History Unhemmed – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, we unravel the origins of the qipao or cheongsam. This garment is inextricably linked to the formation of modern China and has origins going back to at least the Qing Dynasty. Join us as we explore its role as a symbol of elegance and empowerment.

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RESOURCES:

• Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
• Lee, Chor Lin and Chung May Khuen. In the Mood for Cheongsam: A Social History, 1920s-Present. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2012.
• Ling, Wessie and S Segre Reinach (eds). Fashion in Multiple Chinas: Chinese Styles in the Transglobal Landscape. London/Oxford: I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, 2018.
• Ling, Wessie. Fusionable Cheongsam. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2007.
• Sim, Cheryl. Wearing the Cheongsam: Dress and Culture in a Chinese Diaspora. London & New York: Bloomsbury, 2019.
• Steel, Valerie and John S. Major. China Chic: East Meets West. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.

Join us as we explore the fascinating and multi-faceted history of the polka dot. These innocuous little spots contain multitudes, from technological advancements to a risqué dance craze.

If you have any requests or questions, or simply feel like saying hello, drop us a line at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyunhemmedpodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/historyunhemmed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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RESOURCES: 

Johns Hopkins University. "Introducing Data Science: Big Data, Machine Learning, and More, Free Online Textbook." https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/items/6cf47d49-4968-46ee-a8f9-c7c8c35b55ac.

Knox, Charles Henry. The Spirit of the Polka. Legare Street Press, 2023.

Kusama, Yayoi and Delphine Arnault, Akira Tatehata, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Mika Yoshitake. Louis Vuitton Yayoi Kusama. New York: Rizzoli, 2023.

Le Tour de France. "The Polka Dot Jersey." https://www.letour.fr/en/the-jerseys-tour-de-france/the-polka-dot-jersey.

PBS Western Reserve. "The History of Polka: From Europe to Northeast Ohio." ⁠https://www.pbswesternreserve.org/blogs/luminus-stories-about-us/the-history-of-polka-from-europe-to-northeast-ohio/#:~:text=The%20origins%20of%20polka%20are,day%20Czech%20Republic%20and%20Poland⁠.

Stewart, Jude. Patternalia: An Uncovered History of Polka Dots, Stripes, Plaid, Camouflage, and Other Graphic Patterns.  New York: Bloomsbury, 2015. 

Welters, Linda and Cunningham, Patricia A. (eds.). Twentieth-century American Fashion. New York: Berg, 2005. 

EPISODE NOTES:

The shirtwaist emerged in the mid-late nineteenth century. It soon became a symbol of the modern working woman, and by the early twentieth century, shirtwaists were mass manufactured and widely available. However, this would come at a devastating cost to the workers (mostly women) who produced them. On the afternoon of March 25, 1911, fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. This would go down in history as one of the worst industrial disasters in American history and its impact would be felt more than a century later.

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RESOURCES:

Bader, Bonnie. East Side Story. New York: Silver Moon Press, 1993.

Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Remembering the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire. Online exhibition: http://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/

Dash, Joan. We Shall Not Be Moved: The Women's Factory Strike of 1909. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1996.

De Angelis, Gina. The Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire of 1911. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001.

Greene, Jacqueline Dembar. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bearport Publishing, 2007.

Gunderson, Jessica. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2006.

Naden, Corinne J. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, March 25, 1911: The Blaze that Changed an Industry. New York: Franklin Watts, 1971. 

Sachar, Howard M. A History of the Jews in America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1992

Sherrow, Victoria. The Triangle Factory Fire. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1995.

Wertheimer, Barbara M. We Were There: The Story of Working Women in America. New York: Pantheon Books, 1997.

EPISODE NOTES:

"It's better to be looked over than overlooked." So was the motto of Nudie's Rodeo Tailors. The company's brash and bombastic frontman Nudie Cohn, an early twentieth-century Ukrainian Jewish immigrant. From humble origins, Nudie carved out a name for himself as the king of sparkly western wear favored by everyone from country crooners to rock and roll royalty.

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RESOURCES:

• Bull, Debby. Hillbilly Hollywood. New York: Rizzoli, 2000.
• George-Warren, Holly and Freedman, Michelle. How the West Was Worn. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

• Greenlaw, M. Jean. Ranch Dressing: The Story of Western Wear. Birmingham, AL: Lodestar Books, 1993.
• Mackenzie, Mairi. Dream Suits: The Wonderful World of Nudie Cohn.  Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo Publishers, 2011.
• Nudie, Jamie. Nudie the Rodeo Tailor: The Life and Times of the Original Rhinestone Cowboy. 

Films:

• Burns, Ken, dir. Country Music. 2019; Florentine Films, WETA. 
• Figueroa, Yuri, dir. Manuel. 2019; Nashville, TN:  El Capitán Films.

EPISODE NOTES:

From humble beginnings in rural Alabama, Ann Cole Lowe rose to become one of the most sought after fashion designers of the twentieth century. Her life story is one of tremendous highs and cruel hardships. Tune in to hear about New York high society's "best kept secret" of the mid-twentieth century.

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RESOURCES:

Brockell, Gillian. “Jackie Kennedy’s Fairy-Tale Wedding Was a Nightmare for Her African American Dress Designer.” The Washington Post. WP Company, August 28, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/08/28/jackie-kennedys-fairy-tale-wedding-was-nightmare-her-african-american-dress-designer/
Chrisman-Campbell, Kimberly. “The Way We Wed: A Global History of Wedding Fashion.” New York: Hachette Book Group, 2020.
Davis, Nancy, and Amelia Grabowski. “Sewing for Joy: Ann Lowe.” National Museum of American History, August 29, 2019. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/lowe.
Hunt-Hurst, Patricia. "The fashion industry." In Diana R. Berry (Ed.) Black Women in America, 2nd Edition, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Kirkham, Pat. Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
Messner, Kate and Margaret Powell. Only The Best: The Exceptional Life and Fashion of Ann Lowe. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2022.
Miller, Rosemary Reed. Threads of Time, the Fabric of History: Profiles Of African American Dressmakers And Designers From 1850 To The Present. Washington, DC: Toast and Strawberries Press, 2002.
Minutaglio, Rose. “Ann Lowe Is the Little-Known Black Couturier Who Designed Jackie Kennedy’s Iconic Wedding Dress.” ELLE, October 24, 2019. https://www.elle.com/fashion/a29019843/jackie-kennedy-wedding-dress-designer-ann-lowe/.
Mulvaney, Jay. Kennedy Weddings: A Family Album. New York: St. Martins Press, 2002. 
Powell, Margaret. “The Life and Work of Ann Lowe: Rediscovering ‘Society’s Best Kept Secret.’” MA thesis. The Smithsonian Associates and The Corcoran College of Art + Design, 2012.
Smith, Julia Faye. Something to Prove: Ann Cole Lowe, America’s Forgotten Designer. 2016
Tracy, Kathleen.  Everything Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Book: A Portrait of an American Icon.
Way, Elizabeth. Black Designers in American Fashion. New York: Bloomsbury, 2021.

EPISODE NOTES:
Dressing up in costumes and masks has been at the heart of carnival celebrations since the founding of the city in the 1718. In the twentieth century, new groups emerged challenging the status quo and reshaping the festivities into the celebration that is the biggest tourist draw and the most famous public festivities of the Crescent City.

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Resources:
Campanella, Richard. Geographies if New Orleans. Geographies of New Orleans. Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana Press, 2006.

Dewulf, Jeroen. From the Kingdom of Kongo to Congo Square: Kongo Dances and the Origins of the Mardi Gras Indians. Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana Press, 2017.

Kein, Sybil. Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free People of Color. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2000.

McQueeney, Kevin. “Zulu: a transnational history of a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe.” Safundi: The Journal of South African and American Studies 19, no. 2 (2018): 139-163.

Melancon, Trimiko. “The Complicated History of Race and Mardi Gras.” Black Perspectives, February 9, 2018.

Mitchell, Reid. All on a Mardi Gras Day: Episodes in the History of the New Orleans Carnivals. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

Smith, Howard. Unveiling the Muse. Oxford, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 2017.

St. Julien, Aline. Colored Creole: Color Conflict and Confusion in New Orleans. New Orleans: Ahidiana Hibari, 1977.

Stone, Amy. Queer Carnival: Festivals and Mardi Gras in the South. New York: NYU Press, 2022.

Vaz-Deville, Kim Marie. The Babydolls: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2013.

Vaz-Deville, Kim Marie. Walking Raddy: The Baby Dolls of New Orleans. Oxford, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 2018.

Williams, Nikesha Elise. Mardi Gras Indians. Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press, 2022.

Movies:Producer, George Ingmire and Julie Gustafson. Director, Aaron Walker. (2010) Bury the Hatchet.

Producer and Director, Michal Pietrzyk. (2018) All on a Mardi Gras Day

EPISODE NOTES:

Every year, one of the biggest parties in the United States takes place in the 300-year-old streets of New Orleans. This episode traces the history of Mardi Gras and its costuming practices in New Orleans up to the twentieth century.

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Resources:

Andrews, George Reid. Afro-Latin America, 1800-2000. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Atkins, Jennifer. New Orleans Carnival Balls: The Secret Side of Mardi Gras 1870-1920. Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press, 2017.

Barefield, Allana J. “Embracing Black Mardi Gras keeps the culture alive for the next generation.” The Undefeated, March 5, 2019. Accessed February 21, 2022.

Fromont, Cécile, and Michael Iyanaga, eds. Afro-Catholic Festivals in the Americas: Performance, Representation, and the Making of Black Atlantic Tradition. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019.

Gill, James. Lords of Misrule: Mardi Gras and the Politics of Race in New Orleans. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1997.

Ingraham, J.H. The South West by a Yankee (New York: Harper & Bros, 1835.

Lyell, Charles. A Second Visit to the United States of North America. London: J. Murray, 1849.

Miller, Joaquin. “The Three Merry Days of New Oreleans [sic].” The Independent. New York: 5 March 1885.

EPISODE NOTES:

Eat your greens and black eyed peas, make your champagne or whiskey toasts and enjoy some fireworks. The New Year brings with it many traditions, and in many parts of the world that includes wearing red underwear for luck. Tune in to delve into the origins of this tradition and why a little piece of red fabric carries such a huge and varied history!

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Resources:

Boucher, Francois. A History of Costume in the West. London: Thames and Hudson, 1996.

Bruna, Denis ed. Fashioning the Body: An Intimate History of the Silhouette. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2015.

Butler-Greenfield, Amy. A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire. New York: Harper Collins, 2006.

Chenciner, Robert. Madder Red: A History of Luxury and Trade. Richmond: Curzon Caucasus World, 2000.

Harrington, Cora. In Intimate Detail: How to Choose, Wear, and Love Lingerie. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2018.

Hill, Colleen. Exposed: A History of Lingerie. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014.

EPISODE NOTES:

It's not the holiday season without a tacky and over-the-top sweater! This episode will examine how the popular festive garment came to be.

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Resources:
Blackman, Anne Marie, and Brian Clark Howard. Rock Your Ugly Christmas Sweater. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2012.

Garber, Megan. “The Ugly Christmas Sweater: Still Ugly, But No Longer Ironic.” The Atlantic, 9 December 2014.

Harris, Moira. “The Ugly Christmas Sweater.” Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion Volume 3. Phyllis G. Tortora (ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2010.

Klepp, Ingun Grimstad. “A Louse in Court: Norwegian Knitted Sweaters with ‘Lus’ On Big-Time Criminals.” Fashion Crimes: Dressing for Deviance. Joanne Turney (ed.). London: Bloomsbury, 2019.

Miller, Brian, Adam Paulson, and Kevin Wool. Ugly Christmas Sweater Book: The Definitive Guide to Getting Your Ugly On. New York: Abrams Image, 2011.

EPISODE NOTES:

Sort of a continuation on the subject of Episode 9, this episode will explore the rise and subsequent fall of paper fashion trends in Europe and North American through the 20th century. 

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Resources:

Milford-Cottam, Daniel. Fashion in the 1960s. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.

Paget, Francis Edward. The Curate of Cumberworth: And the Vicar of Roost. Charleston, SC: Bibiliobazaar, 2008.

Paton, Kathleen. "Paper dresses". In Steele, Valerie (ed.). Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion. Farmington Hills, MI. Thomson Gale, 2005. 

Steele, Valerie. Fifty Years of Fashion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000.

Weight, Richard. MOD: From Bebop to Britpop, Britain’s Biggest Youth Movement. New York: Random House, 2013.

Walford, Jonathan. Ready to Tear: Paper Fashions of the 1960s. Cambridge, ON: Kickshaw Productions, 2007.