Articles of Interest

How did a practical, essential tool become an expensive status symbol? For photos and links, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

The philosophy club is back with a very special one: Voltaire's poem Man of The World. Derek Guy and Avery discuss what it means to love this messed-up, materialist, consumerist world-- at least in the way that Voltaire does. Special musical guest Avery Friedman To listen to this episode in full, without ads, become a paid substack subscriber.

How did used clothing lose its proverbial and literal stink? An episode brought to you by The RealReal. To see images of all the many lives of resale, including inside the enormous Real Real warehouse, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

The Philosophy club continues. This time, Derek Guy joins to talk about Lord Chesterfield's Letters to His Son. It's kind of a weird book! For links, and a special additional article from Derek, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com To hear the podcast in full on your podcast player of choice, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com/listen

Fear of automation, trad wives, and America First movements. None of this is new: it all happened in the history of knitting and crochet. For images, links and more, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

A new series, featuring Derek Guy. To hear full episodes without ads, become a paid subscriber at articlesofinterest.substack.com

China is the land of the future. So why is everyone dressing like 16th century princesses? Check out these amazing outfits at articlesofinterest.substack.om

A peek into the life of a fit model: one of the stranger jobs in fashion. For images, details, and more head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

High heels are no longer as high as they were twelve years ago. What happened? An analysis of a trend. For images and links, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

Brought to you by Macy's: a little interview with Molly Rogers, the underground renegade behind some of the most fashionable media out there.

I promise, this has to do with clothes. As ever, resources and links at articlesofinterest.substack.com

The Archie comic book characters became serious fashion icons, but it all happened through a series of accidents. For images, links, and the recording of the full live show, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

The USA is a young country, but our fashion design is even younger. Like who are the titans of American fashion design? It’s Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren...these designers who are all still alive. And if you want to look at where these titans of American fashion design got it all from, there was a great American fashion designer who many of them were looking towards. To see Claire McCardell's incredible modern fashions for yourself, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

Zoe's dad made a bra that changed the world. Will it change her? A feature from my friends over at the audio magazine Signal Hill

Pastor Zach never liked to wear a clerical collar. Suddenly, he finds himself wearing one all the time. Join me in supporting the multifaith nonprofit ISAIAH

What role does fashion have in a time of crisis? This is one of my favorite stories I've ever made. But there have been some updates since it came out. For images, references, and links head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

This is one of the best pieces of fashion reporting I have ever heard: it's a reworked version of a story that originally aired on the NPR podcast Planet Money. And to get my recommendations of well made, relatively ethically produced t- shirts, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

A recording of an intimate conversation at Ludlow House, where the venerable Jad Abumrad asked me some questions about Gear. For images (and the link to the game I talked about) head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

Soldiers and civilians live in different Americas. But we don't have to. For images, links and more, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

"Gorpcore" emerges.... from (maybe, potentially) unexpected places. For images, links, and more information, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com

A pattern for blending in. And for standing out. For images and links go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

The end of the draft leads to the yuppification of the field jacket. Images links and more at articlesofinterest.substack.com

The outdoors is no longer for macho men. In fact, now it's for babies. Images, links, and more information at articlesofinterest.substack.com

Gear gets defined by scientific testing and research. And this process was pioneered with the development of the field jacket.

Almost all clothes have something to do with the military. But one industry in particular has a lot to do with the military. The first episode of the new season establishes how the American military came to be, and how they were dressed. To see images and learn more, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

The next series from Articles of Interest

Zippers are the most common machine all around us. But it's a minor miracle how that came to be. Pictures of early zippers and other links at articlesofinterest.substack.com

A fashion accessory turns into a medical necessity. Images and links at articlesofinterest.substack.com

How uniforms shaped the American school system. Images and a very special animation at articlesofinterest.substack.com

Nate Dimeo is a longtime radio hero of mine. And praises be, now he has a book out of his stories, called The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of The Past. Enjoy this sampler of his audiobook and a favorite episode of mine. And consider supporting both Articles of Interest and The Memory Palace by donating to Radiotopia.

What Catholic priests wear, and the insight it provides into what we laypeople wear. For images of what vestments look like and more, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

In honor of the Met Gala, a special feature. This is an episode I produced with one of my favorite podcasts, Decoder Ring. Together we asked the questions: what is a celebrity stylist? Where did this job come from? The answer was very fun.

Why would God care what we wear? A tour through Islam, Mormonism, and Judaism, and all of their varying and overlapping commands. For more images and information, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

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

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

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.substack.com

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 information, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

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 original episode came out. To see images of all kinds of pockets and to stay in the loop on articles of interest, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

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 the way clothes are made and measured… and the way clothes dictate who is allowed to participate in public life. This episode was made in collaboration with the show Weight For It. Links, images, and more at articlesofinterest.substack.com

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.)

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 for images, links and more.

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

In the 1980s, Budapest was not quite socialist and not quite capitalist, and there was one fashion designer who thrived in this moment. This is the story of Tamás Király, an unusual artist from an unusual period of Hungarian history, both of which were unusually short-lived. Because Király was murdered in 2013. Photos of Király and his designs are at https://articlesofinterest.substack.com/

The tricky thing about fashion is that, in order to preserve its history, you need to preserve physical garments. And, alas, closet space is finite, cloth gets sun-bleached and eaten by moths, and Americans notoriously do not care about their fashion heritage. So this is why one woman decided to put a call out across the country and make a scrappy archive all by herself. This story was reported by Enya Hennings. Pictures, details and more at articlesofinterest.substack.com

Prison uniforms are not, in fact, uniform. There are so many types of clothes that are worn across different facilities… including … some prisons that don’t have uniforms at all. This episode is a special collaboration between Articles Of Interest and Ear Hustle, dropping on both of our feeds. For images of the Broad Arrow, and to see a prison without uniforms, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

Think of this mini episode as a tiny makeover in your ears. Amy Smilovic, the founder of Tibi, has some of the best advice when it comes to gathering a wardrobe and putting outfits together. These are some of my favorite tips from Amy’s book, The Creative Pragmatist. For links, transcript, and more, go to Articlesofinterest.substack.com

Behind the scenes at the Costume Institute, we see how long it really takes to dress a mannequin. And learn about a few famous mannequins from the past. For images, links, and more, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com

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 articlesofinterest.substack.com for more links and resources on the audit industry and audit deception.

The pointe shoe is a design that balances at the very tip of both tradition and innovation. What can make it change?

Ever since 1995, a generation has been dreaming of Cher’s digital closet from the movie Clueless. So why don’t we have it yet? It’s not the technology. It’s a psychological problem with the way fashion works.