Articles of Interest

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 de...

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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices ...

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  Learn about your ad choices: do...

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 ...

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 ...

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 artic...

Soldiers and civilians live in different Americas. But we don't have to. For images, links and more, go to articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-ch...

"Gorpcore" emerges.... from (maybe, potentially) unexpected places. For images, links, and more information, head to articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx...

A pattern for blending in. And for standing out.For images and links go to articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices ...

The end of the draft leads to the yuppification of the field jacket. Images links and more at articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices ...

The outdoors is no longer for macho men. In fact, now it's for babies. Images, links, and more information at articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad...

Gear gets defined by scientific testing and research. And this process was pioneered with the development of the field jacket.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices ...

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 m...

The next series from Articles of Interest Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices ...

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 Learn about your...

A fashion accessory turns into a medical necessity. Images and links at articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices ...

How uniforms shaped the American school system. Images and a very special animation at articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices ...

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 audioboo...

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 Learn about your a...

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 ...

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.sub...

Sometimes it’s liberating to be naked. Sometimes it’s really really not. Notes, links, and images at articlesofinterest.substack.com Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...

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 Art...

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 ...

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, wi...

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 ...

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 separa...

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...

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 d...

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 ...

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...

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 episod...

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....

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 a...

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 f...

The pointe shoe is a design that balances at the very tip of both tradition and innovation. What can make it change? Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices ...

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 w...

I have a confession to make.To see images, notes and full transcripts, go to articlesofinterest.substack.comArticles of Interest is made by Avery TrufelmanEdited by Kelly PrimeMixed and Maste...

As the 80s turns into the 90s, preppy is everywhere. All over the planet. In the United States AND Japan. And sure, preppy sort of morphs into business casual. But it also turns into somethin...

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...

Ivy starts to go out of style, thanks to the counterculture (with a lot of help from corporate America). But Ivy finds an unlikely savior in a Jewish college dropout from the Bronx.To see ima...

The look of the elite somehow becomes the look for everyone. And as more and more people are taking on Ivy, it only becomes cooler and cooler. Which goes against everything I thought I knew a...

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 t...

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 ...

Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear. And for a long time, one particular look has come back in style again and again and again. Or maybe it never went away. Season 3 will get to...

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 a...

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...

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...

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 bottl...