Nothing signals the death of a trend like an article in the NY Times Style section. Steampunk: "The subculture that is the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world..."
posted on May 8, 2008 - View this thread

Positive Exposure is a beautiful photographic portrayal (pdf)of people with genetic disorders. via
posted on Apr 25, 2008 - View this thread

Taaz is a fun, easy-to-use website that gives women the opportunity to “try on” the hottest makeup and hairstyle looks from the convenience of their homes. From creating the perfect smoky eye to painting on a dramatic ruby-red lip for a night out on the town, taaz.com allows women to become their very own makeup artist and create the perfect look for any occasion.
posted on Apr 4, 2008 - View this thread

The hippest of today's French youth can't get enough of Tecktonik--a dance (YT), cultural movement and apparent marketing ploy (in French), Tecktonic is a style of dance characterized by its lack of footwork and embrace of various ridiculous arm gestures. Coupled with a strong fashion sense (in French) involving copious amounts of neon, pseudo (or full-on) mullet haircuts and jeans that could be painted on, Tecktonik is a dance craze that, since its birth in 2000 at a Parisian nightclub, has only increased in popularity.
posted on Apr 1, 2008 - View this thread

What Claudia Wore A blog devoted to the outrageous outfits of Claudia Kishi from The Babysitters Club.
posted on Mar 30, 2008 - View this thread

Miss Bimbo invites users to become the "coolest, richest most famous bimbo in the whole world". Unsurprisingly, the site, which encourages girls as young as seven to give virtual dolls breast implants and put them on crash diets, has been widely condemned by parents and children's activists.
posted on Mar 25, 2008 - View this thread

When Lolcats meets Go Fug Yourself, hilarity ensues. From the highly entertaining Jezebel. Oh, hai Anna!
posted on Mar 18, 2008 - View this thread

The Sound Of Clothes features the precise sound of fashion materials such as feathers, sequins, glass crystals and beads, nylon, taffeta, leather, velvet, jacquard, zips and metallic chains, recorded in an anechoic chamber. Videos linked from the page might be NSFW.
posted on Mar 12, 2008 - View this thread

Corsets - a very comprehensive collection of information about foundation garments. The site is generously illustrated, so it may be NSFW.
posted on Mar 10, 2008 - View this thread

After indulging in the irrelevant excess of fashion week, something a bit more practical: the pursuit of the perfect tie knot.
posted on Feb 8, 2008 - View this thread

Was your invite to Fashion Week lost in the mail? Have no fear- you can watch video of some of your favorite designers and models at the official Mercedes Benz Fashion Week website. If you're more into schadenfreude than Sean John, check out the Zac Posen show to see Karen Elson take a tumble .
posted on Feb 8, 2008 - View this thread

Skinny is in for male models. Ever since Hedi Slimane joined Dior Homme, male models are becoming skinnier and skinnier. The reduction in male silhouette means that the male supermodels of the early naughts (such as Tyson Ballou and Tyson Beckford) have stopped heading to Europe for casting calls. With the Council of Fashion Designers of America releasing health guides for female models just last year, it seems that the fashion industry wants their men 6 feet tall and with a 28 inch waist. The good news? I finally will be able to find pants that fit me.
posted on Feb 7, 2008 - View this thread

"Of all the various types of optical objects known to exist, far and away the most magnificent and attractive are the optical fans." These sly spying devices, now rare collector curiosities, were once a more discreet and chic alternative for spying on your neighbors in fashionable gatherings than opera glasses, spyglasses, or jealousy glasses.
posted on Feb 6, 2008 - View this thread

Restyling of real military weapons into fashion items for ladies.
posted on Jan 12, 2008 - View this thread

Dee Dee bellbottom jeans. According to a friend who lived in Tokyo recently, Dee Dee is rumored to be one of the hottest independent brands this winter, among the ultra-hip Shibuya youth. Dee Dee's shop is just a few blocks from the notorious Shibuya 109 building, the homebase of all kogals. (prev)
posted on Jan 6, 2008 - View this thread

Aardvark Vanaheim presents: The Fabulous World of glamourpuss. Four years after publishing the 300th and final issue of his epic-length Cerebus, comic artist Dave Sim has announced that he is launching a new bi-monthly title debuting April, 2008. The topic? Fashion.
posted on Dec 27, 2007 - View this thread

After I posted this article, many people asked me who listens to that berserk music. Well, it's most popular with Japanese girls lumped under the general term "gyaru". It is not really a fashion movement per se, as it has fractured into scores of rapidly-evolving subgroups--usually hostile to each other, even though many appear the same to the uninitiated. In fact, the book Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno, published in 2007, is already said to be out of date. This website is a bit more current. What do "gyaru" look like? There are now quite a few slideshows of gyaru on the streets of Tokyo on YouTube. Examples: here, here, and here. And for those who need to buy these "fashions", the primary bibles are FRUiTS and Egg. There is something wrong with that country.......
posted on Dec 23, 2007 - View this thread

Puzzled about what to get the history buff, throwback or Luddite on your holiday shopping list? Explore the sutler's wares in the world of historic reproduction clothing! Strut your eighteenth-century style with Jas. Townsend & Son, or dress for the Lewis & Clark expedition with Smoke & Fire. USHist.com provides the finest in Mexican War and Cavalry/Indian War apparel, as well as fashion to end all wars in theWWI collection. Don't forget the ladies (and weak-minded gents) left at home - Blockade Runner offers fine Civil War civvies.
posted on Dec 11, 2007 - View this thread

Fighters and Lovers is a Copenhagen based group that "is greatly in debt to the stylish classic coolness of Palestinian fighter Leyla Khaled and the funky outrageous style of Colombian guerrilla commander Jacobo Arenas. Our work is inspired by the style and principles of these legendary fighters." Their t- have landed them in some hot water with the law. They donated proceeds from their shirts to FARC and the PLFP. After the Santa Claus incident, one wonders if Urban Outfitters would have sold these or if they're more into positive message t-shirt expression nowadays?
posted on Nov 30, 2007 - View this thread

Ellen Von Unwerth's Revenge, roughly 60 (out of 190) images from a louche, erotic book (Salon review), recalling the Golden Age of Hollywood and Betty Page.

Other works from the insanely comprehensive site include: Omahyra and Boyd, a glammy, androgynous romp through lite-fetish; and "Erin Fetherworth," a video starring Kristen Dunst.

Be aware that most of her work involves glossy nude photography.
posted on Nov 29, 2007 - View this thread

The Golden Age of Couture is an exhitibion at London's Victoria and Albert Museum exploring high fashion of the 1950s, inspired by designer Christian Dior's pioneering "New Look" styles. Beautiful things!
posted on Nov 29, 2007 - View this thread

Fashion ads from Ebony Magazine, 1970 - '76
posted on Nov 29, 2007 - View this thread

Meet The Crazy Robertson. The newest sensation at the center of Hollywood's fashion scene isn't a famous designer or starlet. It's a 56-year-old homeless man who spends his days dancing on roller skates. Check out his website, Myspace, and some of his sweet dance moves. There are some that find this not so cool.
posted on Nov 17, 2007 - View this thread

Handbags of Horror High-fashion handbags: They're expensive and ugly. So ugly, in fact, that they could only have been inspired by monsters from horror movies. Radar compares and contrasts.
posted on Oct 3, 2007 - View this thread

Ladies, please remove your hats. Irate parents wrote indignant letters to the principal. Make do and mend. Teddy boys (the first real manifestation of youth culture?): horsewhip all of 'em. You can take a maxi up but you can't let a mini down. Although midis did have some compensations.
posted on Oct 1, 2007 - View this thread

"I've hidden myself and covered myself for too long. Now I want to show myself fearlessly, even though I know my body arouses repugnance. I want to recover because I love life and the riches of the universe. I want to show young people how dangerous this illness is." French Comedienne Isabelle Caro, 27, an anorexic who weighs just 68 pounds, was displayed on Milan billboards (NSFW) for fashion designer Nolita as the city celebrated fashion week. The prevalence of eating disorders within the fashion industry have only recently been addressed officially, however Georgio Armani has complained that since Caro isn't a model herself it proves "even people who take no notice of fashion get anorexic."
posted on Sep 30, 2007 - View this thread

"While we live, let us LIVE." A History of Social Dance in America, complete with vintage cheat sheets, a look at the perils of crinoline and lots of other period detail. Naturally, there were those who objected to this scandalous practice. See also the Library of Congress' An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals 1490-1920, especially here and here. [via BibliOdyssey]
posted on Sep 25, 2007 - View this thread

Being Rachel Zoe (NYTimes) The life of a celebrity stylist.
posted on Sep 15, 2007 - View this thread

I think....that unicorn love is a beautiful thing, and that if you find a spicy sexy unicorn stud muffin and want to let him fill you with his magical glittering seed, that is just fantastic. Probably NSFW.
posted on Sep 12, 2007 - View this thread

The Theatre de la Mode exhibition featured scaled down haute couture designs from Paris's top designers on miniature mannequins, and was intended to help revive French fashion after WWII. If you're in the area, you can go see the exhibition where it ended up-- the Maryhill Museum, established by a rather unique guy named Sam Hill (who also built a full-scale poured-concrete replica of Stonehenge nearby) in a small town in south-central Washington state.Or you can just look at some flickr pictures (hey, look, it's "Metafilter's own" Harvey Girls!) Or get the viewmaster disk.
posted on Sep 11, 2007 - View this thread

From hair styles and hotpants to bellbottoms and boots, this site has amassed a massive fashion photo collection of groovy celebrities and swingin' stars from the '60s and '70s.
posted on Sep 9, 2007 - View this thread

The Near-Fame Experience: A fascinating interview with former contestants of Bravo reality television shows Project Runway and Top Chef, presenting the fickle nature of fame and how it can come at significant professional and personal cost, if at all.
posted on Aug 24, 2007 - View this thread

Fashion for the 21st century
posted on Aug 19, 2007 - View this thread

What do you give the chicken who has everything? Well, maybe this.
posted on Aug 13, 2007 - View this thread

"Couture [...] represents the fusion of fashion [...] and costume." The Metropolitan Museum of Art and its Costume Institute present designs by Charles Frederick Worth, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (see also), Paul Poiret, and other designers such as Lanvin, Vionnet, Schiaparelli, Givenchy, and Yves Saint Laurent.
posted on Aug 5, 2007 - View this thread

I'm tired of looking at attractive, fashionable people.. Behold: Ugly Outfits New York.
posted on Jul 23, 2007 - View this thread

Aren't bullet bras and girdles uncomfortable? Welcome to retro fashion; - What Katie Did by Casting Couch. From bullet bras to vintage skivvies and Girdles to Stilettos.
posted on Jun 27, 2007 - View this thread

Magazine fetish? Like flipping thru mags when you're bored? Tidningar lets you look thru a bunch of Swedish mags, page by page, ads and all. Neat if you're into design. (The link on the left under each mag is full screen--on the right is regular.)
posted on May 18, 2007 - View this thread

The crackdown on fashion in Iran is not limited to just women. You're under scrutiny as a man if you look "too western." Meanwhile, in the west, retailers are realizing there's a demographic they can market to even if it might be an affront to French fashion. If you're not a Muslim, what are your rights in an Islamic state?
posted on May 4, 2007 - View this thread

Sunday sillibiz: Snackimals, really fancy fashions for dogs, RubikCubism, hairstyle names from 1970s Ebony ad, burquas for men, fetish dollies [nsfw], Art Car Museum, the hideaway cosy, baby tiger cub sleeps and plays. [via]
posted on Feb 11, 2007 - View this thread

Modest, yet fashionable. It may be February, but you'd best get an early start finding the perfect modest swimwear. Onesies are probably best left the domain of christian harlots. A two-piece is right out. How about a four-piece? The fine folks at Haşema and Ahiida can hook you up with the hottest styles this season. After a refreshing swim, why not go for a jog?
posted on Feb 10, 2007 - View this thread

Aitor Throup is a fashion designer from Argentina. But I wish he drew graphic novels.
posted on Feb 5, 2007 - View this thread

The Rålamb Costume Book. Illustrations of Turkish officials, various important occupations and just plain folks, obtained by Claes Rålamb, Swedish ambassador to the Ottoman Court, in 1657. More about Rålamb and Sultan Mehmet IV.
posted on Feb 4, 2007 - View this thread

Do you have too much money? Does your small dog still have some dignity? Solve both problems at once. And of course you'll want to match.
If the evening gowns are a bit much, there are more casual options.
posted on Feb 2, 2007 - View this thread

Goth Life Now "They won't like me saying it, but their lifestyle, unlike the punk scene, is a middle-class sub culture.' But hasn't it always been this way?
posted on Jan 23, 2007 - View this thread

In loving mammary - celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the invention of the brassiere. (may be risque for work) [more]
posted on Jan 17, 2007 - View this thread

Fabric for Bachelors :: How to Shop for Work Clothes: A Primer for 'Bachelors' of Any Gender
posted on Jan 11, 2007 - View this thread

The Museum of Kitschy Stitches - A gallery of notorious knits.
posted on Dec 5, 2006 - View this thread

"Our dress, therefore, in order to serve its purpose effectually, should not only be expensive, but it should also make plain to all observers that the wearer is not engaged in any kind of productive labor." The Piracy Paradox: why weak IP laws drive the fashion industry. Headscarves on the catwalk in Jakarta; Almaty Fashion Week draws to a close.
posted on Nov 29, 2006 - View this thread

To be a Sapeur in Kinshasa is to treat every trash-strewn alley or muddy street as a fashion catwalk. Inspired by Congolese rumba star Papa Wemba* and his Société des Ambianceurs et Persons Élégants* (le Sape), urban peacocks cheerfully adopted "Religion Kitembo”, literally the worship of clothes. "The Pope of the Sapes" himself appears to have undergone a conversion since his recent legal troubles. Photo gallery by Héctor Mediavilla. *sound
posted on Nov 28, 2006 - View this thread