FASHION HISTORY

At Fashion-Era.com we analyse two centuries of women's costume history and fashion history silhouettes in detail. Regency, Romantic, Victorian, Edwardian, Flapper,1940's Utility Rationing, Dior's New Look, 1960's Mini dress, 1970's Disco, 1980's New Romantics, Power Dressing, Haute Couture, Royal Robes, Fashion Semiotics, and Body Adornment, each retro fashion era, and future fashion trends are all defined.
We've also outlined the history of Jewellery, Perfumes, Cosmetics, Corsetry and Underwear manipulation of the body silhouette. Fashion history is a rich area to explore. The effects of past and present technology, changes in work, leisure, media and homelife that affect lifestyle trends, attitudes, fashion trends and shopping trendsetters are all covered in the various eras. Newer sections such as hats, hair, cloaks and capes, ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman fashion history continue to explore and make this a great web fashion history and costume history resource. Some sections also include consumer tests for example on clip in hair extensions plus tips on how to buy and sell vintage, pattern drafting and Christmas themes. There is also a Fashion Forum over 4 years old called Fashion-era Forum. There you can discuss anything from current fashion trends, old photographs, vintage to costume history or from Greeks to the 21st century.

Fashion History
Like history, fashion repeats itself. Bell bottoms of the 60?s and 70?s gave way to the close cut legs of the 80?s which in turn begot the flares in the 90?s. The circle completed.
What were women wearing in the 1920’s? Who was Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn? What is a flapper? These topics are all covered in my new Fashion Museum section. Find everything you might need with accompanying photos for your projects or storyboards.

About the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History
The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History is a non-profit 501(c) 3 history museum that was established in 1999. The inspiration for the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History of Delray Beach was the phenomenally successful popular culture & retrospective exhibit "40 Years of the Barbie® Doll" in celebration of Women's History Month which was on display from March 1999 thru September 2000 in Delray Beach , Florida . More than 19,000 visitors from around the world attended this exhibit which made it the #1 attended exhibit in the history of Delray Beach and one of the most memorable Museum exhibits in all of Palm Beach County . The Barbie® Doll exhibit was conceived and curated by Lori J. Durante who is the Executive Director/Chief Curator of the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History. The mission of the Museum is to offer retrospective and anthropology exhibits and programs showcasing lifestyle, history, cultures, people, places, fashion trends, architecture, furnishings, locomotives and toys, and information about popular uses of artifacts by people/events of the periods of time. From 2003-2005, the Museum was located in a rent-free 8,000 square feet facility in the former Pineapple Grove Shops Plaza located in the 300 Block of Pineapple Grove Way in the Main Street District of Downtown Delray Beach, FL. However, that plaza was sold and then demolished along with the entire City block where it was located. As a result, the Museum had to move. While at the facility, the Museum developed and presented exhibits about fashion history and popular culture and also hosted traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution. But, Museum board members are leading aggressive efforts to secure a permanent facility. Because of this, the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History is purchasing land in the local area on which to build a proposed permanent building. On the 4th Saturday of each month, year-round, at 11am the Museum still conducts, without interruption, the Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach. Some of the Museum's accolades include being selected as Best New Museum in 2004 by the New Times Broward-Palm Beach Newspaper; Best Bets in Palm Beach County in 2006 & 2005 by the Gold Coast Edition of Guest Informant Magazine; and in 2006, the Museum's Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach were selected as Unique Travel Gem by AAA Travel Home & Away Magazine of Mid-America. Most recently, in June 2006, the Museum's Narrated Bus Tours of Historic Delray Beach were selected as Best Tour of the Town by The Palm Beacher & Gold Coast Magazines. For more information call the museum at (561) 243-2662. Visit the Museum's web site at http://www.mlfhmuseum.org/
More Facts about the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History

If you interested in fashion history I recommend that you read Vogue Fashion over 100 years of style by decade and designer, in association with Vogue (by Linda Watson, Carlton Books). It contains brief but informative text with loads of images showing how fashion has evolved in the last century. There are loads of books like this out there, but I quite liked the format and comprehensiveness of this one. I am not really a fashion label person, but can’t deny I find it interesting reading about the background and fashion design approach of some of the world’s most well-known designers past and present.Personally I have a weakness for Azzedine Alaia dersses and a fascination for the often.

The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History opened in an 8,000 square feet facility in October 2003 in the City of Delray Beach, Florida and premiered the Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition: "Antoin Sevruguin and the Persian Image". The museum's beginnings are very humble and its former home was located in the former McCrory store space which was a five & dime store located in Delray Beach since the 1960s. This storefront space was located in the former Pineapple Grove Shops plaza and was donated to the museum by the owner of the plaza, A.M. Davis Mercantile of Lincoln , Nebraska . The museum's mission is to host exhibits showcasing vintage fashion designs, popular culture art, decorative arts, vintage toys, interior designs, architecture history and history exhibits showcasing lifestyles of a variety of ethnic cultures. Museum is also developing a "Southeast Florida Style Exhibit Series" plus a Tanzania Art & Culture Gallery in honor of Delray Beach 's Sister City affiliation with Moshi , Tanzania in East Africa .

Center City, Philadelphia:
· The Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia serves as a repository for all facets of the city’s history, including its past in fashion. The museum’s textile archives hold 2,700 items worn by Philadelphians of all social classes. They even have a watch George Washington sported while he was president. The Religious Society of Friends has donated a generous portion of the collection, featuring clothes, linens and hand-woven dolls from the mid-18th century to 1925. 15 S. 7th Street, (215) 685-4830, http://www.philadelphiahistory.org/
· The National Museum of American Jewish History has a collection of clothing that traces the unique yet typical lives of relatively modern American Jews. The public is invited to see approximately 300 items of clothing worn by 19th and 20th century Jews in Philadelphia, from prayer shawls and bat mitzvah gowns to camp uniforms and political tee-shirts. 55 N. 5th Street, (215) 923-2811, http://www.nmajh.org/
· Home to one of the country’s oldest and largest collections of historical costumes, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will once again open its vast closets to scholars and writers when it moves all of its textile holdings to the neighboring Perelman Building in January 2008. Although it hosts frequent costume exhibitions, space limitations require the museum to store much of its collection away from public view, which makes a tour of the museum’s 300,000 international silk dresses, wedding gowns, shoes, garments and textiles even more special. 26th Street & the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 763-8100, http://www.philamuseum.org/
West Philadelphia/Germantown:
· The Design Center at Philadelphia University stores an impressive array of 200,000 pieces spanning the world’s costume history, with Egyptian Coptic fragments dating to the fourth century. Visitors can also study pre-Colombian textiles; European silk embroideries and brocades; Kashmir and Paisley shawls; Chinese imperial court robes and Japanese kimonos; hand-sewn lace; and traditional costumes from Africa, Asia and Central America. The collection also documents the history of the textile industry in Philadelphia. Artifacts like spinning and weaving implements, machinery, technology and dye books and several hundred thousand swatch cards chronicle American textile manufacturing from 1780s to now. 4200 Henry Avenue, (215) 951-2700, http://www.philau.edu/
· Drexel University has thousands of historical fashion pieces spanning a staggering number of countries and time periods. The collection contains 200-year-old gowns, American baby clothes, menswear, hats and more. The items are meticulously organized and photographed for the Web site, so visitors can recall details after their tour. Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, 33rd & Market Streets, (215) 895-0238, http://www.digimuse.cis.drexel.edu/
· The Germantown Historical Society owns more than 8,000 textiles and pieces of clothing worn by American men, women and children dating back hundreds of years. Once the Society reopens its gallery space in May 2006, members of the public can view the collection, which includes wedding and funeral outfits, work uniforms, hats, shoes, outer and undergarments, jewelry, pocketbooks, fans and parasols, all worn or donated by Germantown residents through the centuries. 5501 Germantown Avenue, (215) 844-1683, http://www.germantownhistory.org/
Philadelphia Countryside:
· The Chester County Historical Society has a well-known collection containing hundreds of items donated by county residents over the past 100 years. Visitors can browse through clothing and accessories from the 18th century to the late 20th century, including men’s, women’s and children’s short gowns, bonnets, fans, shoes, hat pins and canes, lingering on a large number of Quaker clothes and bonnets. 225 N. High Street, West Chester, (610) 692-4800, http://www.chestercohistorical.org/
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) makes Philadelphia and The Countryside™ a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases business and promotes the region’s vitality. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit http://www.gophila.com/ or call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.
Note to Editors: For photos of Greater Philadelphia, visit our Photo Gallery. On the pressroom, you can also subscribe to RSS feeds to receive updates on topics that are specifically of interest to you: What’s New, Dining, Events, Seasonal Travel, Hotel Packages and Tourism Research.