fashion journalism
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Evaluating the Role of the Four Fs
Journalism history largely defines most of the content of the women’s pages as the four Fs: family, fashion, food and furnishings. Yet, my research has shown that these Fs were not treated equally. Most metro women’s pages had a fashion editor and a food editor. Some newspapers had a reporter devoted to the furnishings beat – but this topic might be covered in a real estate section instead of the women’s pages. For example, the above 1953 in-house ad for the Milwaukee Journal shows that former women’s page reporter Lois Hagen was now covering furnishings for the home section. I have yet to find a newspaper with a family editor.…
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Eugenia Sheppard Blog Post
I found this great blog post about fashion journalist Eugenia Sheppard from the Fashion School Daily at the Academy of Art. This is part of the post:“Ms. Sheppard was an American fashion journalist and newspaper columnist, credited with revolutionizing fashion reporting during her time at the New York Herald Tribune. She reported on all of the major designers, as well as the up-and-coming ones, and was known for her “personalized approach to fashion and her ability to spot trends even before the trend-setters realized they were setting them” (NY Times). And she always said exactly what she felt, making for some very memorable remarks.”I am collecting information about Eugenia for a…
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New York Fashion Editor Eugenia Sheppard
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Fashion, Economy & Newspapers
I loved this book, Overdressed, about the economy, history and the sociology of fashion. It is well written and strongly researched. The author touches on several issues that relate to the women’s pages. For example, she wrote about the increased consumption of cheap clothes or “fast fashion.” In part, this is because so few people sew now. Sewing clothes used to be so common place that women’s pages would include sewing patterns. I am working on revisions for an article about fashion editor Eleni Epstein and will be including information from this book. I plan to write about fashion writer Eugenia Sheppard in the fall.
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Economy of Fashion
Salon posted an interesting story today about the economy of fashion – particularly “cheap chic.” The article begins: “The average American buys 64 pieces of clothing a year. That’s more new tank tops and jeggings than there are weeks in which to wear them. And we buy those items, often, with the tacit understanding that the pullover purchased in January isn’t going to make it to Christmas — or even spring equinox. Elizabeth L. Kline has one such typical American wardrobe. As she admits in her new book “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion,” an eye-opening exploration of our mania for bargain-basement fashion.”The article includes a Q & A with…
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Translating Fashion to Newspaper Readers
In its coverage of New York Fashion Week, the Washington Post is publishing a daily feature about translating runway fashion to a Washington readership. Here is one of the features. Lance and I are working on a revise-and-resubmit about Washington Star fashion editor Eleni Epstein. She spent her career translating fashion news from runways to her newspaper readers.
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Fashion publicist Ruth Finley
Fashion week began yesterday in New York City. The shows were attended twice a year by newspaper fashion editors – who worked in the women’s pages of newspapers. These writers translated the elaborate runway fashions for their readers back home – such as Eleni Epstein in Washington, D.C., Barbara Cloud in Pittsburgh and Aileen Ryan in Milwaukee. Their lives were made easier by Ruth Finley, who is pictured below. The Wall Street Journal featured an article about Ruth today. Here is a little about her and the calendar she create, which is shown below:“The concept of a fashion-events calendar came in 1943. Ms. Finley, then a 16-year-old reporter for the…
