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Last week's announcement that Raf Simons is leaving Christian Dior reminded us of this 2012 post on Marc Bohan, who designed for the House of Dior for thirty years. Simons is only the fifth designer to hold the position of creative director... Read Article ››
Ready for the Red Carpet
With the Golden Globe Awards just past and the Academy Awards one month away, it's the time of year when red carpet fashions are on our mind. The red carpet as an arena for a celebrity viewing probably first emerged in the 1920s. Sid Grauman,... Read Article ››
From the Archives: Holly’s Harp evening gown
The FIDM Museum blog will be on hiatus through early January 2015. In the meantime, enjoy weekly posts from the archives. To keep up with our current projects, find us on Facebook and Twitter, which will be updated regularly during... Read Article ››
Fashion Birthday: Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent was born on this day in 1936. Active in the Paris haute couture from 1953 until his retirement in 2002, Saint Laurent is considered one of the most influential designers of the latter 20th century. Saint Laurent passed away in 2008,... Read Article ››
1890s evening ensemble
Astute fashion observers quickly realize that fashion is cyclical. Silhouettes, colors, motifs, and styles disappear, only to reappear years, or even decades, later. Some styles, like the diaphanous drapes of ancient Greco-Roman dress, seem to inspire... Read Article ››
Hanae Mori jumpsuit, late 1960s
Evening Jumpsuit Ensemble Hanae Mori c. 1968-1970 Printed silk twill, printed silk crepe, silk crepe Gift of Anonymous Donor2012.40.9AB By 1965, when Hanae Mori (b. 1926) first showed her designs outside of her native Japan, she was already a... Read Article ››
Flying First Class: Custom Crating for Alexander McQueen’s Peacock Dress
Today's post is courtesy of Ilana Winter, our Temp. Assistant Registrar. In this post, Ilana describes the process of crating our beloved Alexander McQueen Peacock dress for travel to the Modern Love exhibit in Bendigo, Australia. Read on for a wonderful... Read Article ››
Event: Gatsby’s Women: Fashionable Ideals of the 1920s
Save the date for a fascinating lecture by FIDM Museum’s Associate Curator Christina Johnson. Attendees will have the opportunity to view the exhibition Gatsby’s Women: 1920s Evening Dress from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, now on view in... Read Article ››
Gatsby’s Women: 1920s Evening Dress from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection
Evening DressHavet-AgnѐsParis, Francec. 1927L2011.13.351 Gatsby’s Women: 1920s Evening Dress from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection FIDM Gallery Orange County June 6-November 9, 2013 Monday through Friday (by appointment) 10 am to 5 pm... Read Article ››
Evening dress, c. 1926
No matter what your feelings about director Baz Luhrmann's new cinematic adaption of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel The Great Gatsby, you can't deny that the film is generating interest in 1920s fashion. Though reaction to the... Read Article ››
Christian Dior New York evening gown, c. 1953-55
Christian Dior's New Look, introduced in February 1947, was a dramatic turning point. Banishing the boxy suits and dresses of the World War II era, the New Look ushered in an era of exaggerated femininity. Based on shapely curves and contours, and using... Read Article ››
Moschino Couture! evening gown, 1992
Made of rainbow-hued silk satin, this Moschino Couture! evening gown was worn to an early 1990s costume ball. Though we have few details about the event, if all the costumes were this eye-catching, it was surely a splendid evening. Any guesses as to the... Read Article ››