A Very JSTOR Daily Costume Guide
Get inspired for Halloween with these hand-curated historical images from JSTOR's Open Community Collections!
When Paper Was Fashion’s Favorite Material
It's hip, it's happening, it's wow, it's now, it's gone: RIP the paper dress, 1966–1968.
The Zoot Suit Riots Were Race Riots
In 1943, white servicemen attacked young people of color for wearing the ultimate in street style—on the pretext that they were shirking wartime duty.
Could Our Love of Clothing Promote Sustainable Fashion?
There are some clothes you hang on to, year after year, because they're durable and amazing.
How to Dress for Dystopia
Some nineteenth-century novelists predicted horrible futures, with perfectly horrible clothing to match.
Why Black Women Activists Started Wearing Denim
Members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee adopted denim clothing for activist work. This had special significance for Black women.
How Hollywood Sold Glamour
The complicated notion of glamour in classic Hollywood, suggesting that stars were aloof and unknowable, was also a means to sell products.
World War I Austerity Couldn’t Stop the Fashion Show
To the designer Lucile, luxury consumerism was a virtue as wartime economies struggled.
How Body Positivity Coexists with Fat Shaming
Retail workers at a plus-size clothing store had to promote the contradictory messages that every body is beautiful and that being fat is bad.
Biomimicry Comes for the Noble Hedgehog
Inventors often use animals' adaptations to the environment in applications that benefit humans, from sharky swimsuits to hedgehog-inspired helmets.