Streamline Moderne

At the end of each year, our team reports on the Museum’s activities from the past twelve months – including what objects have been added to the Permanent Collection. As we compiled our list of 2015 acquisitions, there were a few unforgettable pieces that... Read Article ››

Ranch Dressing, Part 1

The American West has been a powerful influence on fashion since the 1920s, when Hollywood films romanticized the cowboy myth and city slickers from the East Coast traveled west to experience ranch living as "dudes": tourists who dressed... Read Article ››

Butterflies By Night

While butterflies often symbolize springtime, lightness, and new beginnings, these pieces in the FIDM Museum collection refashion them as creatures of the night, equally at home in the darkness of winter. Evening SuitElsa Schiaparelli, ParisFall/Winter... Read Article ››

Skyscraper Style

In the 1920s, America's booming economy sent real estate prices–and buildings–soaring sky-high in crowded cities like New York and Chicago, where land was scarce and there was nowhere to go but up. Towering new edifices of glass and steel rose... Read Article ››

Flower Girls

Spring is in the air! Flowers have long symbolized the simplicity and transience of youth, making them perfect ornaments for these three girl's ensembles in the FIDM Museum's collection.   United Statesc 18972007.897.3Gift of Steven... Read Article ››

Celebrate Spring

  Spring has officially arrived! March 20 was the first day of the spring in the Northern Hemisphere. From here on out, the weather gradually gets warmer and days are longer. Warm days encourage colorful spring flowers to bloom: cherry blossoms, tulips,... Read Article ››

Embroidered evening wedge shoes, late 1930s

  The modern wedge shoe was developed by Italian shoe maker Salvatore Ferragamo (1898-1960) during the 1930s. Starting in the 1920s, Ferragamo designed stylish, trend-setting shoes for Greta Garbo, Paulette Goddard, Claudette Colbert, Clare Boothe Luce,... Read Article ››

Fashion Birthday: Elsa Schiaparelli

Happy birthday to Elsa Schiaparelli! Born in Rome on September 10, 1890, Schiaparelli would be 123 years old today. One of the twentieth-century’s most revered fashion designs, her work is admired for its wit and creativity. Schiaparelli’s career in... Read Article ››