All Essays
The Costume Institute
Working in the early decades of the twentieth century, Italian designer Maria Monaci Gallenga captivated contemporaries with her luminous and richly patterned textiles.
Jessica Regan
February 1, 2024
Ann Lowe, a designer of opulent gowns for elite American society, was born in Clayton, Alabama, into a family of dressmakers.
Elizabeth Way
January 24, 2024
Jeanne Hallée was a Parisian lingerie and couture house in operation from 1870 to 1924 with a reputation for making the finest lingerie coveted by both American and European clientele.
Callie O'Connor Callie O'Connor
December 1, 2023
The first Asian designer to become a member of the Paris haute couture syndicate, Hanae Mori occupied a singular position at the forefront of the global fashion industry over the course of her storied five-decade career.
Ayaka Sano
December 1, 2023
Although today we think of bathing as a private activity, the public bath, or hammam, was a vital social institution in any Middle Eastern city for centuries before the advent of modern plumbing.
Elizabeth Williams
October 1, 2012
Never having had formal dressmaking training, [Charles James] developed his own methodology based on mathematical, architectural, and sculptural concepts as they relate to the human body.
Jan Glier Reeder
March 1, 2012
While her contemporaries Gabrielle Chanel and Madeleine Vionnet set the period’s standards of taste and beauty in fashion design, Schiaparelli flouted convention in the pursuit of a more idiosyncratic style.
Jan Glier Reeder
May 1, 2011
Embroidered works of this period are distinguished by their great expressiveness, which resulted in part from an inventive use of luxury goods.
Cristina Balloffet Carr
June 1, 2010
While this skill is traditionally associated with femininity and the education of young girls, it was in fact practiced by both men and women, children and adults, paid professionals and talented amateurs.
Melinda Watt
May 1, 2010
The primary functions of the institution of marriage centered on the family and society, and love rarely entered into the equation. Yet the subjects of love, beauty, and attraction mesmerized Renaissance men and women.
Andrea Bayer
November 1, 2008