Le Quatorze Juillet
What better time than Bastille Day to celebrate French fashion?  We've written extensively about French designers represented in the FIDM Museum Collection on our blog; below, you'll find links to just a few of our favorite articles. Who... Read Article ››

Why the Sixties Were Swinging
In the late 1960s, the disaffected youth of the Left Bank (or "Rive Gauche") neighborhood of Paris trawled the city's open-air flea markets looking for romantic embellishments like fringed shawls, Indian jewelry, and antique lace. French... Read Article ››

Made in Hawaii
Alfred Shaheen (1922-2008) singlehandedly elevated Hawaiian shirts from tacky souvenirs to Tiki chic and, in the process, founded the modern Hawaiian fashion industry. Born in New Jersey and raised in Southern California, Shaheen moved to Oahu... Read Article ››

What’s New, Pussycat?
This pussycat bow would not look out of place on Mad Men career girl Peggy Olson–and the style is back in fashion this spring, thanks to Valentino, Rochas, Haider Ackermann, and Emanuel Ungaro. Gucci even showed pussycat bows as... Read Article ››

From the Archives: Bubble silhouette, 1958-59
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 the blog hiatus. This late... 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 ››

From the Archives: The Little Black Dress
First published in 2010, this post briefly outlines the history of the little black dress, complete with examples from the FIDM Museum collection. ********** During the nineteenth century, black clothing was usually worn to signify a special status, i.e.... Read Article ››

Yves Saint Laurent mini-dress, c. 1967
  Yves Saint Laurent had a talent for translating street fashion into the vocabulary of the haute couture. He demonstrated this ability early, during his brief tenure as head designer at Christian Dior. Inspired by the bohemian students, artists and... Read Article ››

Bubble silhouette, 1958-59
  Cocktail dress 1958-59 Gift of Steven Porterfield S2007.897.8 In March 1958, Vogue lauded the new variety in fashionable silhouettes: "a whole lovely flight of new forms--winged, floating, or held slightly away from the body in some... Read Article ››

The Little Black Dress
During the nineteenth century, black clothing was usually worn to signify a special status, i.e. mourning, religious piety, extreme poverty or a position of economic and social authority. Because many professional men adopted black suit coats after 1850,... Read Article ››

Tailored suit
In the 20th century, the tailored suit became a standard uniform for professional working women. Consisting of a jacket and skirt in matched or closely coordinated fabric, it developed in the late 19th century as an evolution of specialized garments worn for... Read Article ››