from the archives

With his trained dancer knowledge of the relationship between fabric and body, clothing and movement, Gernreich’s clothes were never constricting. They always came “back-to-nature,” as one contemporary journalist put it. “A true…

Almost any account you can find of Bérard includes a description of his appearance. A handsome, bearded man who looked fetching in a smoking, he was better known for his dishevelment. In fact, he was so famously disheveled that a biography…

Jessie Franklin Turner, Known for Teagowns and NégligésJessie Franklin Turner was a “homegrown” talent in more ways than one. The designer was noted for her tea-gowns, which were intended for intimate, mainly indoor settings, though a…

The Vogue Seal of ApprovalThe bow sweater made its Vogue debut in December 1927. Drawn by Douglas Pollard, it ran with the following caption: “Viola Paris’s sweaters are, of course, triumphs of fitting, and this hand-knitted one from…

The apron, the humblest of garments, is a unisex workhorse. Its first purpose is protection—be it from a hot iron poker or a splash of gravy—but it’s not aggressive, nor does it have the military connotations of the halters that have been…

“Mrs. Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Junior wears palest blue with black. The news of this blue is the sudden character it has, with black...no longer candy-box pastel, but a colour that works like a flattering light. The dress, mat black rayon…