Classes
Mrs. Ryie Yoshizawa, teacher, fashion designing class, Manzanar Relocation Center, California / photograph by Ansel Adams
Current offering:
What Women Wore to the Revolution: 1930s - 1960s
Sundays, November 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 2026
Throughout the 20th century, women’s lives changed dramatically—and so too did the clothing they wore. In this class we will explore the innovators and innovations responsible for the revolutionary changes sweeping through women’s dress during some of the most beloved and iconic eras in the history of Euro-American fashion: the 1930s to the 1960s. From Depression-era fashion fantasies to the "Make Do and Mend" of WW2, from Dior's "New Look" to the liberating micro-minis and blue jeans of the 1960s, we will meet the women--and the clothes--that continue to captivate our imaginations and shape the way we wear to this very day.
Recordings of Past Course Offerings
In this pre-recorded, four-part class, fashion historian Cassidy Zachary will take you on a journey through the evolution and revolution of Euro-American women’s fashion from the 1850s to 1920s, a period marked by seismic transformations both in the clothing women wore and the lives they led. This class will use clothing as a lens to learn more about the many remarkable people who quite literally changed the shape and face of fashion by pushing the boundaries of what came before. We will meet both well and lesser-known fashion innovators, mavericks, and makers who forever changed the way women dress into the modern day.
Recordings of What Women Wore to the Revolution: 1850s - 1920s
What Women Wore to the Revolution: 1770s - 1840s
This four-part course traces the evolution and revolution of Euro-American women’s fashion from the 1770s to the 1840s through the lens of three of history’s most iconic figures: Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), Jane Austen (1775-1817), and a young Queen Victoria (1819-1901). Despite living in different times and places, all three women influenced and reflected pivotal moments in fashion’s trajectory from courtly artifice to revolutionary reinvention, from Regency refinement to moral propriety and industrial innovation. Throughout this course we will learn to date and identify these changing fashions while learning about these three remarkable women and the times during which they lived, all of which have left an indelible mark on the fabric of history and our imaginations to this very day.
Coming Soon:
The 1960s Youthquake
Join fashion historian Cassidy Zachary for an immersive journey into the "Youthquake" fashion revolution of the 1960s, one of the most exciting and rebellious periods in the history of women's (and men's!) fashion. In an era defined by sweeping political, societal, and cultural change, so too were established sartorial conventions shattered at the hands of young people hoping to transform the world. The 1960s witnessed the rise of hemlines, fast fashion, boutique culture, and radical self expression. The hippie counter culture defied the dressed gender binary, Black models and designers redefined the face of fashion, and a new generation of young ready-to-wear designers overthrew the century long reign of the Parisian haute couture. By the end of the decade the world was changed and so too was women's fashion.