Understanding fashion. Help!

Poppy K

Hey it’s my first time posting! I am looking to get understanding fashion and it’s history. I love fashion on insta but when it comes to ACTUAL knowledge I have come to realise I know nothing.

I have started to put together a lot of content I want to start to consume in order to grow my understanding. Would love to have some additional advice and more recommendations.

Here is the list:

Books-
- Fashion Therapy: A Guide to Finding Your Personal Style
- The Desired Article: A Concise Look At Style

Documentaries-
- the first Monday in May
- 7 Days Out
- The September issue

Podcast-
- Dressed the history of fashion
- The BOF podcast
- Fashion: No filter

Influencer-
- Allison Bornstein on Tiktok

1 year ago

General

12 replies

Latest reply was from Carol

Roberta

Veteran

I have really enjoyed any documentary or film that shows the actual process of clothing design from start to finish. I would recommend Unzipped, which is about Isaac Mizrahi, the miniseries Halston, starring Ewan MacGregor, which is also a wonderful portrait of the times in New York, and Dior and I. Valentino: The Last Emperor was an incredible look into couture.

I'm a longtime reader of Tom and Lorenzo (blog), who follow and dissect fashion and pop culture. They are particularly interesting when they look at the style of a movie or television that focuses on a particular time or culture. One of the first articles I read by them was their weekly looks at the fashion on Mad Men, and what the costume designer was telling with color and style. They have done this for other costume designers as well, such as Ruth Carter. Here is a list of their favorite fashion documentaries: https://tomandlorenzo.com/2020.....to-stream/

The last thing I would suggest is to look for fashion exhibits. You'd be surprised how often they pop up at local history or university museums. Its incredible to get up close to the garments.

1 year ago

LJP

Veteran

I think if you want a true understanding of fashion , the business , and the history of it that you’ll need a deeper dive than these fairly recent resources . There are tons of gorgeous photography ( with editorial ) and design books about the fashion designers and couture houses that were the foundation of what we know as fashion today . Old archival issues of the fashion magazines of the 60’s and 70’s will give you insight into the designs and trends of today . Nothing is new , remember ?

1 year ago

LJP

Veteran

There is a new documentary - on Netflix I think - about the life of Karl Lagerfeld which should be interesting .

1 year ago

Poppy K

Active Member

Thank you so much! Love the idea of fashion exhibits too. Already started looking for ones in London also open to any recommendations

1 year ago

Roberta

Veteran

After watching the Met exhibits for several years, other museums have realized that fashion exhibits are a huge draw for the public that might not otherwise come into an art museum. I saw an Abloh exhibit at the MCA here in Chicago, the kimono exhibit at the Met in New York, a fantastic Todd Oldham exhibit at RISD in Providence, even a Ruth Carter exhibit in a relatively small Massachusetts town. And you would be amazed at the fashion shown at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. If I lived anywhere near London, I would be at the V and A every month!

And of course your public library is a wonderful source for catalogs from these exhibits.

1 year ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

The Dressed podcast that you listen to is a great source for fashion history. Your sources are all excellent but there is a difference between learning about personal style and learning about fashion history. (I like both too, nothing wrong with that!) There are tons of great resources on both - another great podcast on fashion history is Articles of Interest. One of my favorite books on personal style is The Triumph of Individual Style. I have found one thing leads to another when learning about new areas.

1 year ago

Runcarla

Veteran

Well, if you live in London, the V&A!

1 year ago

rachylou

Veteran

What comes to my mind is topics… Paris fashion dolls, the development of the loom, the pursuit of a blue dye, the ‘royal purple’, the first department store… there was a drama on PBS about London’s first one, fictional but still food for thought.

1 year ago

Poppy K

Active Member

So many great recommendations. Thank you everyone. I am going to go to the Fashion Tour (2023) at the V&A which starts on the 16th December which should be great too!

1 year ago

Bee

Active Member

Hi Poppy! I just saw your post in my “Fashion Through History” thread and figured if you enjoyed those images you might like the reading material I posted in the “Book Club” category under the title “Historical Fashion Books”. I’d repost them for you here but I seem to have misplaced the photos of the books.

1 year ago

Poppy K

Active Member

Thank you bee. Let me check it out

1 year ago

Carol

(website)

Veteran

oh, wow, thanks, following! that looks like that will be my reading list for the rest of the year.

I would add:
YouTube--Vogue magazine channel...a meandering array of content that sort of lets style seep into you.
YouTube--Busbee Style--this woman began her fashion career as a special guest on morning shows, the way they might invite a chef. So she is very grounded in body types, major style categories, etc.

Also, this is a little less direct, but...check out books with Roy deCarava's photos, an African-American NYC photographer in the 20th century. Everyone from the hippest young couples to the most stationary grandmas, all wearing sturdy clothes for school, work and life.

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1 year ago

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