In post-revolutionary Russia, as the country’s thinkers attempted to work out a new way of life for citizens of the Soviet Union, a small number of artists grappled with a different problem: the clothes of the future. Soviet clothing, they reasoned, should be “rational,” ...read more
We know the ancient Egyptians loved cats, but what about the Vikings? Recent genetic research has shown that these seafaring Nordic explorers brought domesticated cats on board their ships to kill rodents, helping the furry felines spread across the globe. But the Vikings also ...read more
The bi-level. The Kentucky waterfall. The Missouri compromise. Hockey hair. No matter what it’s called, there’s more to the mullet than just light beer, Camaros and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The short-long hair style, popularized in the 1980s, has a surprisingly proud history and has been ...read more
For centuries black communities around the world have created hairstyles that are uniquely their own. These hairstyles span all the way back to the ancient world and continue to weave their way through the social, political and cultural conversations surrounding black identity ...read more
What would Halloween be without store-bought costumes that reflect the year’s hottest movies and TV shows? For nearly a century, kids have been able to purchase Halloween costumes in stores. But that wasn’t always a given—and we have a bold impresario to thank for the tradition. ...read more
Aviatrix. Pioneer. Record breaker. Fashion entrepreneur? Amelia Earhart’s accomplishments above the clouds made her a worldwide icon, but she was also a savvy businesswoman. In the 30s, Earhart became one of the first celebrities to create her own fashion line. Today, women ...read more
Fashion has always played a role in politics. Monarchs and heads of state have used clothing to cultivate an image, and in some cases their styles became so iconic that they filtered into the mainstream. From Julius Caesar to Nelson Mandela, check out 10 of history’s most ...read more
Ruth Handler and her husband Elliot, founded the toy company Mattel, Inc in 1945. Fourteen years later, Ruth would introduce Barbie Millicent Roberts, better known as “Barbie” to the world. Inspired by watching her daughter play with make-believe paper dolls of ...read more
On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed “bikini,” inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that ...read more
Spree killer Andrew Cunanan murders world-renowned Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace on the steps outside his Miami mansion. Versace is shot twice in the head, and Cunanan flees the scene. Cunanan had no criminal record before the spring of 1997, when he began a killing ...read more
On this day in 1873, San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and Reno, Nevada, tailor Jacob Davis are given a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets, marking the birth of one of the world’s most famous garments: blue jeans. In San Francisco, Strauss established a ...read more
Ralph Lauren, the designer and purveyor of a line of popular clothes that sought to capture the “spirit of the West,” is born on this day in 1939, in New York. The quintessential self-made man, Lauren was instrumental in creating a new national clothing style during the mid-1970s ...read more
The body of William Reese, 45, a cemetery caretaker, is found in rural Pennsville, New Jersey, on May 9, 1997. He had been shot in the head with a Golden Saber .38-caliber bullet. Police soon determined that the killer was Andrew Cunanan, a 27-year-old man already wanted for ...read more
