SHAPED Now Open
We hope you’ve had a chance to visit our Graceful Gift fan exhibition, learn about the unique objects on display, and hear directly from our donor and fan collector Mona Lee Nesseth. Now, there’s even more to see when you visit our galleries: we are... 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 ››

The Stocking of the Stars
Amateur boxer Willy de Mond in got his start in fashion in New York in the early 1920s, supplying hosiery to the Ziegfeld Follies and other vaudeville revues. He quickly realized that the business attracted a steady stream of repeat customers; actresses often... Read Article ››

Black Beauty
Though often used as a synonym for black, "jet" refers to a type of semi-precious stone formed from coal derived from fossilized driftwood. The finest jet came from Whitby, on the northeast coast of England, and could be polished to a smooth,... 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 ››

Fundraising Friday: Bags of Style
The FIDM Museum is in the final months of a major fundraising campaign to purchase the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, a private collection of 1,400 historic garments and accessories from four centuries. Each Friday, this blog will present... Read Article ››

Vain as a Peacock
Society ladies maintained highly structured social lives in the years leading up to World War I, requiring many different types of clothing. After doffing her morning dress, a lady might change into an afternoon suit for a stroll, choosing an outfit that... Read Article ››

Fundraising Friday: The ‘It’ Bag of 1825
It's Fundraising Friday! The FIDM Museum is in the final months of a major fundraising campaign to purchase the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, a private collection of 1,200 historic garments and accessories from four centuries assembled by the... Read Article ››

Lazy Daisies of Summer
A native of Georgia, milliner Archie Eason served in the Coast Guard before becoming a stock boy in the Cohen Brothers department store in Jacksonville, Florida, in the early 1950s. With no formal training or experience, he quickly earned a promotion to the... Read Article ››

From Farm to Fashion
Improvements in European agriculture during the first decades of the nineteenth century resulted in a glut of straw, a by-product of cereal crops such as barley and wheat. Straw found its way from the farm to fashion due to its seemingly endless supply,... Read Article ››

Put on your Easter bonnet!
Just in time for Easter bonnet inspiration, the FIDM Museum's Orange County Gallery is presenting A Century of Millinery Style: Hats from the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, open through June 17. The installation–a modified version... Read Article ››
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