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Elle
11-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
From Seventh Avenue to Parisian Ateliers—Here are 10 Books to Learn About Fashion History
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. There's no way to dive into fashion without immediately coming face to face with two of the modern greats: Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. Dana Thomas's Gods and Kings follows the course of the pair's similarly timed (and in the eyes of the media, often rival) careers while giving context to both their personal lives and the rapid rise and growth of LVMH. It was a time of big ideas, scrappy personalities, and cutthroat business—and it changed fashion forever. The Battle of Versailles is probably one of the lesser-known events to occur within the infamous palace halls, but it's definitely one of the most important for the fashion industry. Written by Pulitzer Prize–winning fashion critic Robin Givhan, the book examines the unprecedented runway walk-off between European and American designers that solidified Seventh Avenue in fashion history. Also by Givhan, 'Make It Ours' is an in-depth look at both the late Virgil Abloh and the traditional luxury industry over which he triumphed. The book deftly chronicles the rise of his career alongside the rapidly changing fashion landscape, leading to his historic and ultimately brief appointment at Louis Vuitton. With an approach that's part biography and part cultural analysis, Givhan offers a thorough portrait of luxury's streetwear era. A little bit more on the theory side, Sex and Suits charts the history of men's and women's dress all the way from medieval times to the modern day. The book questions why menswear underwent such a drastic transformation following the 18th century and looks at how gender affects fashion to this day. Hollander is unafraid to get into the nitty-gritty—all of her books are a must-read. 'It's been Bleak Street over here in America!' Those are the famous words of the late André Leon Talley, who once declared a 'famine of beauty' in New York fashion. Talley's memoir paints a moving portrait of his singular career. From North Carolina to New York to Paris and beyond, The Chiffon Trenches is an intimate and, at times, ruthless account of his experience across the fashion industry. Believe it or not, the American fashion industry is largely responsible for much of the way designers think about ready-to-wear today. Prior to the modern-day Fashion Week, the youthquake movement, and the Battle of Versailles, European ateliers often snubbed the factories on Seventh Avenue. But Nancy MacDonell's Empresses of Seventh Avenue examines the historic shift in clothing following World War II and the select group of movers and shakers in New York City who made it happen. As the foundational text for the 2025 Met Gala theme, Monica L. Miller's Slaves to Fashion is a crucial examination of the history of the Black dandy. Beginning in the 1700s, Miller observes how the archetype has contextually transformed across generations, from its origins within the slave trade to representations of the Black dandy in art and music today. Claire McCardell helped radically transform the way women dress. To the designer, clothing served as an opportunity for female empowerment, which led to more casual, freeing silhouettes that helped form the basis for American sportswear. Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson's biography sheds light on McCardell's underappreciated career. Behind every garment is the person who made it, and behind every maker is a story about the inner workings of our clothes. Sofi Thanhauser's Worn is a deep dive into global textiles, both historic and new, and how their production processes have changed over time. The book also examines the industry's waste, pollution, and labor exploitation, painting a comprehensive backstory of our garments. From ELLE's own Véronique Hyland, Dress Code dives into how style—and the way we talk about it—shapes our daily lives. The book explores how fashion permeates all aspects of life, from the enduring allure of the 'French girl' archetype to the politics of how we dress in the workplace. Hyland examines how fashion is inextricably linked to our routines and why it remains undervalued within the realms of art and culture.
Forbes
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Meet The Fashion Designer Who Popularized Ballet Flats, Wrap Dresses, Denim, Leggings And Pockets For Women—Yet Many Have Never Heard Of Before
Claire McCardell Courtesy of the Maryland Center for History and Culture There is a designer that defined American fashion—who brought pockets into womenswear (thank you for that), popularized ballet flats (also this) and ushered wrap dresses, mix and match separates, denim, leggings and even hoodies into the fashion conversation. Unfortunately, at least until a new book comes out on June 17, most have probably never heard of her. Claire McCardell is the titular subject of Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson's new biography, with the compelling subtitle The Designer Who Set Women Free ('That's how she thought of herself,' Evitts Dickinson tells me on Zoom). McCardell epitomized the 'American look' in fashion, was the first woman to have a Seventh Avenue manufacturer label and the first to be given full control over her designs. As Evitts Dickinson writes in Claire McCardell, 'Much of what hangs in our closet is Claire McCardell, but it's Dior we remember.' 'I had no idea that Claire McCardell was responsible, effectively, for most of the clothes in my closet,' Evitts Dickinson tells me. After discovering her designs in the late 1990s, 'I'd always wondered why I'd never heard of her, and I never forgot her.' Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson Courtesy of Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson After writing a feature story about her for The Washington Post Magazine, Evitts Dickinson realized that there was a book here. 'I realized there was so much more to her story than even I appreciated,' she says. 'She was so revolutionary, and I don't think we appreciate how revolutionary she was because we take for granted that we can wear the clothes that we wear today. But back then, she was a visionary. She was forging new ground.' Evitts Dickinson was captivated by how a young woman from Frederick, Maryland went to New York City 'and in a few short years became one of the most important fashion designers in America,' she says. 'And so I wanted to understand how she did that. That was my desire to write this story.' A graduate of Parsons (then known as the New York School of Fine and Applied Art), McCardell got her start in the 1930s during a 'forgotten moment of time between the wars [World War I and World War II] where women were breaking new ground in a lot of arenas,' Evitts Dickinson says. 'I think that there is this forgotten feminism that was happening back then, a level of career advancement and advocacy for one another. And in New York, it was a fascinating moment in the '30s and '40s. I mean, you had the [Great] Depression and the world war sort of bookending her professional career, so she's working under these extreme circumstances.' There was a group of women who pulled together to 'effectively invent the fashion industry,' Evitts Dickinson says, and 'McCardell was at the center of it. She was a star, but she wasn't alone.' While McCardell's name and photograph are on the front cover of the book, it was important to Evitts Dickinson to write a story about women working together to build an industry. The pioneer of American sportswear, McCardell was Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Tory Burch before any were even born. When McCardell's 1956 book What Shall I Wear?: The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion came back in print in 2022, Burch—whose Spring/Summer collection from the same year was inspired by McCardell—wrote the foreward. 'So many of McCardell's ideas and innovations are taken for granted now,' she wrote. 'While other designers looked to Paris couture for inspiration, McCardell elevated the practical needs of American women. It isn't an exaggeration to say she has inspired every designer, and I think she deserves far more recognition.' McCardell 'wasn't Dior making singular, exquisitely handmade pieces that only a handful of women in the world could wear,' Evitts Dickinson says. 'She was dressing every woman.' McCardell questioned haute couture fashion, theorizing that that didn't really work for a woman like her 'who was working, who was taking the subway, who didn't have a ton of money to spend on clothes,' Evitts Dickinson says. 'And so really what she did was pioneer a new kind of unstructured, body-friendly, pragmatic but also elegant style of clothing that allowed you to live in what you were wearing. And it wasn't precious and it wasn't something that she thought about material and whether it wrinkled—she thought about if you could wash it.' The 'American look' stepped away from mimicking Parisian fashion and became its own entity. McCardell put her name on her own label and was the first multihyphenate designer—not just designing dresses or coats but also sunglasses, scarves, jewelry. 'She really created, effectively, what is and what we understand to be the fashion brand today,' Evitts Dickinson says. 'So many not only admire her design chops, they also really admire her business acumen and the way she was able to effectively create what we still know today as the American designer.' McCardell wanted to make her own designs, not just copy others. She had an "ingenious, rebellious mind,' Evitts Dickinson writes, adding that for McCardell, it was 'always about far more than clothes.' McCardell's fingerprints are still felt all over modern fashion today, and even Betty Friedan once wrote that McCardell 'changed the world's meaning of fashion.' Growing up in Frederick, McCardell's grandfather owned his own candymaking factory, so business came more naturally to her than it might to someone else. McCardell's family largely supported her dreams—her desire to go to college, and her desire to go into business for herself. She married in 1943, but 'she also kept her private life very private,' Evitts Dickinson tells me. 'And so for me, it was a little bit of a challenge getting to know her as a private citizen.' She forged a path for herself as a woman entrepreneur when said path did not exist. 'She had to really imagine a business model that didn't exist yet,' Evitts Dickinson says. 'It didn't exist. There were no women at the upper levels. Women did not own the forms. They were not partners in the business. She eventually—and through a lot of hard work—got her name on the label and got a higher stake in the business. And then the other smart thing that she did, which I hadn't appreciated until researching this book, is she also created her own Claire McCardell Enterprises.' She trademarked her name. She protected her designs. She safeguarded her brand. She eschewed the male gaze while designing in favor of the woman's own experience in her clothes—fashionable, yet practical. She subverted the rules—and enjoyed doing it. She encouraged women to not so much worry about fashion, but to find their own style. 'She really emphasized that difference between fashion is what comes out every season—style is what is yours,' Evitts Dickinson says. McCardell's name likely got lost to history because of her sudden death at just 52 years old on March 22, 1958, only one year after she received a diagnosis of terminal colon cancer. There were no succession plans for her business, and the Claire McCardell label closed. 'Claire, again, was a few steps ahead of the curve,' Evitts Dickinson says. 'And if she had lived a little longer, I wonder if we would remember her name.' During her short life, 'Claire was the most famous fashion designer in America when she was alive, arguably, and well-known around the world,' says Evitts Dickinson, whose book—rightfully so—puts McCardell back in the conversation.. 'And her message was, 'You don't have to listen to fashion designers. Take your cues and let us help you. But it's your life. Live your life.''
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Making Sense Out Of The Rangers, Avalanche Trade
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Chris Drury finally dropped a shoe and – while he was at it – dropped two Rangers. On the rebound he got a retread defenseman, an Iffy forward prospect. PLUS a couple of draft picks. TOTAL MAVEN REACTION: Feh and Eh! Calvin de Hann – once a noble and useful Islander – moves to Manhattan after being listed as Colorado's seventh defenseman. At best, he's a maybe add. The other guy, Juuso Parssinen, gets to Seventh Avenue after being on two other teams – they liked him so much – which leaves us with the Draft picks. For Rangers sentimentalists, the parting of battered-but-game defenseman Ryan Lindgren and all-purpose forward Jimmy Vesey is sweet sorrow. Lindgren became the Blueshirts favorite used car, beat-up but still running but for how long, who knows? Vesey did nothing wrong. Management decided it could go younger and cheaper on the fourth line and so, for the second time in his career, the former Hobey Baker Award-winner goes bye-bye. For further insights, my super scout Jess Rubenstein offers these: "The Draft picks hold the most value for the front office. The second-rounder compensates for the one that was traded to Utah in 2022. In other words, the Rangers were paying to get back their own Draft pick." (Rangers Draft Picks: First Round=0; Second=1; Third=1; Fourth=2; Fifth=1; Sixth=2; Seventh=1) So, what is Drury planning next with the Trade Deadline almost upon us? Rubenstein: "The question is this: are the Rangers starting a 'Sell-Off' or just moving pieces? Drury has enough Cap space ($16,062,116) to add a top salary." The Maven's question: Should management build by acquiring a major star or concede that this botched-up roster doesn't have the goods to gain a wild card berth? The Maven's answer: By all means shoot for a Playoff berth; it's still do-able. P.S. Just a guess 'cause I didn't check with the "Insiders' Insider," Sir Elliotte Friedman, but I figure ever-hurt Chris Kreider is next to go.
