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While looking for the best examples of 1990s fashion in 1990s films I was surprised to find I ended up with most of my choices coming from the middle of the decade. I looked again but I just couldn’t find any from the beginning or end of the decade worthy of displacing my top ten choices:

10 - Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
There were a lot of contenders for 10th place but Four Weddings and a Funeral won out for its use of really big hats!

9 - Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)
After the angst of a high school reunion, Romy and Michelle redirect their lives and find a passion for fashion when they create their own line of clothing - unfortunately it’s marabou-trimmed metallic pastel baby doll dresses…

8 - Basic Instinct (1992)
Okay, so this film is better known for its lack of costuming - the point is only psychopaths don’t wear knickers!

7 - True Lies (1994)
The reason this film made the list is Jamie Lee Curtis’ self-directed makeover in a hotel hallway. With a few tugs and tears, she transforms herself from a mom in a ruffled dress into a ‘Palmerette’ in a sleek LBD.

6 - Tank Girl (1995)
The costumer of this sci-fi film (based upon a graphic novel) rather brilliantly created Mad Max styling using off-the-rack clothes from the local mall.

5 - Pretty Woman (1990)
Apart from Vivian’s ”You made a HUGE mistake” shopping scene, the thigh high boots worn by her at the beginning of this film inspired the shoe industry to infuse a bit of hooker chic into future collections.

4 - Unzipped (1995)
Isacc Mizrahi’s tribulations while creating his fall 1994 collection are shown in black and white in this film. Although this is a documentary, it is also highly entertaining.

3 - Party Girl (1995)
Parker Posey plays a directionless young woman who excels at partying and wearing fabulous clothes (even if she has to steal them.) The costuming in this comedy realistically captures the edgy New York trends of the day.

2 - Clueless (1995)
This updated version of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ captures a variety of leading trends of the mid 90s from retro chic to skater grunge.

1 - Prêt-à-Porter: Ready to Wear (1994)
This satire of the fashion industry by Robert Altman includes an impressive company of actors playing eccentric fashion editors, reporters, and designers who all interact with each other amidst the chaos of the spring 1994 prêt-à-porter fashion shows in Paris. Karl Lagerfeld blocked the release of this film in Germany because of a line in the movie uttered by Forest Whitaker’s character that accuses Lagerfeld of plagiarizing his designs! Way to go Karl - what a sense of humour you have!

Picking 80s films that feature great 80s fashions turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated. There was a definite increase in period flicks in the 1980s (fodder for another post on another day) and, like the 70s, many genres downplayed anything too fashion conscious, probably because it would date the movie and distract from the storyline. However, some genres had plenty of trendy styles to pick from. Here are my top ten picks for 80s fashion in 80s films:

10 - Earth Girls are Easy (1988)
Even though the California beach blond-styling was a little young for Gina Davis and a titch past its best before date when the film was finally released in the summer of 1989 (production had begun in 1986), the musical numbers spoofing makeovers and blonds by Julie Brown are worth the price of admission.

9 - Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
This film was great for showcasing Madonna’s girly-punk look and was one of the few films of the decade that included a character dressed in counter culture street-wear or club fashions.

8 - Slaves of New York (1989)
Stephen Sprouse designed the clothes for this film’s fashion show by ‘Wilfredo’. The avant-garde styles featured a green faux fur coat with a tail that wannabe milliner Bernadette Peters dragged around Manhattan throughout most of the film. For more green faux fur fun check out the over-the-top mall fashion show in True Stories (1986.)

7 - We have a tie! Xanadu and Can’t Stop the Music (both 1980)
These box office flop musicals came out within a few months of each other and were often shown together as a double feature. However, both captured some of the best trends of 1980; in Xanadu the finale has dancers dressed in everything from urban cowboy to New Wave and in Can’t Stop the Music there are numbers where the back-up dancers look more like Disco fashion models.

6 - Flashdance (1983)
Nobody was going to this movie until word got out about the great dancing scenes. Jennifer Beals and her dancing double inspired fans to wear leg warmers and leotards as fashion items and cut off the collar and sleeves of sweat shirts.

5 - Pretty in Pink (1986)
There were a lot of teen angst films to pick from (Risky Business (1983), Heathers (1989)…) but Pretty in Pink seemed the best choice for fashion because it’s about a girl with a talent for sewing, a unique sense of style, and a passion for vintage. Unfortunately, the pink dress (which inspired the movie’s title) was the ugliest frock ever made! Leading lady Molly Ringwald said in an interview years later that she kept all the clothes she wore in that film BUT the pink dress.

4 - The Secret of My Succe$s (1987)
Of all the films with high fashion content (Overboard (1987), Troop Beverly Hills (1989)…), there was just something about Aunt Vera’s outfits in The Secret of My Success that showcased the chicest designer clothing of the period.

3 - Working Girl (1988)
There were a lot of films about women in the workplace (Nine to Five (1980), Baby Boom (1987)…) but Working Girl captured the fashions better than anyone else. From big hair and power suits to a six thousand dollar dress that was ‘not even leather!’

2 - The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
You either love or hate this art film, but you can’t deny it’s stylish. The costuming was done by leading fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier; he would go on to costume other films, including 1997’s The Fifth Element.

1 - American Gigolo 1980
Film fashion usually focuses on women’s clothing but it’s hard to ignore American Gigolo for its stylish men’s attire. This film made Richard Gere and Giorgio Armani famous, and it defined men’s fashion for the balance of the decade.

When I watch films for period costuming I am usually interested in how the costumer recreates the past, however, a great way to learn about the past is by watching films set in the present. I thought I would start with 1970s films because there weren’t that many where fashion played an important role. There were a lot of science fiction films with imaginative costuming (Star Wars, Logan’s Run), but most 1970s films were about realism and fashion was just not a big part of slasher/horror and gritty cop flicks. However, I still managed to find ten films that I think best captured 1970s style:

10 - Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971)
You probably think I am crazy for suggesting this, but the highlight of this film is when Zira gets a makeover, exchanging her loden green wool and leather Courreges-look tunic for Adele Simpson-like pastel floral caftans - it’s a look…

9 - High Anxiety (1977)
This Mel Brooks Comedy is a send-up of Hitchcock movies and fashion branding. Madeleine Kahn plays the leading lady who is so fashion conscious that she wears Louis Vuitton from head to toe and even rides in a Vuitton insignia emblazoned Cadillac.

8 - Klute (1971)
Jane Fonda was a fashion muse in the 1960s, even appearing on the cover of Vogue. She plays a prostitute in this 1971 comeback film but a chic prostitute with a shag hairdo, maxi coats, and fringed shoulder bag!

7 - What’s Up Doc (1972)
Barbra Striesand shone in her sexy sweater tops and feminine-styled pant suits in this film. Madeleine Kahn also appears in this movie as the repressed Eunice Burns whose forced exit from a ballroom with heels dragging across the waxed floor is comic genius.

6 - The Stepford Wives (1975)
It’s hard to ignore the original version of this film because of when it was made - at the height of the women’s liberation movement. Some women may have burned their bras at the time but frilly aprons and picture hats were still in fashion too…

5 - Mahogany (1975)
Diana Ross plays the part of a struggling fashion designer determined to succeed. The most interesting tidbit about this film is that the clothes are of Diana Ross’ design (and not terribly successful.) Let’s face it; if Diana Ross had been born thirty years later she would have her own label right now alongside every other singer/actress.

4 - Foxy Brown (1974)
Black culture was no longer marginalized in the 1970s; Dashikis, hoop earrings, ebonics, and Pam Grier’s afro were fashionably fierce in 1974; So much so that Barbra Striesand gave an afro a try in a Star is Born two years later (but we all make mistakes.)

3 - Saturday Night Fever (1977)
You knew this film had to be here. There were other ‘Disco’ movies in the late 1970s (Car Wash, Thank God It’s Friday) but Saturday Night Fever best captured mainstream fashions for the poly crowd. One of the white suits (there were two) sold at auction years later for $145,000!

2 - Annie Hall (1977)
Diane Keaton’s man-drag look is a part of her signature style and Annie Hall is where she honed the look with oversized vests and loosely knotted ties. By the way, those clothes in the movie were from her personal wardrobe not the costumer’s rack.

1 - Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
You have to give kudos to this thriller because it is set in the fashion industry. Other than the Helmut Newton style photo shoots, if you want to see quintessential late 70s high fashion this is the best film to see.

Think I missed something? Let me know and leave a comment!

I ran across another interesting snippet from my files… These are instructions for making a tie-dye robe. At first glance you think this was intended for tripping through Golden Gate Park in 1967 but its not — the instructions for this robe come from the October 1923 issue of Ladies Home Journal!

While leafing through one of my vintage magazines, a brittle, chipped and torn clipping from a 1961 North Vancouver newspaper fell out. Considering I also started life in North Vancouver in 1961, the irony of finding this snippet in such horrendous condition was a tad disturbing!

The article was about high school seniors who had been gathered by their teacher to discuss the clothing of their coeds at school:

“… it was found that the girls were definitely in favour of gaudy socks, pullover sweaters, well polished shoes, tweed pants, rolled pants ‘Joe College style’, signet rings, and regular haircuts… the boys seal of approval went to long sweaters (sloppy Joes), plain or pleated skirts, raglan coats, saddle shoes (no running shoes), a little make-up, and medium nail polish. The girls objected to ancient running shoes, unpressed pants, and bitten nails… some things unfavourable to the boys were too-expensive tweed jackets, perfume, skirts that are too short, gaudy and/or chipped nail polish, and silk stockings and ‘high heels’ for school wear.”

I wonder what today’s teens would say…

There used to be a Canadian television program in the 1970s called This is the Law. The show was a series of skits and each skit would end when one of the characters was arrested for breaking the law; the panelists then had to guess what law had been broken. Invariably, the law in question was some obscure regional edict that was almost impossible to detect - such as shorts not being allowed on Sunday in some Podunk town.

Sagging trousers, 2007

Laws governing how one dresses date back to ancient Egyptian times when certain styles and colours were privileges of social position. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, sumptuary laws were enacted that limited types of decoration and materials as well as how much you could spend on your clothes according to your social class and annual income. Since the 19^th century, clothing laws have been enacted to preserve what is perceived as public decency but many of the laws have had the purpose of keeping women out of trousers, men out of skirts, and everyone dressed like God-fearing Christians. Laws that dictate clothing styles are still being enacted (yes there is such a thing as the fashion police.)

In 2007, some Louisiana towns banned the hip-hop fashion for sagging trousers, a style that originated with rap stars in the early 1990s. Inspired by the oversized outfits issued in prison without belts to prevent suicides, trousers were worn at the top of the buttocks exposing brightly patterned boxer shorts. The Louisiana laws fine wearers as much as $500 for failing to wear a belt. Already on the decline, the style was reinvigorated when it became illegal.

Hajib

Then there is hajib - an outfit that usually consists of a scarf that is drawn around the neck and worn with a long loose dress or modest contemporary clothing such as long sleeved blouses and trousers. This common version of Islamic dress is worn as an expression of modesty, required of women of the Islamic faith and is about as eye catching as a Mennonite girl in a gauze cap or Hasidic rabbi with curls. The scarf and clothing does not inhibit movement or create a safety problem and most women who wear hajib say they are approached with more respect, although they often receive comments from those that see the style as oppressive. Perhaps it is seen as oppressive because hajib was slowly falling from use throughout the 20^th century but was revived at the same time Islamic fundamentalism was growing in the 1980s. In France, which has a large Islamic population due to its historical ties to North Africa, the head scarf, worn as part of hajib, has been outlawed for wear in schools and government offices since 2004 under the excuse that France is a secular country. I thought the point of separating church and state was to protect the church, regardless of the faith, from government influence, and visa versa… apparently I was wrong.

Niqab

Although I don’t understand why there is a law banning hajib, I wonder why any woman would wear the the most extreme version - niqab. This is a veil that covers the entire body but for the eyes and hands. A couple of weeks ago I was having my taxes done when I noticed one of the accountants was a woman in a niqab. The full veil is a strong statement that says the wearer is inaccessible, even antisocial. I didn’t know what the protocol of interaction would be if I got her as my accountant; I would have to talk to her about my taxes but I doubt the offer of a handshake, a standard protocol for business, would have been accepted. Fortunately, we were shown to the accountant at the neighbouring cubicle. The premise for wearing a niqab for modesty doesn’t make sense here in the West because the outfits look so peculiar that they bring undue attention to the wearer.

Ironically the reason for banning sagging trousers was immodesty, the same reason Western dress is banned throughout much of the Middle East, or fully covered by ground sweeping robes in public. Western fashion may not be at its most modest right now but don’t forget that only a 100 years ago a woman didn’t show her ankle in public, and only forty-five years ago there were outcries of public indecency regarding the adoption of mini skirts. Less than twenty years ago I was asked to leave the non-air-conditioned Old Mill restaurant on a hot and humid August night in Toronto because I removed my tie after dancing the Jive. I didn’t break a law, just a house rule, but considering the circumstances I thought their rule was pretty stupid…

Update: In Britain there is also a law that bans sagging trousers as well as hoodies worn up! However a recent judge overturned the rule in his court as a violation of human rights - read about it HERE

Who first coloured their hair purple - English punks or Mrs. Slocum?

Neither…

During the early 1960’s there was a brief courting with pastel coloured “fun” wigs to match party dresses, including mauve and lavendar shades, but a hundred years earlier coloured hair was toyed with as well - as the American Fashion Journal “Godey’s” records in 1863:

“The revival of hair powder has not been a success, though to some faces the white powder is decidedly becoming. But rest content there, dear ladies, and do not venture on the violet, blue or green powders you see in coiffeurs windows. This, however, may be a useless precaution, for we think few of our belles would willingly appear with purple or blue heads.”

Twenty years ago a woman by the name of Loi Hathaway called me up at the Bata Shoe Museum. She wanted to make sketches of shoes for some watercolour paintings. Although the museum was not yet open to the public I let her into the storage facility every friday afternoon for several months until she had built up enough of a portfolio of sketches to create her shoe watercolour paintings. She was always kind and gracious and after she moved onto other projects she stayed in touch, inviting me to lunch on occasion or to speak at the Arts and Letters club. The last time I saw her she presented me with a dress a friend had given her in the early 1960s.

The dress was labelled Christian Dior and although there had been alterations to the dress it was in excellent condition. The woman who gave Loi the dress had worked as the hostess of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto in the late 1950s. Her job was not what you may think it sounds like — today it would be called visitor services. She had worn the dress for social functions, welcoming guests to the hotel and the city of Toronto.

While looking through an October 1958 issue of L’Officiel magazine I found a Dior dress in the exact same fabric proving it was from the fall 1958 collection. Christian Dior had died in October 1957 leaving Yves St. Laurent to complete the spring 1958 collection, famed for its ‘Trapeze’ line. This collection is often said to be Yves St. Laurent’s first solo collection but it was still under the influence of Dior’s intention for the 1958 spring line. The autumn 1958 collection however was entirely of Yves St. Laurent’s design. The collection was known for its high bust, a style that was being done by Pierre Cardin and Guy Laroche as well but Yves St. Laurent had also dropped the hemline by four inches. He called it the ‘Arc’ collection, after its gentle Gothic arch shape silhouette. His collection received a lot of publicity but not popularity and by spring 1959 the hemline was on its way back up and the bust line was on its way back down.

As I mentioned earlier, this dress showed some alterations in an attempt to remove the ’Arc’ silhouette. The high waist had been lowered, the fullness of the skirt decreased and hemline raised, plus the belt was shortened to sit at the waist rather than across the rib cage. I showed the dress to Bret Fowler, a friend of mine who had worked at the museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York for years and has already done a number of superb conservation jobs for me which I will showcase in future postings. He understood what had happened to the dress and how it had been altered. The good news was that nothing had been cut or irreversibly damaged in the alteration. He lowered the hem, raised the waist, returned the belt to its original size and restructed the lining, which had suffered the most changes, so that the dress would sit correctly on the body. The result is a fabulous and typical example of Yves St. Laurent autumn 1958 Arc collection for Christian Dior.

I hadn’t heard from Loi in years and thought I would reconnect to show her how the dress had turned out but when I started searching for her number I discovered she had passed away in 2005, I can’t believe that many years had passed since we last saw each other. In memory of a wonderful gift from a supportive friend, thank-you Loi - the dress will always find a good home at the Fashion History Museum collection.

My bookmarks are overflowing with interesting links to fashion, both historical and contemporary, and I thought I would share some today:

Let’s start with a video about the_future_of_shopping that was just sent to me yesterday.

Need to identify costume jewelry marks? Or do you need a jewel identification? If you need to find out how to identify the differences between lucite, bakelite, and celluloid, try the plasticfantastic website.

If you haven’t heard of The Sartorialist then you are even more out of touch than I am! This site started up 5 years ago as a blog that photographed fashionable New Yorkers on the street. It is now a well-followed site and a valuable document of contemporary style.

Dyeing to be Fashionable or how 'poison green' got its name

If something more historical appeals to you, how about a site that shows you stewardess uniforms from throughout time, or a site about the rise and fall of the American mall (hey, that rhymes!)

I am sure you have found the Vintage Fashion Guild by now, but make sure you check out the Label identification page, and of course the many and varied helpful and interesting features and articles from fur identification to the history of colour (but I am partial to that one because I wrote it…) In case you can’t find that article, here it is here:

Remember the 90s when everyone wore black until a darker shade came along? Colour may be a tool of fashion but in the past it could represent far more.

The first colour that carried fashion weight was purpura; (Latin for purple) was made from the putrefied crushed shells of Murex, a mollusk, and was more expensive than any colour ever procured in fashion history.  Emperor Aurelian refused to let his wife buy a purpura-dyed silk garment in 273 CE because the cost was literally its weight in gold. Seven hundred years previous to this domestic dispute, purple robes had been accessioned into the royal treasury of Persia. Alexander the Great discovered this multi-million dollar vintage hoard nearly two hundred years after their being stowed away.
Fashion however, has always been an art of invention, interpretation, and imitation. By 300 CE a mixture of red and blue dyes made a new, more affordable purple, which was a good thing since the Murex had been harvested to near extinction. Knock-offs however, have always plagued fashion and the late 4^th century Emperor Theodosium of Byzantium issued a decree forbidding the use of purple except by the Imperial family. Death was the result of breaking the edict.

Red was the next rage to affect fashion. In Europe the madder plant’s roots produced a ruby red but as early as 1321 Brazilwood, found in the East Indies, was being used to produce a brighter red colour. In fact it was the discovery of the red dye bearing Brazilwood trees found in South America that gave the present country its name. In Central America it was cochineal, a dye derived from an insect’s body that produced a brilliant red. After the Aztecs conquered the Mayans in the 15^th century eleven Mayan cities paid yearly tributes to Montezuma with, among other items, bags of cochineal dye. Around the same time, in 1464, Pope Paul II introduced ‘Cardinals’ Purple’ which was really a crimson red derived from the kermes insect, a distant cousin of the cochineal.

The conquistadors found cochineal in Mexico and, quickly realizing its potential as a cheap substitute to kermes, began exporting it to Spain in 1519. The intensity and clarity of the red was improved a hundred years later with the addition of tin in the dye bath. This red became the standard colour of foxhunter’s coats, known as hunting pinks, even though the colour was scarlet red. The British army also adopted cochineal dyed wool tunics after which they became famously known for as ‘red coats’.

However, it was the Industrial Revolution during the 19^th century that gave us the riot of colour we can now choose from, if fashion designers let us.

While looking for a cure for malaria in the 1850s, English chemist William Henry Perkin discovered aniline dyes, a byproduct created from distilling tar left from coal that was ‘cooked’ to produce gas for commercial use. The first aniline dye produced in 1856 was mauve. Although the earliest mauves faded easily in sunlight, a new colour industry was born and magenta, fuchsia, violet, as well as a plethora of blue and green colours quickly followed.

The only bright green that had been available until the 1860s was achieved through the use of arsenic. Needless to say this colour became dubbed ‘poison green’ but by the 1870s new aniline greens had replaced arsenic. In the late 19^th century intense yellows and blues were known as ‘electric yellow’ and ‘electric blue’ after the brightness of the colours that emanated at an electric bulb’s intensity. Aniline dyes produced a variety of shades of every colour imaginable by the 20^th century but anilines didn’t meet with everyone’s approval.

In 1900, the Shah of Persia, Mozaffer ed Din, prohibited the use of aniline dyes for carpets. Unlike Emperor Theodosium however, death was not the penalty. Instead, any rugs made with aniline dyes were seized and publicly burned, and fines equaling double the value of the merchandise were levied, potentially ruining the carpet merchant’s reputation and bank account.

In the 20^th century fashion designers took to instilling taste with every seasonal collection. The French have long had a passion for naming colours and making them fashionable one season and unfashionable the next. One season it might be vert de l’eau, shell pink, and putty, followed by navy, lime and charcoal the following season. This was one way to ensure that fashionistas continued to shop rather than rely on last season’s clothes. Some colours became associated with designers. Chanel promoted the little black dress in the 1920s; Schiaparelli single-handedly launched shocking pink in the late 1930s; black and brown were a combination mastered by Balenciaga in the 1950s, and nobody could mix every hue on the colour wheel into one pattern like Emilio Pucci did in the 1960s.

So whether it’s a riot of jewel tones or a neutral beige palette that is in style, just wait a season or two and an array of pastels or a return to black will surely follow. Besides, you can wear what you like – fashion mavens may disapprove but Theodosium won’t sentence you to death if you don’t comply.

Congratulations to all who sent in their answers to the fashion designer quiz. All questions were answered correctly but not by one person! There was a three-way tie for first place with a score of 10 out of 12 by VIntage Visage, Linn Alber, and Mary-Jane Enros but the first person to submit their answers was Mary-Jane Enros of Poppysvintageclothing - CONGRATULATIONS!

1 - This designer survived the sinking of the Titanic

Lady Duff Gordon, who worked under the name Lucile, opened her dressmaking firm in London in 1891 but only became well known after she married Sir Cosmos Duff Gordon in 1900. In 1909 a branch of Lucile was opened in New York and another branch opened in Paris in 1911 - she was on her way from Paris to New York when she boarded the Titanic in April 1912. The lifeboat she and her husband were in had left the Titanic nearly empty and did not go back for survivors, leaving the Duff-Gordons open to speculation of paying off the boatmen. Her reputation never fully recovered and by 1918 her romantic dress styles were less appealing to modern woman and her London business closed. The New York and Paris shops closed with the onset of the Depression in about 1930. Lady Gordon died in 1935.

2 - This designer’s first job was designing skiwear for White Stag in 1948

Emilio Pucci was a leading figure in Italian fashion of the 1950s and 1960s, but his designing career began when he was commissioned by the American company White Stag to design skiwear after Pucci was photographed for Harper’s Bazaar in 1948, wearing a ski suit of his own design. In 1950 he opened his own couture house in Florence and gained a reputation for colourful casual clothing. By the mid 1960s his clothing was seen everywhere including as stewardess uniforms for Braniff airlines. At the height of his fame as a designer he served as a Member of Parliament for Florence between 1964 and 1973.

3 - This designer was known for wearing dark glasses decades before Karl Lagerfeld or Anna Wintour

Admittedly this was a bit of a trick question, because I didn’t specify it was a FASHION designer… Edith Head, the costume designer, wore dark blue lensed glasses as a way to see how costumes would look in a black and white film. The glasses became her trademark and although she was rarely photographed with out her blue glasses, she commonly wore clear glasses when out of public view.

4 - This shoe designer trained for the Italian track and field team for the 1960 Olympics

Most people probably don’t know his name but they will know his shoes… Armando Pollini was an athlete before he settled down to shoe design. His most famous was a clog mule with a leather strap that sold millions of pairs in the late 1970s under the brand name of Candies.

5 - This designer redesigned the Girl Scout uniform in 1948

Born Main Rousseau Bocher, he served in WWI and stayed on in Europe after the war, eventually becoming the fashion editor for French Vogue. He founded his own atelier in Paris in 1930 and quickly became a very successful couturier as well as the first American admitted to the couture syndicate. He fled Paris in 1940 and went to New York where he was quickly embraced as a prodigal American designer. In 1948 he was commissioned to redesign the Girl Scout uniform. Before opening his atelier in Paris, his name was properly prounounced as Main ‘Bocker’ or ‘Bosher’. However in Paris he took on the French pronunciation of his name - ‘Mahnboshay’.

6 - This designer survived the explosion of the Hindenburg

Philip Mangone was the son of an immigrant Italian tailor. He learned his craft from his father before working at numerous different firms eventually opening his own business in 1916. He became famous for his tailored wool coats and suits that were often made of European wools. After one of his European fabric buying trips in 1937 he headed home, with a severe cold, aboard the Zeppelin Hindenburg.  He was badly burned in the crash and spent most of the next year recovering in hospital. Upon his release the first thing he did was to board a flight to Chicago to prove to himself he wasn’t afraid to fly.

7 - This designer was engaged to Grace Kelly before she married Prince Ranier of Monaco

Oleg Cassini was working in Hollywood as a costume designer when he met and married the actress Gene Tierney. However, the marriage suffered, especially after Gene’s daughter was born retarded - caused by Gene having been exposed to measles while pregnant. The story became the inspiration for Agatha Christie’s novel ‘And the Mirror Cracked’.  After the couple divorced in 1952 Oleg Cassini took up with Grace Kelly and had proposed to her on several occasions before finally being rebuffed for Prince Rainier of Monaco.

8 - This shoe designer’s ancestor is Sun Yat Sen, the first president of the Republic of China in 1912

Beatrix Ong is fairly new on the scene of shoe design. She worked at Jimmy Choo under Tamara Mellon before striking out on her own. Beatrix can trace her ancestry back to a great uncle who was Sun Yat Sen.

9 - This designer survived the atomic blast at Hiroshima

As a seven year old, Issey Miyake lived on the outskirts of Hiroshima. To this day he says he can remember the bright light and black cloud and the desperation of the people running about after the explosion. The only good to have come from it for him was a passion to create rather than destroy.

10 - This designer consulted a psychic before opening his Parisian atelier to make sure the timing was right

Isaac Mizrahi, Paul Poiret, Coco Chanel - many designers used psychics, fortune tellers, mediums, and ouiji boards to foresee the future and their success. However, Christian Dior was probably the most avid follower of psychic visions. At a young age he was told he would become very important for women, and before agreeing to open his own atelier he sought the advice of a psychic to make sure the timing was right. In matters of business, the psychics were absolutely right in all the advice they gave Dior.

11 - This designer dated a German officer who had worked as a spy in Paris before World War II

During World War II, at the age of 56, Coco Chanel took up residence at the Paris Ritz hotel, along with Hans Gunther von Dinklage, a German officer 13 years her junior, who had been living in Paris since the 1930s, working as a spy.

12 - This designer changed her last name to be the same as the richest person in America

The story goes that Viennese born Henrietta Kanengeiser emigrated to the United States at the age of eleven and trained as a milliner. Before opening her first hat shop in 1909 she realized her last name would not pull in wealthy clients so Henriette or ‘Hattie’ called her shop ‘Carnegie - Ladies Hatter’, after the richest man in America at the time, Andrew Carnegie. By 1914 she was known simply as Hattie Carnegie.