Blog Posts by Subject: Fashion

Post-WWII London, by the mid-to-late 1960s, was reimagining, rebuilding and rearranging. Its economy was strong, and nearly 30% of its population was aged 15-34. With these factors in play, and with that undefinable "something" that brings creativity and zest to a location for however brief a time, London emerged as the style capital of the world, its youth culture arising from the heady influences of new music and street fashion.

In the film The Truth About Cats & Dogs there is a scene where Janeane Garafalo’s character Abby is at a cosmetics counter in a department store. Abby has been dragged there by her new friend and total opposite Noelle, played by Uma Thurman. The salesperson warns Abby of the dire condition her skin is in and how she can take action to counter her “huge pore” situation. Abby quips that it sounds more like the salesperson is planning to stage a military coup rather than advise her on her skin.

This blog channel is inspired by the current exhibition at the Library for the Performing Arts, The Great American Revue: How Florenz Ziegfeld, George White and their Rivals Remade Broadway, which is on view through July 27, 2012. The material on display is drawn from the collections of LPA’s Research Divisions.

A recent question at the reference desk was how to find more about the sculpture of the large button threaded with a needle that stands in the Garment District of New York City at 7th Avenue and 39th Street. This query reminded me of a previous blog post I had written on locating information on a specific painting. The process for looking for information on a sculpture or sculptor is similar, but I thought I would highlight some of the search strategies and resources for sculpture that are different from painting.

Wondering how you'll carry your keys and such while out and about in your fancy pants outfit on New Year's Eve? If so — and if you are a lover of DIY — then look no further than these two books: Helen Crosier's Crochet & Tatting and other Needlework Crafts (1953) and Elizabeth Laird Mathieson's Needlework Library (1949).

In Sex and the City: The Movie, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) ascends the iconic marble steps of The New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street wearing a stunning Vivienne Westwood wedding gown. Her bridesmaids Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) — all wearing vibrant designs by Zac Posen — are at Carrie's side as she enters the landmark building and prepares to exchange vows with Mr.

"When is the best time of year to buy a diamond?"

This question was recently posed to the ASK NYPL virtual reference service of The New York Public Library. First, if you're looking for a diamond whose size is a half carat or larger, make sure your jeweler offers you a grading report from one of the reputable diamond-grading labs below. To properly evaluate these reports, you must understand the four "C's" of diamonds: carat weight, cut, color and clarity.

Leave it to the queen of modeling, Tyra Banks, to get over 300 teens to show off their favorite poses in the middle of the Bartos Forum in the Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library. The room was filled with teens arching their backs in their fiercest high fashion poses. Smizing was a must! The group then went on to catalog posing where they had the wind in their hair and fake surprised faces that expressed their model-happiness with a chorus of, “Ahh!” One fan even felt so inclined to jump up there with Tyra and profess her love for the model turned reality star turned mogul turned young adult novelist. Yes, leave it to the amazing Tyra Banks to entrance all 

Every year in mid September the city is abuzz as the fashion industry’s elite swoop in from various locations across the globe donning their couture duds. This influx of fashion is enough to make even the most fashionable New Yorker on your block feel like an Ugly Betty for the entire span of New York Fashion Week.  The glitterati have previewed and reviewed the upcoming styles and partied till the break of dawn, and gone off to wait for the spring fashion events.

Lincoln Center is all abuzz as it ramps up for another Fashion Week. Fashion luminaries, hovering press reps, and harried show staff walk briskly across the Plaza towards the next scheduled event. The sense of anticipation is accompanied by the throbbing bass from the show tent, where models strut their stuff. For the in-crowd, the new look of tomorrow eclipses the desire to reflect on what has come before. But the scholars just next door in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts relish the past. While Lincoln Center has always been considered the locus of cultural history as-it-happens, it also harbors cultural artifacts of yesteryear stored nearby in the archives of LPA. 

Hey there summer campers!

We are working on a great new blog post that includes making your own mini loom! Until then, check out a blog post from last year, Graphic Ts! Enjoy!

Oxford University Press has launched its award-winning database, the Berg Fashion Library, and I'm so happy to have at my fingertips this comprehensive online resource that offers integrated text, image, and journal content on world dress and fashion. From the history of the corset to the beads of Mauritania, this database has it all, and I'm guessing that there are lots of you out there who will love the Berg Fashion Library too.  If you want to find out more, please come to the Library on April 5th because the launch party's happening at the Library and you're invited! 

On Tuesday, February 8th, Mulberry Street Library hosted a TeenLive event featuring celebrity designer LaQuan Smith.

With one of the coldest winters in recent memory upon us what better time to learn the art of knitting? I joined some of the ladies of the Ottendorfer Branch knitting circle on one blustery cold Saturday afternoon to chat.

The Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, long-considered one of the most indispensible resources for the history of dress, is now online—with a host of other content—through Berg Fashion Library, a resource available at all NYPL locations and from home or school with a library card number.

Want to meet some of today's emerging knitwear designers and learn about what they do?  Or, would you rather look back in time and browse old knit and crochet magazines and books from the Library's Collections to find vintage patterns?  Either way, you'll be in luck on December 18th, as  Maura Madden (author of Crafternoon) and I host a free day of both old and new needle arts fun. 

Are you into reality shows? Maybe not, but what about designing your own clothes or choosing unique pieces of clothing? Then this is a post for you!

In the recent weeks, staff of the Special Formats Processing unit have been hard at work arranging, re-housing, and cataloging a number of collections, consisting of original costume and scene designs, and caricatures from the Library for the Performing Arts Billy Rose Theater Division. You may have seen samples from these stunning, vibrant original works in past exhibitions at the Lincoln Center, but—not surprisingly—there is much more to be seen.

If you were one of the seventy lovely people who attended our last Handmade Crafternoon (in May—eegads, so long ago!), then you know already what a wonderful time it was.  Natalie Chanin encouraged us all to take up needle and thread and make sustainable fashions entirely by hand from the humblest scraps of soft cotton jersey.  She filled the afternoon with stories, practical advice, and enthusiasm, and Maura and I couldn't have imagined a better way to wind up our spring series.  And of course, there were plenty of books from the stacks to share too, and the day's selection represented a combination of Natalie's own favorite inspirations as well as a variety of