A trend forecaster follows up on a trend report from 2016. A prominent fashion buyer tells me his trends for fall 2022. And I wonder why one particular trend, against all odds, seems to come back over and over againTo see the jeans of the fut

Plaid

1 Dec 7th, 2018 18m 55s

Lumberjacks wore plaid. Punks wore plaid mini skirts. The Beach Boys used to be called the Pendletones, and they wore plaid with their surfboards. Lots of different groups have adopted the pattern over the course of the 20th century, but if we

Kids' Clothes

1 Dec 6th, 2018 23m 43s

Clothes are records of the bodies we’ve lived in. Think of the old sweater that you used to have that’s just not your style anymore, or the jeans that just aren’t your size anymore. We are like snakes who shed our skins and grow new ones as we

American Ivy: Chapter 5

1 Nov 23rd, 2022 46m 5s

Ralph Lauren ascends. And so does a slender little joke book that no one expected to be a colossal, massive bestseller. Just in time for the secret fashion revolution of the 1980s that no one ever talks about.To see images, notes, and full tr

American Ivy: Chapter 2

Nov 2nd, 2022 44m 54s

So where does Ivy begin? The short answer: Princeton University. The long answer is a spiral that takes us from a 1940s Chinese prison camp, to the raucous party culture of 1920s London, to the docks of downtown New York City after The War of 1

Punk Style

Dec 11th, 2018 30m 48s

There is this myth that it’s frivolous or unproductive to care about how you look. Clothing and fashion get trivialized a lot. But think about who get associated with clothing and fashion: young people, women, queers and people of color — group

Hawaiian Shirts

Dec 9th, 2018 23m 18s

There are a few ways to tell if you’re looking at an authentic, high-quality aloha shirt. If the pockets match the pattern, that’s a good sign, but it’s not everything. Much of understanding an aloha shirt is about paying attention to what is o

Inside The Factory

Apr 26th, 2023 44m 32s

On the ten year anniversary of a horrible manufacturing disaster- a look at what has changed, what hasn’t, and the massive secret industry behind it all.If you’d like to sign the petition from Clean Clothes Campaign, click here or head to art

Diamonds

1 Jun 26th, 2020 31m 16s

Diamonds represent value, in all its multiple meanings: values, as in ethics, and value as in actual price. But what are these rocks actually worth? The ethics and costs of diamond rings have shifted with society, from their artificial scarcity

Suits

Jun 25th, 2020 32m 25s

Menswear can seem boring. If you look at any award show, most of the men are dressed in black pants and black jackets. This uniform design can be traced back to American Revolution, classical statuary, and one particular bloke bopping around do

Knockoffs

Jun 23rd, 2020 31m

Brands hold immense sway over both consumers and the American legal system. Few know this as well as Dapper Dan, who went from street hustler to fashion impresario and has spent time on both sides of American trademark law.Articles of Interes

Theme Music by Sasami

Mar 18th, 2019 2m 36s

"Articles of Interest" theme song by Sasami AshworthSasami’s new album is out now. Get it!

Wedding Dresses

Jun 27th, 2020 28m 51s

A wedding was once seen as a start of young adulthood. Now, a wedding has come to represent a crowning achievement -- a symbol that your whole life is together and you have accrued the time and space and resources to afford your ascent to anoth

Perfume

2 Jun 24th, 2020 29m 44s

The world of high end perfume is surprisingly lucrative, considering that scent is often the most ignored of our senses. But one can't judge a scent solely by the brand and shape of the bottle. With the right amount of attention, perfume can be

Blue Jeans

Dec 10th, 2018 26m 5s

For the most part, we tend to keep our clothes relatively clean and avoid spills and rips and tears. But denim is so hard-wearing and hard-working that it just kind of amasses more and more signs of wear. So you can learn a lot from observing a

Pockets

2 Dec 8th, 2018 21m 13s

Womenswear is littered with fake pockets that don’t open, or shallow pockets that can hardly hold more than a paperclip. If women’s clothes have pockets at all, they are often smaller and just fit less than men’s pockets do. And when we talk ab

Nudity

1 month ago 51m 38s

Sometimes it’s liberating to be naked. Sometimes it’s really really not.Notes, links, and images at articlesofinterest.substack.com

Chromophobia

Nov 8th, 2023 52m 20s

Color. Why we need it. Why we fear it. And where its future might lie. Images and links at articlesofinterest.substack.comRadiotopia’s fall fundraiser is here! Donate today to support Articles of Interest. Thank you! https://on.prx.org/3sbv

A Few Shoes [LIVE]

Oct 25th, 2023 1h 8m

On stage in Toronto, with the help of shoe designer Aurora James and shoe historian Elizabeth Semmelhack, we go over a few shoes- and what they say about ourselves and the world. Images of all the shoes discussed are at articlesofinterest.sub

Wearing Hair

Oct 11th, 2023 40m 7s

You and I both know this. The supply chain is super messed up. The way humans make clothing is deeply messed up. So should we just make garments made of human hair? A very real question, with very real answers. For links, images and more in

More Pockets

Sep 27th, 2023 40m 10s

This is a special re visit of one of my favorite stories: Pockets. Followed up by a special live interview with Hannah Carlson, author of the book Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close, to see what’s changed since the origina

Plus Sizes

Sep 13th, 2023 47m 8s

Plus-sized fashion seems to live in a separate trend cycle. There are different patterns, different cuts. And most notably, women’s shirts often have holes in their shoulders. And this separate plus-sized fashion universe reveals a lot about th

The Corduroy Appreciation Club

Aug 30th, 2023 55m 42s

A secret society. A secret tradition. And a cloth that somehow lends itself to ritual.articlesofinterest.substack.com(I can’t believe that, fatefully, this is the 11th episode of the year.)

Paisley

Aug 16th, 2023 41m 54s

Himanshu kept seeing paisley everywhere: from his home temple to his couch cushions to his mom’s pants. Some of these products were Indian but a lot weren’t. How did this pattern get embraced by the world?See articlesofinterest.substack.com f

Paper and Rubber

Aug 2nd, 2023 41m 51s

This is about two examples of cloth-alternatives. One that went extinct. And one that’s very much alive.This story deals with sex and sexuality. But in a fun way!Images, links, and more details at articlesofinterest.substack.com