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Galerie des Modes et Costumes Français: 1778-1787
First issued during the reign of Marie Antoinette, the fashion and costume plate series Galerie des Modes et Costumes Français has been called “the most beautiful collection in existence on the...
View ArticleThank you Material Mode readers!
We’d like to give a big thank you to all of our Material Mode readers; in the first six months since our hard launch, we’re happy to report the blog has had more than 10,000 views. Please keep reading...
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How’d she get that hair?
Out of the thousands of fashion plates held by the department, the ones from the 1870s and 1880s never fail to astonish with their depictions of lustrous and abundant hairstyles. We’ve often marveled...
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Seymour Moss jewelry designs
These exquisitely rendered sketches depict the designs of American jeweler Seymour Moss (1919-2011), who began his career under the tutelage of his father, owner of the American Charm Company. After...
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Shooting for Ladies
Anyone who’s ever seen a James Bond movie knows that a lady in an evening gown is always sexier when wielding a gun—the same, it seems, was also true more than a century ago if we are to believe Walter...
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Vogue in 1893: “Believe…only half of what you see!”
We love the admonition illustrated on the cover of the November 16, 1893 issue of Vogue that cautions the nascent deb in her dealings with potential suitors; the sentiment to “believe nothing of what...
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The Color of Couture
During the 1950s, L’Officiel de la Couleur des Industries de la Mode and its associated publication, Cahiers Bleu, served as trend forecasting publications for the...
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Havana Nights: Eric de Juan designs for Josephine Baker
I’m sure that most of you have heard by now about the extensive renovation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which has been recently renamed the Anna Wintour Costume Center....
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Sports et divertissements
During the 1910s and 1920s, Paris was a hotbed of artistic experimentation. The hierarchy of artistic mediums seemed to dissolve away as painters collaborated with dancers, fashion designers with...
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Embroidery for Me!
A curious little catalog came to our attention recently after it was determined that it was in need of some minor conservation. Titled in French, published in Switzerland, written in English...
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New fashion plates!
La France Élégante, c.1886 Please check out the expanded selection of historic fashion plates now on view on the Fashion Plates page of Material Mode. Brought to you courtesy of Melissa Perlzwieg,...
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Pochibukuro Please!
These tiny Japanese envelopes measuring a mere 3 1/2 x 1 1/2″ are called pochibukuro and were created to conceal money traditionally given as tips for services rendered. In the Kyoto dialect the...
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Perfume+Publicity+Poiret
We were recently gifted two very special objects. Two paper publicity fans for the French perfume company, Rosine. Established in 1911, by the avant-garde couturier Paul Poiret following a trip to...
View ArticleFollow us on Instagram!
We are happy to announce our brand new Instagram feed where we will feature a fantastic item from our collection each day, Monday-Friday. Follow us @fitspecialcollections . See you there!
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Showgirls, starlets and ingenues in training: Costume Patterns of the 1930s
In the spirit of Halloween, we’ve been sharing some of our favorite costume designs from the collection on our new Instagram feed all week (@fitspecialcollections). We found one of these...
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Charles James’ Musings on Poiret
The year prior to his death, the legendary fashion designer, Charles James donated a small selection of correspondence, business records, press clippings and four original sketches to FIT...
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The Daring Mr. Daren
One of the greatest joys of working in a Special Collections unit is some of the discoveries you make when opening a box, that has been long tucked, safely away on a shelf, the contents of which have...
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The Glamour Gowns of Joseph Whitehead
While is it true during the 1920s and 1930s, that Paris couture was a rich source of design inspiration, the garment industry in the United States—particularly in the realm of manufacturing—was a...
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Oral History Project of the Creative Industries
Beginning in the late 1970s, FIT library director John Touhey initiated the collection of oral histories as told by prominent members of the American fashion industry. Over the course of several...
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The Myth of Poiret as Debunked by 1906
As a fashion historian, working in a Special Collections unit which focuses almost entirely on the history of design, is both a fantastic job and a wonderful education in its own right. The objects...
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