The Mechanical Smile: Modernism and the First Fashion Shows in France and America
In the early 20th century, the desire to see clothing in motion flourished on both sides of the Atlantic: models tangoed, slithered, swaggered, and undulated before customers in couture houses and department stores. The Mechanical Smile traces the history of the earliest fashion shows in France and the United States from their origins in the … Read more
‘Salvaging The Past: Georges Hoentschel and French Decorative Arts’
Georges Hoentschel (1855-1915) was a leading French interior designer in historic styles, head of a decorating firm, and ceramicist during the Belle Epoque. He found inspiration for his designs in Medieval and eighteenth-century French art, which he avidly collected amassing more than 4000 pieces of furniture, woodwork, metalwork, sculpture, paintings, and textiles. After visiting Hoentschel … Read more
Extract from ‘Shoe Obsession’ by Valerie Steele and Colleen Hill
This February, Yale University Press is publishing the lavishly illustrated Shoe Obsession by Valerie Steele and Colleen Hill. The book introduces more than 150 pairs of some of the most creative and inspiring shoe designs—with a particular focus on high-heeled shoes—over the past 12 years, from the likes of Manolo Blahnik, Pierre Hardy, Christian Louboutin and … Read more
‘The Progress of Love’. Extract from ‘Love and Africa’ essay by Kristina Van Dyke
The Progress of Love exhibition opened on December 2nd 2012 and runs until March 17th 2013 at the Menil Collection. To celebrate both the works in this show and Valentine’s Day, Yale University Press have posted a specially selected extract here and there is a selection of spreads from the exhibition catalogue available to view via our Facebook … Read more
Guest Article: Fashion Expert Eric Musgrave on ‘Ivy Style’
The ‘Ivy League Look’, or ‘Ivy Style‘ was once a cutting-edge look which for decades lead the evolution of menswear. From the rarefied walls of Harvard, Yale and Princeton the trend spread to not only establishment figures such as the Duke of Windsor, but also genre-busting revolutionaries like Miles Davis. ‘Ivy Style’ is a mode … Read more
