Fashion and the Showgirl, Part II (Dressed Classic)

Groundbreaking visionary Carry Somers joins us this week to speak about her three decades of fashion activism establishing the world's first Fair Trade Certified fashion brand and her ten years as the co-founder of Fashion Revolution. We also speak about her new book The Nature of Fashion: A Botanical Story of Our Material Lives which is one of our favorite reads of 2025. Recommended reading: Somers, Carry. The Nature of Fashion: A Botanical Story of Our Material Lives. New York: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2025. 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 Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code dressed at checkout. Download Saily app or go to ⁠⁠https://saily.com/dressed⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Dressed Classic episode revisits our 2020 conversation with Dr. Jonathan Michael Square joins us to discuss some of his object based research into Brooks Brother's coats worn by enslaved servants during the 19th century. Some of the research we discuss in this episode is included in his contributions to the 2025 Superfine: Tailoring Black Style exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and its associated exhibition catalog. Recommended Reading: Miller, Monica, ed. Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2025. 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

This week we cinch our corsets and plump our panniers with an inside look into the Victoria & Albert Museum's exhibition Marie Antoinette Style. Curator Dr. Sarah Grant joins us to speak about her exhibition examines The Queen of Fashion's enduring influence on fashion then and now. Rare examples of Marie Antoinette's personal belongings are featured alongside supreme examples of 18th century fashion, accessories and the decorative arts, while more contemporary pieces evidence designer's centuries long obsession with the former French queen. Recommended reading: Grant, Sarah, ed. Marie Antoinette Style. London: V&A Publishing, 2025. Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠classes⁠⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠⁠bookshelf⁠⁠⁠⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code dressed at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/dressed Dressed is a part of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠AirWave Media⁠⁠⁠⁠ network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this series, we are celebrating the prolific life and career of the avant-garde French designer Paul Poiret, who is the subject of a new retropsective exhibition Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Known as "The King of Fashion," Poiret was an incomparable force of personality, vision, and industry, who was instrumental in not just revolutionizing women’s fashion at the dawn of the twentieth century, but transforming the very concept of fashion itself, effectively laying the groundwork for the modern fashion industry that we are indebted to today. Further Reading: Exhibition catalog Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast, preorder in the US here, Poiret's memoir King of Fashion  2007 exhibition catalog Poiret 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

In this series, we are celebrating the prolific life and career of the avant-garde French designer Paul Poiret, who is the subject of a new retropsective exhibition Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Known as "The King of Fashion," Poiret was an incomparable force of personality, vision, and industry, who was instrumental in not just revolutionizing women’s fashion at the dawn of the twentieth century, but transforming the very concept of fashion itself, effectively laying the groundwork for the modern fashion industry that we are indebted to today. Further Reading: Exhibition catalog Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast, preorder in the US here, Poiret's memoir King of Fashion 2007 exhibition catalog Poiret 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

In this minisode, we break down the itinerary of upcoming, ultra-exclusive day tours of New York City during which we will step back in time and into the beating heart of American fashion and costume history during the holiday season. Our day tours are offered as mix-and-match separates with unique itineraries for each day as we visit fashion exhibitions, go behind-the-seams in museum collections and on a rarified visit to The Metropolitan Opera exclusively created for Dressed.  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

In this two-part episode, we celebrate the avant-garde French designer Paul Poiret, who is the subject of a new retropsective exhibition Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Known as "The King of Fashion," Poiret was an incomparable force of personality, vision, and industry, who was instrumental in not just revolutionizing women’s fashion at the dawn of the twentieth century, but transforming the very concept of fashion itself, effectively laying the groundwork for the modern fashion industry that we are indebted to today. Further Reading: Exhibition catalog Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast, preorder in the US here Poiret's memoir King of Fashion 2007 exhibition catalog Poiret Further Listening: Fashion, Race, and Expanding the Narrative of Fashion History with Kimberly Jenkins Fashioning White Femininity: The Ethnic Masquerade of Modern Fashion with Dr. Victoria Pass 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

Today, we continue our exploration of the century long love affair between fashion and the showgirl. Recommended reading and viewing: Es-pranza Humphrey's article “Fashioning the Black Chorus Girl" Elspeth Brown's Work! A Queer History of Modeling Marcel Sauvage's Les Mémoires de Joséphine Baker, Baker's 1931 Casino de Paris performance Robin Givhan's The Battle of Versaiiles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With her towering headwear and sparkling body suit, the showgirl is an instantly recognizable, cross cultural pop icon--and one that is front and center currently with the debut of Taylor Swift's latest album The Life of a Showgirl. In this two-part episode from 2020, we explore the showgirl's lesser known relationship to fashion, a love affair that extends back over one hundred years. Recommended reading: Andrea Stuart's Showgirls Linda Mizejewski, Ziegfeld Girl: Image and Icon in Culture and Cinema Jane Merrill’s The Showgirl Costume: An Illustrated 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We revisit one of our popular 'etiquette in history' episodes today and examine the complex social codes of party throwing and going in Gilded Age New York. 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