Selling the Original Supermodel
"How has this slender young thing, completely unspoiled, unpretentious, in less than one year jumped to the top of the modeling world?" Women's Wear Daily asked on January 4, 1967.1 The "slender young thing" was, of course, Twiggy,... 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 ››

Judith Leiber minaudière
  Minaudière Judith Leiber 1990-92 Museum Purchase 2005.5.62A The name Judith Leiber is synonymous with small, bejeweled evening bags called minaudières. Small by design, a minaudière is meant to be carried easily in the hand, containing only a few... Read Article ››

Lana Turner’s clutch, 1952
  Lana Turner's story is the stuff of Hollywood legends. One afternoon in 1936, Turner skipped class at Hollywood High School to get a soda at a Sunset Boulevard soda fountain. While sitting at the counter, Turner was spotted by William Wilkerson,... Read Article ››

Delman shoes and clutch, 1960
  Shoe fanatics may not realize that the luxury shoe brand Delman has been in existence for over 90 years. Founded in 1918 by Herman Delman, the New York company quickly grew into a sought after status brand. By 1931, The New Yorker reported that Delman... Read Article ››

Chatelaine purse
Combining utility and beauty, chatelaines were a form of functional jewelry worn hanging at the waist. Comprising a hook and multiple dangling chains attached to small, useful objects (scissors, writing utensils, keys, purse, watch, perfume vial, etc.)... Read Article ››

Mirrorwork embroidery
Though the focus of the FIDM Museum collection is on objects related to Western European and North American dress, we do have a small number of outstanding objects related to the sartorial traditions of other cultures and countries. Many of these objects,... Read Article ››

Handbag variety
Like shoes, handbags and purses straddle the line between functional and decorative objects. Though many women (and some men) consider them necessary containers for objects such as keys or money, the sheer diversity of available styles demonstrates that... Read Article ››

Twiggy
The girl herself is the extravaganza that makes the look of the sixties.1 Twiggy exploded onto the scene in 1966 though pure happenstance. While getting a haircut at the London salon Leonard of Mayfair, 16 year old Twiggy (then known as Leslie Hornby) was... Read Article ››

Do you want IT?
In 1998, Chanel launched an understated new handbag. Based on the upside-down torso of a woman, this aerodynamic bag was called 2005. The sleek, lightweight 2005 bag was created to carry the venerable design house into the new century. Prior to the 2005 bag,... Read Article ››