A Sequin Dress As A Wedding Guest Felt Like Too Much, I Wasnt Sure Either
My brother texted me a photo of the dress three separate times before the wedding, no caption, just the photo again, like maybe I hadn’t understood it the first two…
Whether You Need A Slip Under A Dress Never Crossed My Mind Until A Sheer One
There was a woman standing in front of me at a coffee shop last week wearing a white cotton dress, arms up, reaching for the oat milk on the top…
Tracking Down Who Invented The Stiletto Heel Took Longer Than Expected
I used to tell people, with total confidence, that Roger Vivier invented the stiletto heel for Dior in 1954, full stop, end of argument, don’t even bring up Ferragamo. I…
Nobody Mentioned I Might Need A Slip Under My Wedding Dress
My mom’s friend, a woman who got married in 1986 and has never once let anyone forget it, told me at a bridal shower that “back in our day nobody…
Nobody Agrees On Who Invented The Mini Skirt
We were four texts deep in a group chat about a wedding guest dress code when it happened. Someone sent a photo of a 1965 look, some slip of a…
Whether Viking Women Wore Corsets Turned Into A Proper Rabbit Hole
My coworker who does the Renaissance Faire circuit every October and my sister in law, who once made me watch three hours of a Viking reenactment documentary on a flight…
Medieval Women And Corsets Get Mixed Up With A Completely Different Century
I’m standing in the checkout aisle of a costume shop in October, and the woman behind me is holding two things: a “medieval princess” dress with a laced-up, boned bodice…
High Heels Have A Genuinely Surprising Origin Story Nobody Mentions
Someone at a bar in Ballard told me high heels were invented so women’s butts would look better walking away. I stood there holding a beer I didn’t want anymore,…
Mini Skirts Defined The 70s According To Everyone Except Me, Apparently
“That’s just not true, the whole decade was mini skirts,” said a guy at a dinner party last month, with the specific confidence of someone who has watched exactly one…
The Corset Waist Training Claim Followed Me Into A Fitting Room Again
My aunt Denise brought this up over Thanksgiving stuffing, completely unprompted, the way she does with most opinions she’s held since 1987. Back in her day, she said, girls wore…