Ha, So, Hi, Ma : How Japanese Designers Changed Silhouette, Structure and Space
“From the beginning I thought about working with the body in movement, the space between the body and clothes to move when people moved.” Issey Miyake 1984 Miyake design illustrating “space between the body and clothes” Before departing for Paris, I made a trip to Miami to visit the Parodi Costume Collection. Housed in a 1920’s Bauhaus-style […]
Valentino: The Last Emperor of Beauty
“I know what women want. They want to be beautiful” Valentino VALENTINO May 11, 1932 – January 19, 2026 Fashion designer Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani is part of the exclusive pantheon of single, first name only celebrities — Elvis, Madonna, Cher, Prince, Chloe, Tiger — and is known simply as Valentino to the public and […]
How Many Clothes Do You Really Need? (The Real Answer)
A funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century from the 18th century. For most of the 18th century, strict societal hierarchies dictated who was allowed to wear certain fabrics, colors and styles and the average woman owned only 5-10 garments. These were worn for years with only small updates in trimmings or […]
The Psychology of Dressing: What Research Says About What We Wear
“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress. Dress impeccably and they remember the woman” Coco Chanel Humans are extraordinarily keen observers of other humans. Research reveals that it takes about 100-200 milliseconds to form an opinion of another person. In this incredibly short amount of time we assess body type, hair color and style, facial […]
Bing! Bang! Punch! :The Power of Dressing with Accessories
“[Accessories] are an essential tool to give new life to what you already have in your wardrobe. Accessories are like vitamins to fashion.”Anna della Russo “For me the key to personal style lies in accessories. I love objects from different worlds, different eras… combined my way”. Iris Apfel In nature it is usually the male […]
The Many Faces of Green: Fashion’s Eternal Chameleon
“Green grass grows where dry desert ends”. Og Mandingo “You are either green and growing, or ripe and rotting”.Frosty Westering Green is all about ambiguity. Green is the “Janus,”two-faced color both embraced and reviled for its chameleon nature. One could say green suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder! It’s not just that its meaning has […]
The Warmth of Wool: A Timeless Fiber Through Fashion History
“The leaves fall, the wind blows and the farm country slowly changes from summer cottons into winter wools.” Henry Benton It’s a seasonal ritual as summer fades into autumn and autumn gives way to winter, we replace our summer cottons, linens and silks with warmer and sturdier wools. We look forward to the snuggly coziness […]
Shear Wit: The Origins of Wooly Words Unraveled
“A smile is the curve that sets everything straight” Phyllis Diller “MOB”: Today the word “mob” has us thinking of the Godfather movies and real life “mobsters” like Al Capone, but in the 1860’s New Zealanders referred to large groups of sheep as “mobs.” Lucky for sheep, we now refer to their groups as “flocks,” […]
The Art of Identity: How the Purely Personal Logo Was Born
“A Logo Should Tell A Story In One Glance.” Unknown “Design is Where Science and Art Break Even.” Robin Matthew Because the principles of design remain the same across all genres, it is not surprising that fashion design and logo design have much in common. In both, the art of design involves the individual process […]
From Model to Mogul: The Story of St John Knits
“Simplicity is the ultimate Sophistication” Leonardo Da Vinci Imagine being born in 1920 — the flapper era and the beginning of women’s suffrage — and by 1939 being a beautiful, glamorous model in California alongside actresses like Dorothy Lamour and Bette Davis. Think what an observant, creative model could learn about clothing, construction, fabrics, design and […]