Blue jeans
  Blue jeans, almost universally shortened to jeans, are the archetypal garment of the twentieth century. The name itself comes from a textile used to make workwear trousers worn by sailors in sixteenth century Genoa, Italy. An inexpensive and sturdy... Read Article ››

Sonia Rykiel tunic and pants, 1970
The late 1960s controversy over mini, midi and maxi skirt lengths continued into the early 1970s. Though some designers began experimenting with longer skirts, women declared their loyalty to the mini. In 1970, a young Philadelphia woman spoke for many when... Read Article ››

Masculine dress?
In the early 20th century, women who chose to wear bifurcated garments (i.e. trousers) outside of the gymnasium or off the playing field risked public censure. Though women had been wearing full, almost skirt-like trousers for sporting activities since the... Read Article ››

Sonia Rykiel
Sonia Rykiel's signature garment is the striped sweater. Her earliest versions were shrunken, body-hugging "poor boy" sweaters with horizontal stripes designed in the early 1960s. The use of soft, knit fabric (often striped) became a trademark,... Read Article ››

Menswear
Like many museums that focus on dress and textiles, the FIDM Museum is constantly searching for compelling menswear for our collection. Most 19th and 20th century menswear is relatively straightforward; it tends to favor function over form, resulting in... Read Article ››