How Do You Spell Pride?
McCall’s 5567 (1977) Set of full colour iron-on transfers. This Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march, in New York City, on the one-year anniversary of Stonewall. Despite being...
View ArticleFall 2020 Designer Pattern Highlights
Detail, Badgley Mischka Fall 2019 runway presentation. Model: Ajak Deng. Image: Vogue.com. The new Vogue patterns for fall 2020 play with drape and texture for dropping temperatures. Plus, for those...
View ArticleJennifer Connelly at 50
Jennifer Connelly as Princess Leia, McCall’s 7772 (1981) Jennifer Connelly turned 50 this weekend. Before she starred in films like Labyrinth (1986) and A Beautiful Mind (2001), Connelly was a child...
View ArticlePatterns in Vogue: Stella Tennant by Steven Meisel
Stella Tennant in “Spare Change,” Vogue, May 1996. Photo: Steven Meisel. Editor: Camilla Nickerson. Image: Vogue Archive. Stella Tennant turns 50 today. In a Bauhaus-inspired, mid-’90s editorial, the...
View ArticleLibération at 50
Yves Saint Laurent smoking and shorts, Spring 1971 haute couture (Libération). “Les nouvelles vamps,” L’Officiel no. 583 (March 1971). Photo: Dominique Laporte. Image: jalougallery.com. Yves Saint...
View ArticleSpring/Summer 2021 Designer Pattern Highlights
Detail, Rachel Comey Resort 2020. Image: Vogue Runway. As Vogue Patterns was settling in under its new, British ownership, two seasons have gone by without my usual pattern report. I’ve been busy with...
View ArticleOliviero Toscani at 80
McCall’s Carefree Fashion Catalog, Summer 1974. Photo: Oliviero Toscani. Happy 80th birthday to Oliviero Toscani! Before creating his famous Benetton campaigns, the Italian photographer shot this cover...
View ArticleDracula 125
Dracula’s brides (Dorothy Tree, Geraldine Dvorak, and Cornelia Thaw) in Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931) Image: tumblr. Happy World Dracula Day! Today is the 125th anniversary of Bram Stoker’s Dracula....
View ArticleFire and Blood: A House of the Dragon pattern
Targaryen view of McCall’s 8335. Image: Issuu. The Saturnalia begins today. Since ancient Rome was one of George R.R. Martin’s inspirations for Old Valyria, the Targaryen homeland, here’s a costume...
View ArticleNeo-Egyptomania
Neo-Egyptian cover of Needlecraft, June 1929. Illustration: Reginald P. Ward. Image: eBay. The tomb of Tutankhamun was rediscovered in November, 1922, making 2022 the centennial of all things King Tut....
View Article