Dressed's Ten Favorite Fashion Objects

Summary

Dressed: The History of Fashion
Episode: Dressed's Ten Favorite Fashion Objects
Date: May 6, 2026
Hosts: April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary

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Episode Overview

In the vibrant kickoff to Season 9, hosts April and Cassidy celebrate their return by doing what they do best: sharing their deep love of dress history. This episode turns the spotlight on their ten favorite objects from fashion history. Each host presents five iconic, meaningful, or simply gorgeous items that have inspired—or haunted—their imaginations and work. These highlights span continents, centuries, and themes, illustrating the global and deeply personal resonance of fashion artifacts.

The conversation moves fluidly from the Mughal era to Art Deco jewelry to contemporary Indigenous design, reflecting not just their personal tastes, but also the show's ethos that every piece of dress holds a universe of meaning. As Cassidy notes, "Fashion holds a myriad of meanings, both for the people who made and wore it at any given time throughout history, but also the people who experience that item as an observer, sometimes centuries later." (05:23)

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Key Discussion Points & Object Highlights

Setting the Scene: What Makes a Favorite Object?

• Both hosts struggled to choose just five items, frequently changing their picks—"I can't even tell you, April, how many times I went in and changed one of my five objects." (06:42)
• Their selections include both objects they long to personally own and pieces that reflect wider historical stories and aesthetics.

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[09:00] 1. Cassidy: 17th-Century Indian Jama (Met Museum, #29.135)

• Description: A man's robe from Mughal India, high collar, fitted sleeves, gold leaf borders, and hand-painted red and gold poppies.
• Significance: Represents both stunning craftsmanship and India's historical role as a textile powerhouse. Connected to Mughal Emperor Akbar and the flourishing of Indian textile arts.
• Memorable Quote:
  "When I say it is stunning. Look it up, right? Look it up and see it. And we'll post images to accompany this week's episode." (10:45)
• Discussion: How Indian dress influenced global tastes and trade; desire to explore more non-Western fashion history in future episodes.

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[14:00] 2. April: Cartier Panthère Watch (1914)

• Description: The original 1914 Cartier watch, featuring diamond and onyx to mimic a panther's spots—birth of the iconic Panthère collection.
• Significance: Celebrated as a highpoint of Art Deco jewelry and female-led design leadership—Jean Toussaint took Cartier's creative helm, propelling the panther motif into brand DNA.
• Memorable Quote:
  "It is one of the most stunning objects of jewelry…and the story behind it is equally interesting." (14:00)
• Brand Perspective: Not just ornament, but a turning point for women's influence in luxury design houses.

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[20:00] 3. Cassidy: Lavender Silk Kimono with Peacock (Kyoto Costume Institute, c. 1906)

• Description: Export kimono, lavender silk, hand-embroidered with cherry blossoms and an elaborate peacock.
• Significance: Exemplifies cross-cultural exchange—designed for Western women as luxurious loungewear, responding to the West's Japonisme craze.
• Memorable Quote:
  "It was actually intended to not be worn by a Japanese consumer, but it was made for export…as an at-home gown." (22:00)
• Discussion: Influence of Japanese textiles and techniques on Western fashion and modern fashion illustration.

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[24:30] 4. April: Madeleine Vionnet's Ombre Evening Dress (1924)

• Description: Sheer silk mousseline, gradient yellow-lime green, panels embroidered with gold beads and rhinestones—originally a logo, later made into a dress.
• Significance: Merges branding and design, inspired by a logo created by futurist artist Ernesto Michahelles ("Thayaht").
• Memorable Quote:
  "It started out as a logo…and then one day they basically made it a corporeal reality." (27:00)
• Design Analysis: The interplay of simple silhouette with complex construction.

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[28:45] 5. Cassidy: Paul Poiret’s "Sorbet" Gown (c. 1913)

• Description: T-shaped tunic over a hobble skirt in contrasting colors, pink sash, ornate bead-embroidered roses—multiple extant versions (Chicago History Museum, V&A, FIT).
• Significance: Icon of Orientalism in early 20th-century haute couture. Highlights how even couture was not always one-of-a-kind, but often bespoke iterations.
• Memorable Quote:
  "There's multiple that survive…one I'm speaking to specifically is in the collection at the Chicago History Museum. You heard me mention it recently because I got to see it in person last year and I cried tears of joy." (28:45)
• Discussion: Myths and realities of haute couture exclusivity.

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[33:28] 6. April: Salvatore Ferragamo “Rainbow” Platform Sandals (1938)

• Description: Platform wedge sandals in scalloped, multicolored suede (originally seven muted rainbow shades), gold straps—originals designed for Judy Garland.
• Significance: Pre-war innovation; ties to "Over the Rainbow," presages both disco and the later platform craze.
• Memorable Quote:
  "They're so iconic and also they're so timeless. Obviously, if they're still being worn today… I always describe them: That looks like she's walking on a rainbow. Cloud. Cloud rainbows." (38:34)
• Fun Detail: Today’s reissues have six colors, not seven, and distinct stitching—Cassidy is shocked at their $2,900 price tag. (37:58)

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[40:00] 7. Cassidy: Katherine Blackburn’s “Ancestor Dreamin” Antler Headpiece (2022)

• Description: Sculptural headpiece combining beaded caribou hide, feathers, rhinestones, and a portrait of the artist’s great-grandmother; worn at SWAIA in Santa Fe.
• Significance: Exemplifies storytelling through fashion and Indigenous artistry. Modern, but deeply steeped in cultural tradition and familial reverence.
• Memorable Quote:
  "It utilized the land, bone, animal hides, feathers and hair through tufting. By including portraits and names of family and animal, can we speak to reciprocity and the power of Indigenous knowledge?" (43:55, quoting Blackburn)
• Discussion: The rise of Indigenous designers, representation, and cultural narrative in contemporary fashion.

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[45:50] 8. April: Elsa Schiaparelli’s Newspaper Print Textile (1935)

• Description: Textile and associated garments emblazoned with press articles celebrating Schiaparelli’s move to Place Vendôme; designed with French textile house Colcombet. Prints featured in multiple languages, made as dresses, ties, scarves, handbags, and sold as yardage.
• Significance: Both a surrealist commentary and a fashion history mystery—the objects were everywhere, yet barely survive in museum collections.
• Memorable Quote:
  "This is one of my biggest fashion history mysteries. Where is all this Schiaparelli newspaper print stuff?" (51:43)
• Research Mystery: Most known surviving examples are fabric fragments or later licensing tie-ins.

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[52:00] 9. Cassidy: Ann Lowe’s “American Beauty” Dress (1966-67)

• Description: Cream silk sleeveless empire gown with a cascade of luscious pink silk flowers down the back; Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
• Significance: Ann Lowe—trailblazing Black couturière, best known for Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress—was an unsung genius of American dressmaking, with a career stretching across seven decades.
• Memorable Quote:
  "I would argue this is one of the most beautiful dresses of all time…these flowers are one of her signatures." (53:06)
• Discussion: How Lowe's artistry centered on silk flower making, its roots in family tradition, and the importance of generational craft.

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[56:39] 10. April: Charles James’s “Swan Jacket” (Quilted Down Puff Coat, 1937-38)

• Description: White celanese satin jacket, quilted and filled with down to create organic, swan-like sculptural curves; now at the V&A.
• Significance: Visionary precursor to today’s down puffers—remarkably futuristic; James hoped it would enter mass-production in leather or nylon.
• Memorable Quote:
  "It is just spectacular…Again, 1937 looks oh so disco. 1970s." (57:02)
• Backstory: Only one known museum example, but rumors/sightings in private collections; James’s genius and difficulty as a designer.

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[62:00] Honorable Mentions & Closing Thoughts

• The hosts note other “cutting room floor” objects—18th-century dresses, smocked Liberty shirts, Worth bustle gowns—and invite listeners to consider their own fantasy wardrobes.
• Cassidy’s parting motivation:
  "May you consider what your favorite objects are in the history of fashion next time you get dressed that you would want in your closet." (62:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the fantasy wardrobe:
  “No doubt you have your own inventory of fantasy shoes and accessories and other items of dress that are in your own personal fantasy wardrobe.” —April (06:16)

• On fashion’s meaning:
  “Beyond aesthetics…fashion holds a myriad of meanings, both for the people who made and wore it at any given time throughout history, but also the people who…experience that item as an observer, sometimes centuries later.” —Cassidy (05:23)

• On museum mysteries:
  “This is one of my biggest fashion history mysteries. Where is all this Schiaparelli newspaper print stuff?” —April (51:43)

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Timestamps for Key Objects/Segments

• [09:00] Cassidy’s Mughal Indian Jama
• [14:00] April’s Cartier Panthère Watch
• [20:00] Cassidy’s Lavender Export Kimono
• [24:30] April’s Vionnet Ombre Dress
• [28:45] Cassidy’s Poiret Sorbet Gown
• [33:28] April’s Ferragamo Rainbow Sandals
• [40:00] Cassidy’s Blackburn Headpiece
• [45:50] April’s Schiaparelli Newspaper Print
• [52:00] Cassidy’s Ann Lowe “American Beauty” Dress
• [56:39] April’s Charles James Swan Jacket
• [62:00] Honorable mentions; final thoughts

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Additional Resources

• Hosts promise images and resources posted on Instagram (@dressedpodcast), website (dressedhistory.com), and recommend looking up object numbers for full visuals.
• Mention of upcoming classes, Paris tours, and a fashion history booklist (bookshop.org/shop/dressed).

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, enthusiastic, and accessible—but deeply informed, scholarly, and brimming with admiration for craftsmanship and cross-cultural exchange.
• Personal reflections seamlessly blend with historical research, making high fashion’s mystique both relatable and enticing.

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This detailed summary provides both newcomers and dedicated listeners with a thorough, lively roadmap to the episode’s highlights and the enduring relevance of museum pieces, designer legends, and personal obsessions in the world of fashion history.

Transcript

[April Callahan]

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[Cassidy Zachary]

The History of fashion is a production of Dressed media. With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day, we all get dressed.

[April Callahan]

Welcome to Dressed the history of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are friends, fashion historians and your

[Cassidy Zachary]

host, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary.

[April Callahan]

Dress listeners. We're back for season nine. We're back.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Can you believe it? April 9th season of Dressed. How far have we come?

[April Callahan]

Yeah, and maybe we took a smidge longer of a hiatus, but we always take a healthy break during the winter season. But we're here back now spring. And we are so happy to be able to share with all of you exactly what we've been up to the last few months.

[Cassidy Zachary]

We've been up to quite a lot actually, April.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, well, I'm currently in Paris right now. We are pre recording this. I haven't left yet, but let's just say somebody has received their work authorization to be in Paris. So there's that.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes, so many exciting things. I mean, you've been bringing tours to so many listeners and people in New York and now you're just transplanting to Paris. So more on that to come for sure.

[April Callahan]

Exactly. And Cass, you have things up your sleeve too.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah, we both, I mean, as you know, dress listeners, we both taught classes. I had so much fun teaching what women wore to the Revolution 1770s-1840s. I learned all about Marie Antoinette. I learned all about Jane Austen and Queen Victoria and there were a lot of surprises there. So much fun. And you of course taught a two parter on Schiaparelli. How did that go?

[April Callahan]

I think it was great. And it was setting up as a precursor to the Victoria Albert Museum exhibition which is now open on Schiaparelli and that will also be coming your way. Season nine of Dressed.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes, that is an upcoming episode now that we are back. And also, of course, we're planning for our annual Paris adventures in September, August 30 through September 6. If you want to join us Dressed Sisters, we still have spots. You can head to dresshistory.com for that entire itinerary. We also recorded a little bit of a teaser about that earlier over our hiatus. If you want to check that out and learn more information, we'd love to actually see you in person.

[April Callahan]

And that is our annual full fledged seven day fashion history tour of Paris, where we go behind the scenes in ateliers that are not open to the public. We go to all the major fashion exhibitions at museums. We go to Versailles and so, so much.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes. Oh, and then I actually have an upcoming class. I'm doing what Women Wore to the revolution, 1850s to 1920s, on Sundays in June. If you would like to join me, dress listeners. So lots of fun things up our ever fashionable sleeves, including today's episode, which we thought would just be a really fun season opener. Right, April?

[April Callahan]

Yeah, we. A lot of times on Dress, we interview amazing scholars about their incredible projects, whether it be a museum exhibition or a book book or maybe even an art project. But Cass and I, sometimes we just like to chat with you guys about what we love so deeply about fashion history. For our very first episode of season nine, we thought that it might be fun to share 10 of our favorite objects from fashion history. So we're each gonna pick five. And this was not an easy task, I have to say. And I do think Cass and I have only barely chatted about what we picked. I think we took slightly different approaches to what we picked. So this is by no means exhaustive in terms of the things that we love the most. But one of the things that it does do is it underscores a lot of the underlying themes of this podcast, which is now at more than 575 episodes. I guess it's just kind of highlighting more about how the clothes. Clothes we wear unpack the bigger stories of our lives.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Absolutely. The storytelling capability of dress is why we are here, why we do what we do. And today's episode is a potent reminder of something we talk about all the time on the show, which is the fact that beyond aesthetics, beyond the beautiful visage of a lot of these clothes. Right. Fashion holds a myriad of meanings, both for the people who made and wore it at any given time throughout history, but also the people who accept Experience that item as an observer, sometimes centuries later, as is the case with many of the objects we will speak to today. And April and I don't own the objects we are talking about yet. Yet fantasy closets, and many of them we've never even seen in person, but they do live rent free in our heads as items that spark joy and contemplation and, of course, severe envy.

[April Callahan]

Yes. And I am sure that we are not alone in this desire, dress listeners, because you listen to this podcast, so no doubt you have your own inventory of fantasy shoes and accessories and other items of dress that. That. That are in your own personal fantasy wardrobe. So, Cass, should we get this party started? Yes. Okay.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Again, I want to double down on what April said earlier. This was so hard to narrow down. I can't even tell you, April, how many times I went in and changed one of my five objects, and it was like, no, Cassidy, just pick five. Any five. It'll be okay.

[April Callahan]

I change mine at least six or seven times.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah, me too. So there's a lot of honorable mentions. Maybe we'll. We'll briefly address them at the end of today's episode. But these are five garments that I think about a lot, actually. They're always in my brain at one point or another. And my first object is certainly one of my absolute favorite in the history of fashion. And also a reminder, and this is something we talk about on the podcast a lot, that fashion is not just Euro American, Right? It's not limited to Europe and America. It's found in cultures around the world, especially in India, where my first object hails from. And it is a man's Indian drama from the 17th century in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And if you want to look it up, specifically, the Object number is 29.135. We actually got to see this in person, dress listeners. As you know, we do day tours of New York City, and one thing we always do is go take a visit to the Antonio Radi Textile center, because they take research visits. And so we pulled objects and take our attendees to see them in person, which is always really exciting. It's such a treat. And I did not know that all the times I've been there, I did not know that around the Corner was one of the most beautiful garments in the history of fashion. And my favorite. And it has its own ecosystem, essentially, that they've created. It's permanently mounted. And because it's permanently mounted, they have a window so you can walk around and see it. So we gotta see that in person. And so for listeners who don't know, a jama is essentially a robe. It has a high collar, it has these long fitted sleeves that are bunched at the forearm. This one specifically, they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but the bodice is fitted and it's crossbody, so it's closed along the right side of the wearer's chest with a series of ties. And then it has this full skirt that flows from the waistline. And I'm going to describe the aesthetics of it in a little bit, but first, just some cultural context in that the man's jama was a ubiquitous garment worn by Indian nobility. It's thought to have come to India in the 16th century with the Mughal rulers who ruled over the Indian peninsula from the 16th to the mid 19th century. And the jama remained in popularity across these three centuries. This particular style of drama, with its round skirt tied on that right side, is thought to possibly have been first designed by or for the great Mughal emperor Akbar, who ruled from 1586 to 1605. And this would have been worn with close fitting trousers, a sash holding a dagger, and then accessorized with a turban and embroidered slippers. And you actually have from this era, especially these brilliant colored portraits that depict what these men look like in all their glory. It's so incredibly colorful and beautiful. And Akbar is considered by many to have been the greatest emperor in Indian history because of the prosperity that happened under his reign. He united disparate kingdoms, he pacified warring parties, and he was a great patron of the arts who had a particular interest in dress and textiles, which of course, we love. And his promotion of global trade was really integral to making and textiles coveted luxury items around the globe at this really pivotal period of global exchange. So Akbar wanted to bolster local industry. He stopped the wearing of foreign silk imports from places like China or Italy, and he promoted local industry. And entire cities flourished around this textile trade, including Burrampur, which became this thriving trade and textile center known for producing fine cotton textiles such as the that found in this drama. And the makers there were really well known for both quality dyed cottons, but also block printing, which is known as Kalankari, and hand painting, which is seen in this exceptional garment. So this garment, y', all, when I say it is stunning. Look it up, right? Look it up and see it. And we'll post images to accompany this week's episode. It's bordered along the neckline, the shoulder seams and the hem with gold leaf. Gold leaf. And then applied gold leaf. And then the entire thing is hand painted with these red poppies. Red and gold poppies across the entire garment. It is so incredibly beautiful. Again, 29.135. If you want to look it up and enjoy it in all of its glory.

[April Callahan]

And what is our date on said garment?

[Cassidy Zachary]

It is from the 17th century, so it is in remarkable condition.

[April Callahan]

That's 17th century is the 1600s.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes.

[April Callahan]

Just so we're clear here.

[Cassidy Zachary]

For 400 years old, which is why it's preservation and the way it is preserved is just so remarkable. Really, really want to get to an Indian fashion episode this season. It's been a while since we've done one, so let's put that out there. Yeah.

[April Callahan]

We've been wanting to do an episode on the history of the sari forever. But sometimes for us listeners, when Cass and I are like, oh, let's do an episode on this. And then you start looking into it and you're like, oh, no, this could be an entire podcast series. So that is one reason we have yet to tackle the Sorry, because the sorry is such. This vast, incredible history and involves many different reasons and many different techniques. And so it's just a little overwhelming. We'll get to it.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Definitely finding the right scholar, too. Right. We would love to have an Indian scholar of the sari come on the show. So if you have any recommendations, always send them our way to helloresthistory.com but

[April Callahan]

it's one of those giant topics that we're going to have to break down.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes, it's like the kimono.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, exactly.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Incredibly, one of the most iconic garment types in the history of fashion.

[April Callahan]

Well, I mean, kimono just means clothes, technically speaking.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah, yeah. But the kimono or the corset or the sari. Right. There's all these iconic silhouettes and garments from different places around the world. So.

[April Callahan]

Yeah.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And what, my dear friend, do you have? What is your first object to share with us today?

[April Callahan]

I think I. If we're gonna. If we were just talking about being broad, I'm gonna be a hell of a lot more specific right now. And some of our very detailed, longtime listeners may remember that I have ever so briefly mentioned this object in the past. And it was one of our Tis the holiday episodes where Cass and I dress up in our fantasy wardrobes for a fictional holiday party that we're gonna do each year. So I should just say that when I approach, like, top five objects, I kind of approached it from the standpoint of what objects would I like to have in my own personal vintage wardrobe. So these are objects that I would love to own. Just saying.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Love it.

[April Callahan]

Although most of them do definitely belong in a museum, I have to say. But first object is the Cartier panthere watch from 1914, which was the object that started the entire Cartier Panthere collection, which is now legendary, and how this all started. And panthere means panther. Right. So I should probably describe the watch first. But it is one of the most stunning objects of jewelry and I'm not necessarily a big jewelry collector that I've ever seen. So it dates to 1914. So we're talking like right around the start of World War I and by Cartier. And it has a round face, or I would rather say the rondelle of the watch is round, but the face of the watch is actually square. And then it has two bands and it is white gold set with teeny tiny little diamonds in which onyx, bigger pieces of onyx are embedded all around to create the pattern of a panther. It is incredible. It is awe inspiring. And the story behind it is equally interesting because Louis Cartier, who was the head of Cartier at the time, had commissioned the illustrator Georges Barbier to create a promotional illustration for the brand of Cartier, which had a fashionable lady accompanied by by a panther. And it was going to be used for an invitation to a jewelry exhibition. And this is where this very first Panthere Cartier watch debuted. And it was quoted at that time as being, quote, an extravagant art deco specimen rendered in onyx and diamonds. And yeah, that term, art deco was probably used a little bit later because it really wasn't used in 1914. But let's fast forward about 20 years or so. And Louis Cartier decided to return, retire. And when he decided to retire, he replaced himself as, like I would call it now, the creative director of the brand with Jean Toussaint, a female designer who had been affiliated already with the brand. But he basically gave her creative reigns sometime around 1933. And then she was in place. But it was not until 1948 that she started tuning back in to the history of Cartier and found the Panthere watch. And that whole thing about it being used as a promotion for a jewelry exhibition and that this watch was already in the Cartier archive. This is when she basically was like, oh, no, this is going to be an entire theme of the entire brand moving forward. This is going to be an entire line of jewelry moving forward. And she did that. And I love this so much. Now Cartier now says that this moment in Time was a paw print on history and the mark of proud womanhood.

[Cassidy Zachary]

I love that.

[April Callahan]

Yeah. So now the Panthere collection exists in everything. You can still get watches, rings, like earrings, everything, but it has now been basically established as one of the brand hallmarks of Cartier and so I would just like to have the original 1914 watch.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes please. Foreign.

[April Callahan]

Is a bit of a cold rainy day in New York City and I am happy to report that I was able to pop on my new Issey Miyake raincoat for the first time. Or maybe rather I should say new to me as I got it on the RealReal.

[Cassidy Zachary]

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[April Callahan]

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[Cassidy Zachary]

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[April Callahan]

dressed. Listeners, spring is in the air and this week I'm about to embark on a major wardrobe cleanout. And every time I do this, it becomes quite obvious to me that I do need to replace some basics like T shirts, maybe a few pair of everyday pants, and dare I say it, unmentionables.

[Cassidy Zachary]

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[April Callahan]

And Cass, as you know, I am completely in love with their second set skin bras and undies. The fabric is so light, sometimes I don't even realize that I'm wearing them. And I actually just ordered 12 more pair to refresh my lingerie drawer.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Refresh your everyday with luxury. You'll actually use head to quince.com dressed for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com dressed for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.com dressed. Okay, While moving from Paris over to Japan for my next object, we mentioned kimono earlier. So my next object has been with me again, living rent free in my brain for the past 15 years or so, since grad school at the Fashion Institute of Technology, because we had Yes, I. So I'm sure you had to do this April, but we had to do a mock exhibition project and it was so intimidating because we had to present it to Valerie Steele and that's how she picked who would curate the student exhibition, the grad student exhibition. So it's very intimidating. But for my topic I did Revisiting the Peacock A Golden Age Fashion and Fantasy, 1894-1920. And essentially it explored the influence of one of the world's most beautiful birds and one of its Golden Ages quote unquote of influence on fashion, which I identified as 1894-1920. There was a bunch of really fantastic fashion objects, including this tea gown by Worth that was covered in peacock feathers from 1894. There's also this evening gown from 1910 from the House of Weeks that has this beautiful embroidered peacock. And both of those pieces are at the Met. But the piece de la resistance of my exhibition was always this lavender silk kimono from the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute circa 1906 that is embroidered with the most exquisite cherry blossom tree and branches. And it has this beautiful and this is all hand embroidered peacock that just drapes itself across the wearer's back. So the bird is perched in this tree and then the feathers, its tail is cascading down the wearer's back. So it is just so beautiful. And I'll share with you my exhibition text, which was the Green Peafowl.

[April Callahan]

Hey man, recycle that work. I'm always up there.

[Cassidy Zachary]

The green peafowl, or pavo muticus, is embroidered on this kimono by a leading Japanese export company. Originally from Burma, today's Myanmar in Central Asia, the green peacock found its way to Japan in the 17th century and became embedded in the country's artistic traditions. And in Japan, the peacock is a symbol of dignity and beauty. And it is represented here alongside cherry blossoms, which are the eternal symbol for spring. So not only is this, hands down, one of the most beautiful objects in the history of fashion, in my humble opinion. It's also this stunning expression of hand craftsmanship, but it also has this fascinating cultural context that has always been something I'm really interested in. And that is that it was actually intended to not be worn by a Japanese consumer, but it was made for export. It was made by this company called Aida Co. And was intended to be exported to the quote unquote west, right, to Europe or America to be worn by women there as an at home gown. So kimonos around the turn of the century became really popular forms of casual home attire or tea gowns for women during this era. And this was a result of Japan being somewhat forcefully open to trade in the middle of the 19th century after more or less 300 years of isolation. And so once that happened, you had Japanese wares flooding foreign markets. And this included things like woodblock prints, which were an inspiration for Peshawar, for George Barbier, like you mentioned, and all of these other artists like Paula Reeb, who worked within these hand paint and stenciling techniques. And it arguably laid the foundation for modern fashion illustration. But also flooding these markets wore items of dress such as the kimono. So whoever wore this, my goodness, if

[April Callahan]

anyone ever wore it.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah, it's true. It is quite the luxury, it's quite the luxurious garment. And again, just in and of itself, an incredible work of art that holds a very rich history in and of itself.

[April Callahan]

Yay. I love the fact that we're delving into things that, yes, they are beautiful as a standalone object, but they also have these greater reference points because that is where my next object comes from or stems from, because the object itself did not exist until five years after it was a logo. Do you know what I'm talking about?

[Cassidy Zachary]

Cass, give me another hint. Is it. What designer is it?

[April Callahan]

It's Vionnet, Madeline Vionnet. Is it Tyatte? Oh, yes.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Okay, I did not know that, but that's fascinating. All right, do share.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, yeah. So my next Object is a 1924 silk ombre Mousseline evening dress from Madeline Vionnet, one of the greatest architects of fashion of all time. It is these, I would call them descending swoops of completely sheer Mussolini that create an ombre effect from nearly completely sheer to the most vivid lime green at mid body that you've ever seen. And so they're panels, right? And the panels, the sheer panels go basically go from collar to below the knee and then it turns a little more yellow with each descending panel, but the panels are shorter Right in the middle. So the bright lime green, they're short. And it's just. It's yet again, one of her feats of construction that. That immediately looks simple, but then when you see what she's actually done, it's actually quite complex. Not necessarily in her pattern making that she's known best for, but more about how she thinks about garments. And then in addition to all of this, each one of these little panels. And of course, we're going to post this on our social media this week, each one of these little panels is embroidered with gold beads and rhinestones. And it's just. I don't know, it's a supreme work of art. But I think the most interesting thing about this dress is that it was actually inspired by the futurist artist Ernesto Michele, who is known by his palindrome pseudonym Teat. He designed a logo from Madeline Vionnet in 1919, and he designed a version of this dress. And so basically, it was the logo first, and then five years later, they made it reality, and I just think

[Cassidy Zachary]

brought it in full color, which is.

[April Callahan]

And full color. Yeah.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Also such a surprising color. The lime green of it all. It's just not. It's something you associate, of course, with maybe synthetic dyes today or like the 1960s. It's very, very psychedelic and not expected of 1920s. It's amazing.

[April Callahan]

Yeah. The color palette is like, from sheer to pale yellow to acid green, and the whole thing is embroidered with metallic thread, and then it has, like, copper beads and rhinestones, and it's just truly spectacular. So I just think that this is an interesting object from a brand perspective, that it started out as a logo of the house, and then one day they basically made it a corporeal reality. And it does reside at the Palais

[Cassidy Zachary]

Galliera in Paris, which has, as we know, the largest, one of the largest fashion collections in the world. What did you say? Hundreds of thousands of pieces there? Yeah.

[April Callahan]

It is arguably the most important fashion collection in the entire world.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And actually one of the dresses that hit the cutting room floor but was one of my honorable mentions, is this pink fitted madame gray velvet draped dress.

[April Callahan]

Oh, I know that dress.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes. From the Palais. And it's this fitted. I think it's from the 50s, maybe early 60s. It's the most stunning. It's just incredibly beautiful. That's all I have to say. It's so incredibly beautiful in the same exact collection. So.

[April Callahan]

And so much of this has to do going back to the quality of the textiles that were used at that time. And the quality of the materials, we don't really see that so much anymore. Even at the highest echelons of haute couture. Yeah, it's there, but it's. It's not the same.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah. Or it's just like a dying art form. It's not there as much as it should be. And speaking of the high art form of haute couture, I'm going to mention a dress that you have heard me. This is going to come as no surprise to you, April, and probably neither to you dress listeners, because I've mentioned it so many times, but I have

[April Callahan]

a sneaking feeling I know where this is going.

[Cassidy Zachary]

If we're picking our five favorite dresses, I have to pick one something by Paul Paris. And of course I'm going to pick his sorbet gown, which, again, is just something I just think about often that is constantly in my brain and floating around in there because it's just so incredibly beautiful. It's, hands down, one of my favorite dresses. It's an exceptionally beautiful gown. There's multiple that survive. The one I'm speaking to specifically is my favorite, is in the collection at the Chicago History Museum. You heard me mention it recently because I got to see it in person last year and I cried tears of joy. It is the height, undeniably the height of also Poiret's aesthetic and his Orientalism. Right. He's so famed for that. He took T. It's a T shaped tunic inspired by the Japanese kimono. And then it's over this narrow hobble skirt. And the top part of the tunic is comprised of contrasting panels. So one side is blonde, black, the other is white. And they meet at this pink obi like sash with the tunic flaring out with the support of wire hitting at about the hips. He would become incredibly famous for this silhouette because it appeared on stage in the play the Minaret, and it became known as the minaret tunic. But it also entered his fashion lexicon. I think it actually was there first before the stage. But it's embroidered with the most beautiful glass bead roses. And roses, of course, are a signature of the Poiret house. And this dress is really fascinating because I am apparently not alone in my admiration. This is one of the most popular dresses of that year. It's documented in numerous illustrations, including in Pochoa for the luxury fashion publication Gazette de Bon Ton Georges La Pape illustrated it. Poirier's wife, Denise is photographed wearing it. There's also three different versions, as I mentioned, that survive. So you have The Chicago Hill, you have the Victoria and Albert Museum. And then FIT has the most beautiful version of it in purple. The V and A is actually lined with fur at the hem. So it's really interesting, April, because I think it shows how there was room within the haute couture for customers to customize their designs.

[April Callahan]

Of course.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah. And it also speaks to one of the great myths of the haute couture. And there are many. Right. They don't use sewing machines, jeans, everything's hand sewn. But one of the great myths of the haute couture is that these are all custom made, one off pieces. And that is not the case because we have three different versions of this dress that survive. And actually there's a wonderful book that I'll recommend to you dress listeners by Nancy Troy called Couture Culture that speaks a lot about how these haute couture harness this concept of custom made, one off art pieces to actually sell more than that. Right?

[April Callahan]

Yeah. And we should say here they were custom for each individual, but they weren't necessarily one of a kind. Yeah. But they were always made to measure. I think that's maybe a better way to think of it. If you had different measurements than somebody else who bought that same model, it would be made for you. And then all of those little details, like maybe a little fur at the hem or maybe you change the sleeve length slightly, all of that could be done at that time.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And here's something I've actually always been curious about. How did they. Because they worked with really high end clients, Right. Like princesses and queens and all the Vanderbilt socialites. All these people. Right. Wore Parisian haute couture. How did they prevent two women from showing up at the same event in the same dress?

[April Callahan]

The Von Duses probably knew quite a bit about where this is, why they were buying this, and where it was going to be worn. So I would imagine that it was probably part of their job within the couture house to have that knowledge of those clients and navigate those social niceties. Yeah.

[Cassidy Zachary]

That would be a major faux pas. Right. If you had like a queen from here and the princess from here showing up in the same dress.

[April Callahan]

But yeah, they probably also communicated amongst themselves being like, okay, find this model, find the same model. We should probably like, like very politely check in to see where they're going to be wearing these. And I'm sure that they were the ones managing it or at least passing along the information. You can't tell somebody what to wear, Right?

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah. It's similar. Right. Today I would imagine the O couture houses and the fashion houses who work with all these celebrities. It's like they know exactly where that dress is going to be.

[April Callahan]

Yeah. If somebody is ordering the same thing, you're gonna know if they're both planning on wearing it to the Met Gala.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes, exactly right.

[April Callahan]

So those channels. Okay, I'm going to fast forward us, I guess, maybe a little bit in time. I don't know. Sorbet, 19 teens. So maybe 20 years or so. But in the spectrum of the aesthetic of fashion, these are very future forward of what I'm about to speak about next. And I say these because it is not a garment per se, but an accessory because they're shoes. And they are, again, one of my all time fantasy objects that I would love to have in my closet. They are a pair of platform sandals by Salvatore Ferragamo, originally designed in 1938. They are hella platform, I must say. They're about 8.5 centimeter wedges at their tallest, which is about 3.33 inches. I don't know, they look taller than that in person, but. But essentially they are this incredibly sculptural pair of platform wedges because they're scalloped. And within the scallops of the stacks, we're talking multiple colors of suede in a rainbow gradation. And then the straps that go over the front of the toe and around the ankle are in gold metallic leather fantasy kit. Oh, so 1930s, but also. Oh, so now, because Ferragamo, these are one of the icons of the Ferragamo brand. They're so iconic that they continue to make them today. But I have to say we have to remember when they were very first designed. This is 1938. So we're right before World War II. And World War II. A lot of times we identify the rise of the platform shoe in Paris being due to the rationing and restrictions of leather and other things that went into shoe making. So people started making platform shoes because they would wear down. They could. They could wear longer. They weren't wearing out. They had a thicker, higher heel. But here, what we're really seeing is this artistic expression. First of the platform sandal. Originally, they were designed for Judy Garland. Did you know that cassette?

[Cassidy Zachary]

I did not know that. That is really fascinating.

[April Callahan]

So Ferragamo designed them for Judy Garland. And of course, I mentioned that they're in this rainbow stack of sculptural color. And in 1937, 1938 is when her song over the Rainbow came out.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Oh, I love that. That's why they did it.

[April Callahan]

I'm not exactly sure which came first or later, but they overlap in this way that I'm fairly certain that's why he created them for her. But one of the most interesting things that I found out in researching these is, yes, there are the versions from 1938, late 30s, early 40s. They're still made now, but you can actually clock them. There's differences between the two. They're not exact replicas because the original versions have seven colors in the stack in the wedges. It starts with orange, descends to pink, then peach, then yellow, then purple, then green, and then this dove gray. And the new versions have six colors, and those six colors are a lot brighter. They're more rainbow. The original versions were slightly. I would not call them pastel at all, but they're a little bit more muted. But the newer versions only have six colors, and they start with red, then purple, then fuchsia, then orange, then blue, green, and dove gray. And then the newer versions, also, the gold metallic of the straps on the uppers also have multicolor stitching around the edges. So if you want to tell a new pair of Ferragamo rainbow platforms. You heard it here, but I was actually surprised. Yes, these are incredibly expensive now still, too. But do you want to guess, Cass, how much a pair of these cost now? New from Ferragamo. It wasn't as much as I thought that it might be.

[Cassidy Zachary]

I'll say $750.

[April Callahan]

Oh, girl, no.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Seventeen hundred and fifty dollars more. Brand new shoes.

[April Callahan]

Yeah.

[Cassidy Zachary]

$3,000.

[April Callahan]

2900.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Wow.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, girl, more 700. If they were $750, they would already be in my closet.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Y' all should have seen April's face when I said that. She was like, okay, I love these. That also speaks to just. These are so iconic. So many people are aware of these shoes. I did not know that particular history, which is fascinating, but they're so iconic and also they're so timeless. Obviously, if they're still being worn today. If you looked at these without the context, I would have dated these in, like, the 60s or 70s.

[April Callahan]

They look like disco.

[Cassidy Zachary]

They look like disco. I always describe them. That looks like she's walking on a rainbow. Cloud. Cloud rainbows. Because they're puppy, and they're just so fun. They're so incredibly fun for 1930. It's kind of shocking soon to be 100 years old. Get business done with the new American Express graphite business. Cash unlimited card with unlimited 2% cash back on all eligible purchases, unlimited 5% cash back on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel Online, and a flexible spending capacity that can grow with your business. You'll have the confidence to keep building. Apply today and earn a welcome offer of $1,500 cash back after you spend $50,000 in qualifying purchases on your new card within the first six months of card membership terms apply. Learn more at Go Amex Graphite Girl Winter is so last season and now spring's got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders that perfect hang on the patio Sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done. Hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear open that envelope. It's time for a little in person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. I'm going to jump forward in time to a much more contemporary object, but again, one of those objects that once I saw it, I've never been able to forget it. I think about it often and so as you know, dress listeners, one of the themes on the show is highlighting indigenous fashion. We don't have a lot of contemporary designers on the show, but the ones that we do have tend to be indigenous designers because we support this thriving indigenous fashion scene. We've had designers like Karina Emrick, Amy Dinandal, Jonteco, Dorothy Grant, Orlando Duguay on the show, and some of the most exciting, innovative, but also artistic fashion coming out over the last 10 or so years, which parallels this podcast, has been coming from these indigenous makers. So over the past 10 years especially, there's been a huge surge of representation of indigenous designers and more mainstream media. And that's thanks in no small part to two past dressed guests. So we've had Christian Allaire on multiple times, who is the first indigenous staff writer for Vogue. And then we've also had the curator and visionary Amber Dawn Barerobe, founder of Native Fashion Week in Santa Fe, on the show. She's also the founder of the annual fashion show attached to Swaya, which is the Southwest Indian market, the largest market of indigenous design in the world, which happens in my home state of New Mexico an hour from where I live in Santa Fe every year. And because I'm so close to it, I've actually got to go annually to these shows and meet some of these designers and if not meet them personally at least See their work up close. And April, you actually joined me in 2022.

[April Callahan]

I did.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And we met Jontecom. Right. He was doing a pop up. He was actually not even on the Runway yet, but he is now currently one of the most exciting up and coming designers. Such a beautiful artist. But in that show, and I think you'll remember, was the collection of jeweler and artist Katherine Blackburn, whose stunning beadwork pieces were presented in collaboration with fashion design by her niece, Melanie LeBlanc. And that show I think about all the time. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever got the joy of seeing in person. And just a quick bio on Catherine, because she's a member of the English River First Nation. She's a multidisciplinary artist and jeweler whose common themes address Canada's colonial past that are often prompted by personal narratives. And this is a bio from her website. Her work grounds itself in the Indigenous feminine and is bound through the ancestral love that stitching suggests. Through stitch work, she explores Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization and representation. So, as I said, her niece's fashions were paired with Blackburn's photo. Real beadwork pieces. These incredible purses. There was even glasses. But there was a standout piece that, again, I always think about, which was this incredible skull and antler structure and headpiece, which was sculpted but was meant to represent a hybrid of caribou, elk and moose antlers. It was sculpted by this artist, Emily Jan. It's comprised of caribou hide beads, caribou hair, rhinestone chain, pearls, satin, Swarovski crystals, crystal pendants, rooster feathers, gold plated chain and findings, thermoplastic resin, leather and gold leaf. It is a work of art. It actually, I think, is in a gallery. A gallery acquired it because of this. It's titled Ancestor Dreamin and it's this massive headpiece. And I remember when the model walked out, right, because she was obviously very statuesque, especially with this huge two foot, maybe structure on her head. And there was this beaded gold and blue fringe hanging over her face so that you really focused upward. And if that wasn't stunning enough, cradled inside was this, again, photo, real beaded photograph of Catherine's great grandmother. And she actually wrote about this collection, how it was inspired by the matriarchal strength, love and knowledge of our grandmothers. It utilized the land, bone, animal hides, feathers and hair through tufting. By including portraits and names of family and animal, can we speak to reciprocity and the power of Indigenous knowledge? So, again, just such an exquisite example of storytelling through dress, through the power of dress and the dressed body that I will not soon forget.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, and actually we gotta see it a little more up close than that. If you remember, Remember when we were wandering around after the show. Cause there was kind of an after party or whatever, and we got to see the model. She was two feet away from us, standing, talking to somebody else. And we were just like, Cass and I were both trying to get 360 up close views without interrupting their conversation.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And I introduced myself to Katherine and we went back and forth about her coming on the show. But maybe we can get her on this season. But it doesn't always work out in terms of scheduling and various people are up to. But Katherine would love to have you. Regardless. Thank you for your art. Yeah.

[April Callahan]

One of the things I loved so much about that piece is the inherent mystery of it coming down the Runway because you couldn't quite figure out what it was or what it wasn't. It was very seductive in that sort of like, way of mystery. And that pulls me into my next object, if I may, which is not mysterious in and of the fact that it existed. Because we do know that it existed in many incarnations over many decades. But the fact that it doesn't exist in museum collections is the curious part of this mystery. So do you know what I might be speaking of, Cass? Because, you know, this is one of my favorite things and you know that it's not in any museum collections.

[Cassidy Zachary]

I'm guessing it's something to do with Schiaparelli.

[April Callahan]

Of course. Again, I've said on the podcast in the past, does anyone have an object that was produced in the Schiaparelli newspaper print?

[Cassidy Zachary]

Right.

[April Callahan]

That was first issued in 1935, because apparently it was issued as blouses, it was issued as men's neckties, it was issued as beachwear, as handbags, as scarves. There was an entire range of this Schiaparelli newspaper print textile that was used for all these different objects. And I have yet to find one in a museum collection at auction. Yes, I'm going to get to that here in a second. But just a little background on what this actually is. It's a textile, and this textile was printed in both silks, as far as I can see, and also in cottons. And it was inspired by Schiaparelli's move in 1935 from her location on the Rue de l', Paix, just around the corner to place Vendome in 1935. And this was really a celebration and demarcation of her success that she decided to pair with Cocombe, which was, of course, one of the major Parisian luxury textile designers and producers and probably one of, I would argue, one of the more avant garde ones, that they were willing to take this chance to do this particularly surrealist textile with Schiaparelli. And what it was she or whoever her was on her staff working on this went and they collected newspaper articles that were documenting her move from 21 Rue de la Paix, just around the corner to Place Vendome. She was such a big designer at this point that they were in multiple newspapers all over the world. These articles being like, oh, she's expanding her operations and she's moving around the corner. These newspaper articles were in Italian, they were in English, they were in French, and they were in German. And then they cut them out. And I don't know. How would you say. I don't want to say decoupage.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Collage them.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, collage them on top of each other. And then they made this newspaper print that Kokombe realized as a textile motif. So originally, SCAP got this idea because she, a year earlier, had been in Copenhagen and she was visiting a fish market. And all the market women there were wearing hats that had been created out of newspapers. And they were all different shapes. They were fashioning themselves, they were twisting them, they were folding them. And then she was like, oh, go. This is the most surreal thing that I've ever seen, right in line with what she was doing at that time. So she takes this idea back. She creates this textile, creates this entire line of goods, both in her couture collection and also her ready to wear collections. And yet we don't know where they are.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Where are they?

[April Callahan]

Okay, so there's a couple things that have come up at auction that are examples of this. Back in 2013, Carrie Taylor, who is, of course, the UK auctioneer, had an example of an Austin Reed brand tie that was made in the 1950s. So from this textile. So there was obviously some sort of licensing deal. Schiaparelli was doing a ton of licensing deals during the 1950s. This makes perfect sense. But the fact that they reissued this textile for this licensing deal from between 1935 and 1950. Okay, so there's that. And then one of our past dressed guests alerted us to the fact that in 2023, Augusta Auctions had a fragment of the textile up for auction. And that is because also, in addition to everything that they produced as, like, garments and accessories with this textile, they also sold it at lengths as fabric lengths in department stores. And then the other only tiny little piece of this that I know of is at fidm, the Fiddham Museum in la. They also have a tiny little scrap of it. But what the hell, it was everywhere and no one knows where it is. So this is one of my biggest fashion history mysteries. Where is all this Schiaparelli newspaper print stuff? But also the other thing, when I was like digging into this a little bit further to chat about this today, it was so successful at that time in 1935, that the American market started knocking off versions of the Schiaparelli textiles with their own newspaper prints that same year. And they were called front page prints.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Interesting. The only thing I can think of is maybe there was something with the ink and the printing process in the textile. So maybe they didn't survive. Right. Maybe these textiles became more delicate and that's why only fragments or pieces survive. Because I'm looking at a post on the Scaparelli archive Instagram, and they have tons of documentation about there's even a woman lounging on the be and the full robe of it.

[April Callahan]

I know, that's what I'm saying. It was everywhere. But I have never come across it in a vintage market. I've only seen it twice at auction.

[Cassidy Zachary]

That has to be it. That has to be it. Maybe there was something wrong with the printing or the textile, because why else would it not? Sometimes that happens with fashion. It's just an issue with the dye lot or something.

[April Callahan]

I swear to God, someday I'm going to be at Le Poos in Paris and I'm going to be like, cass, I found it. And I'm not even going to say what it is. You're just going to know that I found it.

[Cassidy Zachary]

I know we have tried this before, but I think we really going to put in the dressed universe that Marissa Berenson, who is Schiaparelli's granddaughter, comes on this season. Oh, yes. Putting it out there.

[April Callahan]

We should ask her. You know what? We've never actually asked her. Maybe we should do that. So, long story short, the Schiaparelli newspaper print is one of my personal fashion history mysteries. Yes. Who wants to help me solve it?

[Cassidy Zachary]

Okay, we are down to our last objects. I am again, April, I guess. Actually, I would like to own this dress. I would wear this dress. Not everything I've chosen today I would wear or should wear. But this dress, that is my last dress again, lives rent free in my brain. One of the most beautiful dresses in the history of fashion. I would Love to own and wear. And I am talking about Ann Lowe's American beauty dress from 1966, 67, in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Because, of course, Ann Lowe is a pioneering black designer whose career. And we've of course, done an episode on her with Elizabeth Way, who has done an incredible amount of research on her, did an exhibition with her at the Winterthur Museum, and get your hands on the exhibition catalog. But Ann Lowe, just an incredible designer, most famous for designing Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress. But talk about putting a designer in a box. She was so much more than this one dress. She had a career that spanned something like seven decades. Right. April. She got her start in, like, the 1910s and designed into at least the 60s. I think that's when her career ended. Just remarkable designer, prolific American fashion designer, created, hands down, some of the most stunning dresses in the history of fashion. So this specific dress is a sleeveless cream dress. It's a sleeveless dress in cream silk. It has an empire silhouette, so that under the bust, high waistline, and then a fairly straight columnar silhouette, typical of the 1960s. Kind of unremarkable in that regard, in terms of the silhouette. But that is not what mints annlo's work as being exceptionally beautiful. That her construction is on par with Haute Couturier's. Yes. But it's her, what she puts on these dresses. She is the queen of silk flowers. So you have this rather unassuming front of the dress, but if you turn it around, there's the most beautiful cascade of lifelike luscious pink silk, handmade roses cascading down the back. I mean, I think I. I would argue this is one of the most beautiful dresses of all time. And again, these flowers are one of her signatures. There's another dress, dress that's similar in silhouette that has these red and green velvet silk flowers down the back. And she's just really well known for these flowers. I think there's even an anecdote about one suitor. I think you and Elizabeth talked about this snipping off a rose off of one of the dresses, thinking it was real, or keeping. Wanting to keep it as a keepsake, but just so incredibly beautiful. And I could not do this episode without ending with. With this gown.

[April Callahan]

Yeah. And one of the things that's so interesting about her skill at crafting these flowers is that she started doing it as a very young child. I'm talking, like three or four years old. And she learned this being a child sitting in the atelier of her mother and her grandmother, and her grandmother was a formerly enslaved woman. And she would pick up the scraps off the atelier floor and then they would start to teach her how to of create these flowers. And she eventually became incredibly gifted at it and it became one of the signatures of her entire brand. So lovely, the passage of knowledge down between generations of women of artisanal and hand skills in terms of fashion arts.

[Cassidy Zachary]

So absolutely. And I will say too, shout out to Fashion History Timeline. If you don't know about that resource, you've heard us mention it many times. It's an extension of the FIT in New York. I think some of their grad students or undergrad students work on this active database. So it's a really incredible resource because it covers the history of Euro American fashion. You can find 1600-1610-1850-1860, and learn about those decades. But they also have articles dedicated exclusively to garments or epic moments in history. And so this American Beauty dress has its own page dedicated to it because it's that exceptional. And actually the garment you're about to end with, which was I did not speak about because you picked it, I think also has its own dedicated page here as being this epic, iconic garment that deserves its own Wikipedia page, maybe its own book, its own podcast dedicated to it.

[April Callahan]

Definitely featured in books.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes.

[April Callahan]

It's very interesting because in my mind, Cass, and tell me if you have maybe this is just me, but I've always called this the swan jacket.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah.

[April Callahan]

Do we shorthand call it the swan jacket? Because there is no reference that I have since seen calling it the swan jacket.

[Cassidy Zachary]

No, I thought it was the swan jacket. Is it made of swan feathers?

[April Callahan]

It is filled with down. I'm not sure if they've ever done DNA conservation testing to see exactly what type of down. But as far as I can tell, there's only one of these that exists, at least in a museum collection. Maybe in private collections, there are others, but it lives at the VA. And again, we're going back to this period of 1937, 1938, and it is surprisingly Celanese satin filled with down. And Celanese dress listeners, is a very early synthetic that looks a lot like silk. It's basically like a silk replacement. But this jacket is this white Celanese jacket that is incredibly sculptural. Basically, Charles James quilted curves into this jacket that are then stuffed with down. And as the Victorian Albert Museum says, the front curves away from each other and then the down filling makes the epaulettes over the shoulders stand out. And then it continues down into the sleeves that are slit cuffs. The curved quilting on the back creates a heart shape. It is just spectacular. It truly is one of Charles James's most iconic works. There's a couple others that stand out. His taxi dress, maybe his selfide gown, but also what I call the swan jacket. And wow, again, 1937 looks oh so disco. 1970s. And maybe that's why he actually wrote about this in some of his diaries. In 1975. He wrote a full description of the development and the design process for the, for the jacket. And we know Charles James to be like one, one of the most talented creative geniuses in the history of fashion and at the same time, one of the most problematic pain in the ass designers in the history of fashion. He just couldn't get out of his own way. And so I think a lot of times when we think about him as a creator, we think of his designs as one offs, right? They weren't necessarily always one offs, but they were so complicated and so time consuming. And the clients that bought these designs had to practice extreme patience because he was so volatile and they took so long to make. But at the same time, if you really get into Charles James's career, he did in so many ways try to flip his work into ready to wear. So one of the things that I thought was super, super interesting about his writings in 1975 about this, the quote unquote, swan jacket, is that he really did want it to become a ready to wear model. He wanted it to be made into ready to wear versions in kid leather and also more, more mass market versions that were associated with wearing for motorcycle or ski wear. And he thought that those could be nylon instead of celanese and stuffed with not necessarily down, but some other cheaper version. But he himself wanted this jacket to be like, translated into maskwear. So put that in my closet. I don't want this one because as far as I know, there's only one.

[Cassidy Zachary]

You're have to fight me for it. I feel like Hamish, maybe Hamish has one.

[April Callahan]

Maybe. I did see it in person a couple years ago in Paris because I think it was in the Stephen Jones exhibition, because Stephen Jones pulled some things into his exhibition at the Galliera that were his inspirations for hats and things. So I did get to see the swan jacket. Maybe we should email Hamish and see if he has one.

[Cassidy Zachary]

This has always been one of my favorites because as you said, it's so ahead of its Time. A lot of people refer to it as a puff coat. Right. The first puff coat, because it looks like much more. It is, but it looks like a puff coat. It's obviously an elevated, incredibly elevated, highly artistic version of a puff coat. But it does have that kind of more bulbous, puffy cloud like feel that you would never, off the top of your head, be like, oh, that's 1930s.

[April Callahan]

Yeah.

[Cassidy Zachary]

So ahead of its time. There's also a really iconic image of Pat Cleveland wearing it in the 60s or early 70s, I think. I think she actually wore it in his studio. If I remember correctly, he put it on her when he was still alive and working out of whatever that hotel is in New York, where he would.

[April Callahan]

Hotel Chelsea or Chelsea.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Hotel Chelsea. Yeah. So, yeah, just an incredibly iconic and very special piece attached to, again, as you said, one of the enfant terribles of fashion history. Okay, we did it. We could have kept talking. I briefly want to ask what some of your cutting room floor objects were, because I definitely had some that I kept trying to put in and took out, but I really wish I could have talked about them.

[April Callahan]

I mean, there were a couple of 18th century dresses in my rotation. Let's see, what else was there? Yeah. I don't know. I kept just finessing it. No.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah.

[April Callahan]

And then finally I looked at it, and I was like, april, this is just really about what you want in your closet, so just go with it.

[Cassidy Zachary]

That's how I said. I'm like, this is not a barometer of anything. This is just a fun exercise. But, yeah, there's this smocked Liberty Co. 19th century shirt that I always think about. There's this. This incredible bustle gown by Worth that's covered in those silk flowers. There's just. It's endless. Right. Dress listeners. And as we said, you might agree with this, and some of these might be on your list, but I guarantee you have your own list of these objects. So that does it for us today. But may you consider what your favorite objects are in the history of fashion next time you get dressed that you

[April Callahan]

would want in your closet?

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes. And if you want to check out images, which I'm sure you do, connected to this week's episode, head to dressed576@our Instagram restorepodcast.

[April Callahan]

And that is not all that we have up our sleeve. Dress listeners, as season nine continues, we have other things coming your way. Cass.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes. Make sure you're signed up for our newsletter. If you're not already, head to our website, justhistory.com Sign up for that newsletter where April and I once a month share things from April's armoire and Cassidy's closet. Things we're working on behind the scenes, interesting research we're doing, our objects we're studying. But that's also where you become the first to know about our online classes and in person tours. And that includes my what Women Wore to the Revolution 1850s-1920s live online course coming your way in June and then also our seven day Fashion History Fueled Adventure in the World Fashion Capital Paris coming your way August 30th through September 6th.

[April Callahan]

Some of you have already signed up, but we do still have more slots and we are very excited I will be there now on more or less a permanent basis. I have new Parisian treasures up my sleeve for this year's tour. So yeah, again you can head over to dress history.com to look at that full itinerary. And we'll be up to this year starting August 30th and then into the very first week of September.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And we get so many questions from all of you about our recommendations for fashion history books. So if you're interested you can always find a link in our show Notes to our Bookshop Bookshelf. So that address is bookshop.org shop dressed and there you can find over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles.

[April Callahan]

Do you love dress but you would like to skip the ads? You can now sign up for ad free listening on our Dressed History Patreon. We are also excited to now be part of the Airwave Network and their premium ad free history subscription, Airwave History plus, which is available on Apple Podcast. This subscription brings dress and also 27 other popular history podcasts altogether ad free for just $5.99 per month. More information on Patreon and Airwave is available at the link in our bio. Thank you as always for tuning in and more dressed coming your way very soon. Dressed the History of Fashion is a production of Dressed Media.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show. Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this your first date? Oh no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Together we're married. Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways, get a [e-mail] or with your local agent. Liberty Liberty, Liberty Liberty. Sick of those trivia podcasts that you don't even understand how to operate, and they just have too many levers and buttons.

[April Callahan]

There's got to be a better way.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Now there is, with Good Job Brain, an offbeat quiz show and trivia podcast that makes learning new things easy and fun. I just learned that artificial vanilla flavoring sometimes comes from the anal glands of a beaver, and now I can never shake that mental image. Thanks. Good Job Brain Good Job Brain is available for the low price of just four easy payments of free. It's a podcast. Good Job Brain is part of Airwave

[April Callahan]

Media and available on all podcast apps. Operators are standing by.