Dress, Dreams, and Desire: Fashion and Psychoanalysis: an interview with Dr. Valerie Steele

It's Freud x fashion this week as Dr. Valerie Steele joins us to speak about her exhibition Dress, Dreams, and Desire: Fashion and Psychoanalysis which is currently on view at The Museum at FIT through January 4, 2026. The exhibition--which is the first of its kind--explores "key psychoanalytic concepts about the body, sexuality, and the unconscious," by way of 100 items of dress spanning more than 130 years of fashion history. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠classes⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠bookshelf⁠⁠⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the ⁠⁠⁠AirWave Media⁠⁠⁠ network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wonderful and often bizarre world of fashion fads from history, we ask the question: which should live on to wear another day and which should be left to history? Recommended resources:•  Bedazzled Beetles•  Hobble Skirt•  Painted knees Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠website⁠ and ⁠classes⁠ Our ⁠Instagram⁠ Our ⁠bookshelf⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we investigate the historical fashion trends written about in an 1884 Harper’s Bazar article entitled “The Follies of Fashion.” Covering everything from Ancient Roman curling irons to Cleopatra’s donkey milk baths to “barbarous” steel corsets, we decipher fashion fact from fashion fiction. Primary Sources Box for rouge and patches, 1750-55 Jean de la Bruyère’s translation of The Characters of Theophrastus  Memoirs of Madame de la Tour de Pin Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia Secondary Sources: Sarah Bendall’s Shaping Femininity: Foundation Garments, the Body and Women in Early Modern England Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell’s Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Donkey Milk article in Beverages  Micaela Higgs’s “The Entirely False History of Tricking Men with Makeup” Kelly Olson’s “Fashion and Adornment,” in A Cultural History of Hair in Antiquity Valerie Steele’s The Corset: A Cultural History Caroline Weber’s Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠website⁠ and ⁠classes⁠ Our ⁠Instagram⁠ Our ⁠bookshelf⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the most toxic makeup in history to the world's first sunglasses, in this 2023 episode, we discuss all things fashion and Guinness World Records with Senior Editor Ben Hollingum. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠website⁠ and ⁠classes⁠ Our ⁠Instagram⁠ Our ⁠bookshelf⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From clothes curtains to computer microchips to calico doll dresses, in the latest edition of Fashion History Now, we explore the fascinating--and surprising-- stories quite literally woven into the clothes we wear and the technology we use. Other things we love in this episode: Catherine Martin X Upcycled by Miu Miu. Check out Catherine's directorial debut fashion film here. Sarah Espeute's incredible clothes curtains: @sarahespeute and Oeuvres Sensibles for pre-order. Dressed happenings: Cassidy's Vintage Fashion History 101 and What Women Wore to the Revolution class, April's Fashion History Tours of the MET Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠website⁠ and ⁠classes⁠ Our ⁠Instagram⁠ Our ⁠bookshelf⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emilie Flöge may best be remembered as the long-time companion of artist Gustav Klimt, but in this week's Dressed Classic episode from 2022, we explore her work as a fashion designer and dress reformer in early 20th century Vienna. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠classes⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠bookshelf⁠⁠⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the ⁠⁠⁠AirWave Media⁠⁠⁠ network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, you have heard us singing the praises of today's guest! Haute couture embroiderer, textile expert, and our dear friend Rebecca Devaney joins us to talk about her many contributions to our annual fashion history tours of Paris, which features behind the seams experiences of Paris's most treasured ateliers including UltraMod, Acaba, Annie Bouquet, Au Ver à Soie, and Atelier Caraco. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The palace of Versailles during the 18th century was one of the most extravagant locales in the world. This week we break down some of the basics of fashion and etiquette at the French court. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A spectacular summer in Paris for fashion lovers, in part I of this two-part episode, we walk you through some of the fashion exhibitions we visited this year on our 7 day fashion history tours of the City of Lights. You still have time through the end of 2025 to catch the shows at the Palais Galliera and the Musée des arts décoratifs! Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠classes⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠bookshelf⁠⁠⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the ⁠⁠⁠AirWave Media⁠⁠⁠ network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of our 2022 conversation with Justine Picardie, we learn about Catherine Dior's courageous resistance efforts during WWII and the continuance of her legacy at the House of Dior to this very day. Recommended reading: Justine Picardie's Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture  Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our website and classes Our Instagram Our bookshelf with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Dressed is a part of the AirWave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices