Dressed Diaries: Harper’s Bazar’s “The Follies of Fashion,” August 30th, 1884

Dressed Diaries: Harper’s Bazar’s “The Follies of Fashion,” August 30th, 1884

Author: Dressed Media September 24, 2025 Duration: 50:17
This week, we investigate the historical fashion trends written about in an 1884 Harper’s Bazar article entitled “The Follies of Fashion.” Covering everything from Ancient Roman curling irons to Cleopatra’s donkey milk baths to “barbarous” steel corsets, we decipher fashion fact from fashion fiction. Primary Sources Box for rouge and patches, 1750-55 Jean de la Bruyère’s translation of The Characters of Theophrastus  Memoirs of Madame de la Tour de Pin Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia Secondary Sources: Sarah Bendall’s Shaping Femininity: Foundation Garments, the Body and Women in Early Modern England Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell’s Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Donkey Milk article in Beverages  Micaela Higgs’s “The Entirely False History of Tricking Men with Makeup” Kelly Olson’s “Fashion and Adornment,” in A Cultural History of Hair in Antiquity Valerie Steele’s The Corset: A Cultural History Caroline Weber’s Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠website⁠ and ⁠classes⁠ Our ⁠Instagram⁠ Our ⁠bookshelf⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all make choices about what to put on our bodies each morning, but how often do we consider the deep and surprising stories woven into those fabrics? Dressed: The History of Fashion pulls on those threads, unraveling the complex tapestry of clothing to reveal its profound connections to power, identity, and everyday life. This isn't just a chronicle of hemlines and haute couture; it's an investigation into how garments have shaped and been shaped by the world around us. Each episode digs into a specific topic, whether it's the political symbolism of a specific uniform, the technological innovation behind a common fabric, or the cultural ripple effect of a seemingly simple trend. You'll hear about the people-designers, wearers, rebels, and rulers-whose choices in attire left a lasting mark. Produced by Dressed Media, the podcast sits at a fascinating intersection of arts, history, and society, treating fashion as a vital and accessible lens for understanding human experience. The conversation goes beyond the surface, offering rich context and narrative depth that will change the way you look at your own closet and the clothed world moving past you on the street. Tune in for a thoughtfully researched and engagingly presented journey through the wardrobe of humanity.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Dressed: The History of Fashion
Podcast Episodes
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Today's we answer several listeners' requests for an episode on the American womenswear brand Lilli Ann. One of the great runaway success stories of American 20th century fashion, the backstory of the brand takes some tw…