To Read

Diana Vreeland’s autobiography, D.V. shares the author’s colorful and eccentric story during her years working as editor-in-chief at Harper’s Bazaar and fashion editor at Vogue. The book is filled with personal anecdotes, stories about the industry and the famous figures Vreeland met throughout her career.

Vreeland explores in depth how her untraditional upbringing impacted her career. Known for being wildly outlandish with a charming wit, she also records her famous moments of whimsy, such as her request for her office to be painted the same shade of red as “the color of a child’s cap in any Renaissance portrait.”

Dressed: The Philosophy of Clothes by Shahidha Bari offers a critical analysis of the philosophy of clothing and the meaning attached to fashion. Transcending a reflection on clothing and style, the book covers topics like gender expression and the emotional reasoning behind how we dress our bodies.

The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius, And Glorious Excess In 1970s Paris by Alicia Drake is a dramatic narrative following the lives of Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent as they navigate ego, friendship and rivalry within Paris, the backdrop of their rise to fame.

The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir is notably regarded as one of the most important memoirs about fashion journalism. Written by André Leon Talley, this is an unvarnished account of the fashion titan’s time at Vogue that details his relationship with Anna Wintour.

André Leon Talley served as the Vogue‘s fashion news director and editor-at-large, subsequently becoming the magazine’s first Black creative director.

The memoir serves as a reflection on glamour, couture fittings, society galas and private dinners with designers—in juxtaposition with moments of deep vulnerability, particularly regarding race, body image and exclusion from elite fashion circles.

The Gentlewoman is a London-based biannual magazine that is as intellectual as it is visually pleasing. The magazine features women-oriented profiles matched with high fashion advertisements.

Another rather niche magazine that I highly recommend and often turn to for inspiration is Cinema du Look, which provides insight into how film and fashion work in tandem as two art forms with a high impact on global culture.

To Watch

The mini-series that’s taking over every corner of the internet is Ryan Murphy’s Love Story—an adaptation of the real relationship between America’s former prince John F. Kennedy Jr. and the incomparable Carolyn-Bessette Kennedy. The two tragically lost their lives in a plane crash in the summer of 1999.

The real topic of debate is the wardrobe of Sarah Pidgeon’s CBK and whether or not her costume design is historically accurate. The character is rumored to be wearing Aritzia when the real CBK was synonymous with signature brands such as Calvin Klein, Narciso Rodriguez, Yohji Yamamoto and Prada.

Still, viewers are enamored by the retelling and recreating their most “on brand” CBK looks.

To Listen

Who better to cover the intersection of fashion and psychoanalysis than Sigmund Freud’s great-granddaughter? Bella Freud is a London-based fashion designer and host of podcast Fashion Neurosis.

The show features prominent figures in and outside of the fashion industry and delved into their relationships with fashion. Freud’s opening question to each episode is “What are you wearing today, and why did you choose it?”

My favorite episodes are those featuring Zadie Smith, Jonathan Anderson, Christy Turlington and Kate Moss.