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Cassidy Zachary
Favorite episodes from the Dressed archive of over 500 plus shows the history of Fashion As 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 where we explore the who, what, when of why we where. We are fashion historians and your hosts, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary.
Cassidy Zachary
We all have this problem. Dress listeners, there is a current fashion fad going on, right. That we just cannot stand or we can't understand. It's like, why? Why is this happening? April, do you have any that you're questioning currently?
April Callahan
Yes, I do, I do, I do, I do. And this is probably very New York City specific, but you know those leather Gucci loafers that have the fur lining in them or the fur trim around the outside?
Cassidy Zachary
Yes.
April Callahan
I see women and men or people of all genders wearing them in New York City a lot. And I'm like, seriously? We live in New York. You are walking down the street with that fur on your loafer, dragging in whatever disgustingness is on New York City sidewalks. And I'm just like, why are you doing this to yourself? It drives me insane. It's a huge pet peeve. And also just it's not sanitary. So that's my current number one. What about you?
Cassidy Zachary
My number one. And this has bothered me for a while because it's been around for at least the past year. And this is this trend for see through dresses. I think it is so jarring in general to have they have these beautiful lace or see through chiffon gowns and then just a bra and panty underneath and it never looks like, it goes together. It just breaks the line for me. And so many celebrities are doing it. I do not understand. No one has done this trend correctly, in my humble opinion, until John Galliano, who in his most recent couture collection for Margiela, sent sheer dresses down the Runway. And as you, of course, and Alexandra discussed on Tuesday, the women were naked underneath. Right. That's how you do it.
April Callahan
They appeared that they were naked.
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, exactly. And that I was gonna say. And by now we all know they were wearing pube wigs or merkins, but what a beautiful trick of the eye. He's preserving the women's modesty while sacrificing not of the art and line of his dresses. And I just thought it was perfection. Okay, we could probably do this all day. And we are actually going to dedicate this episode to what I'm sure were people's pet peeves or fashion peeves in history. Because today we're going to talk all about more obscure and bizarre but no less fabulous fashion statements and fads from the past. And believe me, dress listeners, there are plenty. Lest you think that today's fads, such as charmed Crocs, ugly sneakers, fur Gucci loafers, or see through dresses, come without historical precedent, today we are going to look at three fabulously fun fashion fads from the 19th and 20th centuries.
April Callahan
But first, what exactly do we mean when we say fashion fad? Well, the new Oxford American Dictionary defines a fad as, quote, an intense and wildly shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short lived, a craze. So we could take this even a step further and say that fashion fads in particular are also, more often than not representing a radical break from contemporary dress. So it's representing something so new, so novel, so bizarre as to spark conversation and even controversy and sometimes backlash.
Cassidy Zachary
And fashion fads are incredibly fascinating in this way. Right? They are so often ridiculed and dismissed at the time within which they were worn, but the fact that they can cause so much uproar speaks to so many things. Things beyond mere aesthetics. And as we will learn today, the responses to fashion fads say just as much about societal mores and values of any given time as it does about the presumed frivolity of the wearers. And also fascinating is the fact that however short lived, however ridiculed, some of these fashion fads are, or were in their day, they are, more often than not, at one point or another, revived. Which is why we will be playing a little and very subjective game of live on or let lie Today. In other words, dress listeners, which fashion trends should we let live on or revive to see another day? And which are better left to stay in history?
April Callahan
Well, speaking of living fashion trends, Cas, we have to talk about the fad for chameleon jewelry in the 1890s. And I'm not saying little enamel or clothes ples. I'm talking about living chameleons as jewelry. So the first mention of this we could find is from a nationally syndicated article in the US entitled Lizards for the Ladies from 1893. And now, dress listeners, Cass and I are going to read a little bit of an excerpt from this article and regal you with our questionable acting skills. Cass is way better at this than I am. Just saying.
Cassidy Zachary
I know. I love doing this to you, but I only do it like, occasionally, maybe once a year. So I'll go first.
April Callahan
Okay.
Cassidy Zachary
In the vein of Nathan lane as Ward McAllister in the Gilded Age. If you know, you know. So, never heard of having a pet chameleon? Why, you surprise me. The animal is becoming quite a fad. Down in Florida, where I was last winter, a very particular friend of mine always carried her chameleon about her with her, where she went. I'm not sure that she slept with it, but at all events she wore it constantly.
April Callahan
Yes, word, of course. And that is the way to do it with a chameleon, according to the latest style. Though I am getting very fond of my own particular specimen, I am not quite reconciled to wearing it just yet. But this friend to whom I spoke had her chameleon attached to a chain. She had a jeweler fasten a little golden band around the creature's body just behind the forelegs. This band with chains was fastened, the other end of it attached to a pin which was stuck into the dress.
Cassidy Zachary
Oh, I assure you that is quite the thing. A number of women of my acquaintance in Florida last winter wore chameleons. They had them fastened to their dresses by slender gold chains so that the animals could walk about. If you have a chameleon, it is correct to wear him all the time. Repulsive idea, you say? Not at all. See what a pretty little animal this is? Are its eyes not bright and then it turns from one color to another in such a wonderful way. When I tickle mine under the chin, he always changes to a brat P. Green.
April Callahan
Oh my God. This is insane. This is the most insane fashion trend.
Cassidy Zachary
The article continues on with an interview with a reptilian expert from the Smithsonian, who then goes on to educate readers on the Chameleon, which appears to have been a novelty at this time. So not something, not a lizard many people were familiar with.
April Callahan
Yes, and if you are thinking that this fashion fad is indeed fashion abuse, dress listeners, you are not alone. Because in 1894, the New York Times announced the fact that selling chameleons in the state of New York had actually been halted. According to the article, the chameleon fad had resulted in some 10,000 chameleons or chameleon like lizards being imported to New York State alone. And, you know, a lot of these are obviously being used for decorative effect and fastened onto everything from cushions and mantle scarves to women's bodices. The Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty to Animals had had enough citing that quote, the manner of confining the lizard and the ignorance of buyers as to how and when to feed them constituted cruelty.
Cassidy Zachary
Despite this, however, one year later, Harper's Bazaar was still touting the American chameleon as filling, quote, the double role of jewel and pet. And they did so in a January 1895 issue alongside another living fashion fading beetle jewels, which, like the chameleon, were secured to a woman's bodice with a belt and gold chain attached to a pin. I mean, April, we've talked about dogs as fashion accessories on the show, but this takes living fashion accessory to a whole other level. And the really fascinating thing is that this is emblematic of the cyclical nature of fashion, in particular, the beetle jewelry, because the fad for beetle jewelry was not unique to the 1890s or to America. In fact, live insect jewelry can be traced to ancient Egypt, and it's also featured historically in the cultural traditions and practices of both the ancient Mayans and their Mexican and Central American ancestors into the present day.
April Callahan
Yes, yes, yes, yes. We see a lot of beetle jewelry or the use of beetle parts in fashion throughout time. So living beetlejoy has had numerous revivals in popularity throughout the 20th and 21st centuries and has never been far from controversy. When bejeweled roach brooches were being sold en masse to American tourists in Mexico in the 1960s, for instance, they were swiftly banned by the US government. And even as early as 2012, a roach brooch worn by an America's Next Top Model contestant sparked concerns from animal rights activists. Which begs this question, dress listeners. Should we let living jewelry live literally another day or leave it to history?
Cassidy Zachary
Let's just say living jewelry as markers of cultural expression and heritage. None of our business, especially since we're not part of those Cultures. Right. But living jewelry as American novelty items, that's a big no from me.
April Callahan
Yeah. And also too, I just don't think that I would enjoy wearing that. Just saying, you know, something's like creepy crawly all over you as, as a form of self adornment. I'm gonna pass.
Cassidy Zachary
And Living Jewelry dress listers is just the first of the controversial fashion fads we are going to discuss today. Next up is a particular style of fashion that enjoyed a short lived existence in 1910-1911. Hint. It is most famously associated with one Paul Poiret, who can be credited with popularizing several radical and controversial styles that came into fashion just before World War I. This being a part of that.
April Callahan
Yes. And just a very quick refresher on Pare and of course we have already done an entire episode on him. But he was one of this handful of visionary designers who revolutionized fashion at the dawn of the 20th century, kind of modernizing it by offering his clients corset optional clothing that embodied this sort of neoclassical silhouette. And the dresses that he was doing in this vein hung from the wearer shoulders and were given the shape by the wearer's natural body. And this softness and the getting rid of this hard corsetry underneath is one of the core principles that we associate with modern fashion.
Cassidy Zachary
And pari. It must be said, his design lines represent the most avant garde and radical of his contemporaries. And while he was no doubt instrumental in pushing women's fashion into the modern era, I've always maintained that he did it more in the name of aesthetics and art and line than for any real genuine investment in liberating women from the corset. And this is no more clearly evidenced than by this very short lived fashion fad that we've been alluding to, something he first introduced into his collections in 1910. And this is also something. The fact that he wasn't really invested in women's liberation is confirmed by Poirier himself who said, I freed the bust, but I shackled the legs.
April Callahan
Yes. And if you have not yet guessed, dress listeners, we are going to talk about the hobble skirt. And it is so called hobble skirt because it quite literally hobbled the wearer. It was a sheath like skirt that had a opening for the feet that was so narrow that it prevented women from taking a full stride. And as the press at the time, they basically had a field day with this latest whim of fashion. You know, the press is always at this point looking for any reason to discuss women's presumed frivolity It's a favorite pastime of fashion journalists and fashion satirists, as we well know.
Cassidy Zachary
Oh yeah, for time, immoral, Right. So In June of 1910, the New York Times declared, quote, the Hobble is the latest freak in women's fashion in a lengthy full page article. And by the way, journalists love to use the word freak and freakish in reference to women's dress specifically during this period. And interestingly, this article in particular credits the Hobble skirt's origins not to Poiret, but to the demands of women flying in airplanes. As the article tells us, the Hobble skirt was first christened the airplane skirt and quote, a skirt guarded around the ankles to hold it against the ankles when a woman went up in a balloon or airplane, which were both really novelties at this time and very new in terms of technology. Because if a woman really wanted to ride in an airplane at this time, she would have been outside, right in the air. So that garter was really necessary to prevent her skirts from blowing about.
April Callahan
Yes. So perhaps that is where Poiret got the idea for the style. But we also have to say that he was not alone because there were several other designers, including the House of Bischoff dad David, who showed narrowed skirts in their fall collections that same year. And according to prior, despite women's initial protests of not being able to walk, quote, everyone wore a tight skirt. But is this true? So that New York Times article that Cass mentioned does have photographs of women wearing the Hobble skirt, But it's always kind of hard to confirm who those women might have been because we know for sure for certain that a lot of Parisian designers would send their models out in public, especially to the racetracks, the horse races, to advertise their latest designs at this time. So could it have been the designers more daring clients that were being photographed? Maybe. Could it been professional models? And were these photographs staged? That's also, you know, could be too. But there probably were fashion forward women across the social strata who, who sought out to imitate the latest fashions, no matter how extreme they may have been.
Cassidy Zachary
And this article describes at least one of these women who's trying to cross Fifth Avenue in New York City. And they write, quote, no matter how composed she is at other times she gets panic stricken, she can't hop fast enough to get out of the way of vehicles. Her skirt won't let her walk, she hasn't a parachute, she can't fly. Therefore, the only way to save her neck as the undignified but nice old fashioned ordinary method of pulling up her skirt until she is untrammeled, after which she runs to safety. And as the New York Times laments, quote, the amazing part of it is that women do not seem to care whether they can walk or not as long as they have one of these skirts. And. Right. This should be familiar to all of us, right? This is the in the name of fashion argument. It's okay if it's painful, it doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense. We do it because it's fashion.
April Callahan
Yes. And this same article concludes, quote, the student who works out the relation between clothes and a woman's habits and character has a pretty problem before him. In this summer of 1910, all the women who wear aviation skirts don't own flying machines. Therefore, what will be the result if they persist in adopting aeroplane garments? Will they cease to walk and learn to fly? Will they become a bird woman or a plaza drone? Will they give up outdoor exercise and take tinnity? Or is it too much to ask that they will be sensible and drop the fashion? End quote. Could this journalist be any more dramatic? But I just want to add in something here and let you know that this was a very real thing. And I think in the past, Cass, we have very briefly mentioned hobble garters. So hobble garters were worn with these particular skirts. And they were essentially like, think of if you had, let's say, a set of handcuffs that were elastic, that were made from elastic. So it. They were the. They would wear them around their calves to prevent themselves from taking too big of a step to. So they didn't rip their skirts. So in addition to the skirts themselves, there were actually hobbling undergarments that they wore.
Cassidy Zachary
What wouldn't you do for fashion? Right? And you. If this is the fashionable silhouette, how do you achieve it? Right? There's all these different ways to do it, which is just fascinating. The author asked, will women be sensible and drop the fashion? The author got his or her wish because the hobble skirt really was more or less gone by the beginning of 1911. Poiret and Bischoff, David, both offering their clients by that time a much more practical but no more less controversial alternative. And that was the jupe culotte, or pants skirt. The irony here, of course, being that society journalists, et cetera, were equally, if not more, horrified by the idea of women in pants. So all of these claims to want liberation and mobility for women was a facade.
April Callahan
And this is just taking us right back to what we're talking about at the top of the episode. While it's really easy for people to dismiss fashion fads as freakish or frivolous, there are clearly much deeper meanings embedded into these controversies and people's reactions to them. You know, just look at how much time people are devoting to discussing what women are putting on their bodies in these newspapers. You know, this was a full page article in the New York Times, and one US Senator even went so far as to introduce legislation that would ban both hobble skirts and jupe culottes from women's wardrobes. So make no mistake, this kind of ridicule is all about policing. It's all about control. And the underbelly of the commentary is a fear of what will happen if women are allowed unbridled expression in the way that they dress. What are the broader implications of just giving women agency to do as they please?
Cassidy Zachary
So this is something obviously we very much are still struggling with to this very day. I mean, as people continue to to push the boundaries of societally dictated dress code, all those codes are so often embedded with gender, racial and classist meanings. It's super, super interesting and okay, April, dress listeners, we have to go to a brief sponsor break, but before we do, should we revive the hobble skirt to live another day or leave it to the history books? What do you think, April?
April Callahan
I'm gonna leave it.
Cassidy Zachary
I'm gonna leave it to you.
April Callahan
No, thank you.
Cassidy Zachary
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Cassidy Zachary
For our next and final fashion fad, we are moving into the 1920s, a period which saw people enjoying many wonderful whimsical dresses dressed expressions. I for one am a particular fan of metal wigs April, which had to have been enjoyed with some popularity because many of them do survive, but I could not find too much about them in historical records. So we're moving on to another much more well documented short lived fashion fad of the 1920s, particularly of the year 1925. Painted knees, if you please.
April Callahan
That is because in the 1920s women were arguably showing more skin than they had ever had in history before. And we're speaking specifically here of your American fashion because they were having these ever shortening hemlines throughout that decade, revealing more and more of the leg than ever before. And this period is when women are quite literally getting arrested and fined also for the brevity of their swimwear. And women's dresses were not as short as these swimsuit styles, but they were no less shocking because you could see women's knees.
Cassidy Zachary
Yes you can. And some women got very creative with sharing this newly revealed body part, choosing to draw even more attention to it by painting it. Which is a fad that multiple articles I read credit to, starting with women in Chicago. And that includes this nationally syndicated article from August 1925 entitled Quote, Chicago Painted Knees Latest bad for girls decreed by beauty specialists. Painting pictures on such feminine knees as may be exposed by rolled stockings and perverse winds is advocated by beauty specialists. And the article goes on to say that hand painted pictures on the knees are intriguing. Some designs are simple, some are elaborate. Some girls prefer a flower or a group of blossoms. Others like a portrait or a little landscape.
April Callahan
This article provides really interesting insight into not just this new fad, but the rapid growth of the cosmetics industry in general. Because according to the article, women were buying rouge and hair dye in the U.S. to the tune of, quote, approximately $8 million a day to make themselves synthetically beautiful. Okay, that is, I'm assuming, Cass, in dollars of the day.
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, that's a direct quote, which is insane.
April Callahan
Adjusted for inflation, that would be something like $137 million per day. And this article also states that in 1924, almost 18 million boxes of rouge were used in the U.S. and these are staggering numbers. How realistic do we feel like they are?
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but the cosmetics boom of the 1920s was very much a real phenomenon, A reflection of the relaxing of once strict beauty codes following World War I. I mean, prior to that, right, Cosmetics were more or less associated with women of ill reputed, cute. But times were a changing by the 1920s and women were decorating their faces and their knees. And the designs I've seen are actually quite charming. They range from everything from butterflies and flowers to elaborate and endearing portraits of loved ones. Which is so fun. And I'm going to link in our show notes to this fabulous article on makeupmuseum.org because they share a lot of wonderful pictures and articles, one of which depicts a woman getting her Knees painted. And it says, with a distinct taste for the ordinary gold locket and a desire to carry with her a likeness of her fiance, this young woman hit upon a novel idea. And forthwith she put her idea to use and visited the studio of a portrait painter.
April Callahan
The makeup museum also shares an article featuring members of a high school basketball team in Baltimore who, quote, thought it might bring them good luck to have pictures of their sweethearts painted on their knees. But it didn't. The faculty nearly expelled them. So apparently this knee painting fad was really, really making the rounds. I kind of want to see photographs of this female basketball team. I want to see what their. Their uniforms look like.
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, I will absolutely share. But while many women clearly were having fun with this fad, they very quickly found themselves the subject of ridicule. Shocker. By that ever present fashion police, right? But rather than waste a breath on repeating the vitriol, I would prefer to quote from an article by columnist Cynthia Gray, who leapt to the women's defense, echoing something we have already mentioned thus far this episode. She says, quote, it's funny how seriously men take these freak styles and how ready they are to believe that women are morons.
April Callahan
She addresses the painted knees craze and how newsworthy it is, having apparently made the front page news of more than one New York newspaper writing, quote, and you know that an editor thinks an item has to be pretty important when he gives it such a play as that. Apparently, for women to paint their knees is as important as a revolution in China or a monkey trial. The implication is, of course, what fools we are. End quote. She does go on to say that despite women's fashion being sensible, quote, without sacrificing variety, beauty, or the eternal feminine, but men don't want to see it, and instead they, quote, will always be ready to pounce on an item like the one on the painted knee and broadcast it to the world. It will be a long time before we convince men that we are anything but the weaker minded. Sex. End quote. And this is, you know, just yet another example of men using fashion as proof of women's inferiority. And this is an argument at its oldest time. We've talked about it hundreds, if not at this, maybe point thousands of times on this show.
Cassidy Zachary
It feels like it at least, but.
April Callahan
This journalist saw immediately through it at the time in the 1920s.
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, and for every naysayer in fashion history, there is a fashion rebel defying their criticism right, to express themselves. And if people in the 1920s had a problem with knee and Calf length skirts. Just imagine what people had to say about the mini skirts of the 1960s. And this is of course, a period when skirts reached their shortest length in history and painted knees actually made a return. So exactly 40 years after painted knees made their first appearance. The Herald Tribune's Kay Pedrick was reporting in August 1965 that newsy knees are the latest things and she's asking readers quotes. If skirts have to be short and knees have to show, then why not make them interesting?
April Callahan
The knee art featured from the 1960s is quite fun and it included art for a Valentine's Day party with a bow and arrow, a 007 and a gun quote. Perfect for undercover knees. And also a cocktail plus an olive. So, Cass, one of my favorite parts of all of this is that people were actually having painted knee parties. And this article caused this painting knee fad, an arting jewelry fad, because it extended to not just getting one's knees painted, but you could also do your neck, your shoulders and your wrists. So, dress listeners, should the painted knee fad live on or should we leave it to the 1920s and the 1960s? What do you think, Cass?
Cassidy Zachary
I say bring it back.
April Callahan
I love it. I think it's great. And even if it's, you know, we were talking about this before we started recording and I was like, oh, basically it's essentially like tattoos now, right? It's quite common.
Cassidy Zachary
Contemporary tattoos.
April Callahan
Yeah.
Cassidy Zachary
When I go to invite numerous bachelorette parties or whatever, we get the little tattoos. I mean, it's really the same thing. And we know today if you on Instagram, I follow all of these makeup artists who do elaborate painted makeup. So it's really that arting jewelry is alive and well. You know, you have women. I can't remember the name of the artist. We love that artist who does the lips. She does super tiny, intricate lip art. Then there's another woman who does three dimensional art. You can't even tell her face is in there until she opens her eyes. So I think that is just a direct extension of this. So maybe it never went away, it just blossomed.
April Callahan
Yep, yep, yep, yep.
Cassidy Zachary
So that was a super fun trip into the fashion fads of fashion history. April, I think we could potentially make this a semi regular series, dress listeners, if you're interested, because there's so many more we could have covered today, including the ones from our own youths. April, I'm not going to lie. It's been very weird seeing all the 90s and early 2000s styles making a comeback and stores and all all the young people today, because, you know, it's a reminder of your age, but you're also just like, do I really want to see those platform weddings shoes revived from my 2002 high school portrait?
April Callahan
I mean, I am at FIT and it's late 90s, early 2000s, hard effect. Everything that everyone is wearing, wandering around school, being 18, 19 or 20 is exactly what I was wearing when I was 18, 19 and 20. Literal, straight out outfits.
Cassidy Zachary
People keep doing these reels where they go into Target and they're like, oh, all the Delia's catalog is back.
April Callahan
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was going to say the exact same thing and it's totally true. So, dress listeners, I think we mentioned this in passing, but we do have a connection that we made when we were in Paris last summer to the owner of Delia's. So if you guys would like us to do an episode on Delia's, let us know so we can cajole him into doing so and joining us. So.
Cassidy Zachary
So, yeah, I want you to do an episode on. Just so you know, I have so many questions, so many questions and such a specific part of my.
April Callahan
You. I don't think that he realizes how exciting and.
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah.
April Callahan
Sentimental and nostalgic Delia's was for us. He was like, it was just a teen fashion brand. And I'm like, no, you don't understand. We are very emotionally attached to dealing.
Cassidy Zachary
Is especially because the something the youth today would never understand is this mail order catalog idea. Because this is something you got in the mail and you couldn't just go on the Internet and look up the new Delia's collection. You had to wait for this catalog. It was very exciting.
April Callahan
Yes.
Cassidy Zachary
And then you'd have to beg your mother or whatever to buy it for.
April Callahan
You because it was through the mail. They didn't. When they first started, they didn't even have a website yet. That wasn't a thing. Like, it was. It was in the catalog. You put your little check in the envelope, soap, you sent it away, and then your package arrived several weeks later.
Cassidy Zachary
And I'm not gonna lie, I don't think my mother ever bought me one thing from Delia's. But I'll have to ask her.
April Callahan
It was at the time, if you were a teenager, it was a little. A little pricey.
Cassidy Zachary
Pricey, yeah, for sure. For sure. But yeah. So hopefully he will come on, because I think that'd be really, really fun.
April Callahan
I know. He's like, I don't think this is that interesting. I'm like, I think it's freaking fascinating.
Cassidy Zachary
Okay dress listeners, that does it for us this week. May you consider throwing your own painted knee party next time you get dressed.
April Callahan
Please head to restpodcast on Instagram or restpodcast without the underscore on Facebook to check out the visual content associated with each week's episodes.
Cassidy Zachary
And remember, we always love hearing from you, so if you'd like to write to us, you can do so@hellorusthistory.com DressedHistory.com is also our website where you can sign up for our monthly newsletter, our in person tours and online fashion history courses. And you can check out whatever else we have up our finely tailored sleeves.
April Callahan
We get so many questions from you all about our recommendations for fashion history books. So if you are interested you can always find a link in our show notes to our Bookshop Bookshelf. So that address is bookshop.org and there you can find over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles.
Cassidy Zachary
And do you love Dressed but want to skip the ads? You can now sign up for ad free listening with any tier on our Dressed History Patreon.
April Callahan
We are also excited to now be part of the Airwave Network and their premium ad free history subscription Airwave History plus available on Apple Podcasts. The subscription brings dressed and also 27 other popular history podcasts ad free for just $5.99 per month. More information on Patreon and Airwave is available at the link in our bio.
Cassidy Zachary
Thank you as always for tuning in and more Dressed coming your way very soon. The History of Fashion is a production of Dressed Media.
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April Callahan
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Cassidy Zachary
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Podcast: Dressed: The History of Fashion
Hosts: April Callahan & Cassidy Zachary
Date: September 26, 2025
In this lively and insightful episode, fashion historians April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary take listeners on a journey through some of the most peculiar, controversial, and unforgettable fashion fads from the 19th and 20th centuries. Framed by the perennial question of whether certain trends should "live on or be left to history," the hosts contextualize each fad within its social and cultural moment, draw modern parallels, and debate their merits and pitfalls—with humor and historical wisdom.
“You are walking down the street with that fur on your loafer, dragging in whatever disgustingness is on New York City sidewalks. And I’m just like, why are you doing this to yourself?” — April (02:07)
“No one has done this trend correctly, in my humble opinion, until John Galliano… That’s how you do it.” — Cassidy (02:52)
Chameleon Jewelry Fad (1890s):
“She had a jeweler fasten a little golden band around the creature’s body just behind the forelegs… attached to a pin which was stuck into the dress.” — April reading (07:08)
Beetle Jewelry’s Cultural Context:
Debate:
“Living jewelry as markers of cultural expression and heritage? None of our business… But living jewelry as American novelty items, that’s a big no from me.” — Cassidy (10:57)
Origins:
“I freed the bust, but I shackled the legs.” — Poiret, quoted by Cassidy (13:03)
Media Mockery and Social Concerns:
“No matter how composed she is at other times, she gets panic stricken, she can’t hop fast enough to get out of the way of vehicles. Her skirt won’t let her walk…” — April quoting (15:54)
Societal Reactions and Policing:
Debate:
“I’m gonna leave it.” — April (20:13)
1920s Fad:
“Some girls prefer a flower or a group of blossoms. Others like a portrait or a little landscape.” — Cassidy reading article (24:42)
Cosmetics Industry Context:
Pushback and Ridicule:
“It’s funny how seriously men take these freak styles and how ready they are to believe that women are morons.” — Cynthia Gray, quoted by Cassidy (27:47) “It will be a long time before we convince men that we are anything but the weaker minded sex.” — Cynthia Gray, quoted by April (28:55)
1960s Revival:
Debate:
“I say bring it back.” — Cassidy (30:26)
“Even if it’s… basically it’s essentially like tattoos now, right?” — April (30:32)
On Modern Fads:
“For me, ugly sneakers. And charmed Crocs. Crocs have been around for a while, but now it’s like Crocs’ moment, and I don’t understand.” — Cassidy (implied, opening conversation)
On Fads and Cultural Anxiety:
“The fact that they can cause so much uproar speaks to so many things beyond mere aesthetics… Responses to fashion fads say just as much about societal mores and values… as it does about the presumed frivolity of the wearers.” — Cassidy (04:54)
On Animal Fads:
“Should we let living jewelry live literally another day or leave it to history?” — April (10:32)
On Hobble Skirts and Gender Policing:
“Just look at how much time people are devoting to discussing what women are putting on their bodies in these newspapers… This kind of ridicule is all about policing, all about control.” — April (18:46)
On Painted Knees:
“If skirts have to be short and knees have to show, then why not make them interesting?” — Kay Pedrick, cited by Cassidy (29:40)
Call to Action:
Listeners are invited to share their thoughts on which fads should be revived and to suggest podcast topics (such as an episode dedicated to Delia’s). The hosts encourage visiting episode notes for visual content and fashion history book recommendations.
The episode is witty, thoughtful, and deeply researched. The hosts balance humorous asides with astute cultural analysis, making historical details relatable to modern listeners. Their camaraderie and enthusiasm for fashion history shine throughout the discussion.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the social forces behind what we wear, and whether yesterday’s “freak” fads might just be tomorrow’s must-haves.