embracing a design sense that explored the possibilities of decay and destruction, punk... Read Article ››

Opening today
The FIDM Museum & Galleries and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences are proud to present the 4th Annual Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design Exhibition. Featured this year are costume designs from 14 different shows, including Gossip... Read Article ››

Published!
Portable Pets: Live and Apparently Live Animals in Fashion, 1880-1925 by Julia Long (former FIDM Museum Study Collection Manager) is published in the current issue of Costume, the journal of the Costume Society of Great Britain. Julia’s article features... Read Article ››

Robe de style
Today’s featured Study Collection ensemble highlights a type of dress most often associated with the Parisian designer Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946). Called a robe de style, the upper portion of the dress is slim and close-fitting, while the skirt is full and... Read Article ››

Fashion and feathers
Today, hats are worn primarily on celebratory or festive occasions, but in the 19th century, hats and bonnets were an essential element of every woman's wardrobe. Beginning in the 1890s and continuing until about 1915, many hats were extremely large... Read Article ››

Rudi Gernreich
  California-based designer Rudi Gernreich (1922-1985) was no stranger to inciting controversy. Often called America's most avant-garde designer, Gernreich pushed fashion into new arenas rather than mining its past for... Read Article ››

FIDM Museum Study Collection
  Did you know that the FIDM Museum has a Study Collection? In addition to our Permanent Collection, we have a Study Collection which is available for use by students and faculty of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. Students and... Read Article ››

Meet Madame Olympe
Evening gown c.1866 Brocaded silk taffeta Gift of Cathy Gordon 2007.893.1AB This black silk faille two-piece dress was worn by an unknown woman in approximately 1866. Though it appears extremely formal and elegant to our contemporary eyes, it would have been... Read Article ››
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