1. NYPL is stylin’! Today the Wall Street Journal examined Work Wear: Office Style at the New York Public Library. We’ve included just a few of our fashion forward folks who prove that inspiration can be found everywhere at the Library, just look at our staff!

  2. Happy First Day of Summer - also known as the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. Here we have Summer Girl #3, a bathing beauty bedecked in the latest bathing suit style of 1910, with a bonnet to protect against the water and wind no less! We hope your Summer is grand and that you have some time to enjoy the beach, but we recommend not wearing heels while walking on sand.

    Happy First Day of Summer - also known as the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. Here we have Summer Girl #3, a bathing beauty bedecked in the latest bathing suit style of 1910, with a bonnet to protect against the water and wind no less! We hope your Summer is grand and that you have some time to enjoy the beach, but we recommend not wearing heels while walking on sand.

  3. Tomorrow night is the NYPL’s Anti-Prom, Monster Ball!!! Teens who don’t feel comfortable attending their school proms can party with their friends at the library instead.

    This year’s theme is inspired by Frankenstein - monsters, remixing, Romantic meets gothic meets pulp fiction. The Design NYPL group designed clothes inspired by the theme and will present a fashion show at Anti-Prom. Check out the video to learn more about how they used the library’s collections as inspiration for their designs.

    Teens can still register to attend:  http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2012/06/08/anti-prom-monster-prom-0

  4. It’s wedding season! And since one of our own recently tied the knot, we thought we would celebrate with a vintage photograph from our Digital Gallery, featuring Mrs. William J. Bradley.  Did you know you can reserve the Library for your own special day? Visit our website to learn more!

    It’s wedding season! And since one of our own recently tied the knot, we thought we would celebrate with a vintage photograph from our Digital Gallery, featuring Mrs. William J. Bradley. 

    Did you know you can reserve the Library for your own special day? Visit our website to learn more!

  5. Today’s flashback friday has some things old, some things new, some things borrowed AND some things blue (and other colors too). We’re not talking about weddings here - though we’re sure you’ll find a few items that will suit… NYPL and FIT have launched a new website, Andre Studios Digitization Project, allowing one and all to browse our archives of Andre Studios from 1931 - 1940. There are 18 images of snoods alone and don’t even get us started on yokes! But don’t take our word for it, check out what the fashionable folks at the New York Times had to say!

    Today’s flashback friday has some things old, some things new, some things borrowed AND some things blue (and other colors too). We’re not talking about weddings here - though we’re sure you’ll find a few items that will suit… NYPL and FIT have launched a new website, Andre Studios Digitization Project, allowing one and all to browse our archives of Andre Studios from 1931 - 1940. There are 18 images of snoods alone and don’t even get us started on yokes!

    But don’t take our word for it, check out what the fashionable folks at the New York Times had to say!

  6. Here’s one for our times: this Vogue article from 1916 promises “smart fashions for limited incomes.” According to the author, ”It need take only a little new material, a little wit, and a seamstress to join smart fashion and limited income together.” A couple of bon mots that still hold true today: “A formal suit is something the limited income is most of all in need of, for it will carry a woman anywhere.” “The dark brown velvet or satin suit of last year may become the chemise coat-dress of this year.” “For the formal evening gown, the limited income can choose nothing better than black.”

    Here’s one for our times: this Vogue article from 1916 promises “smart fashions for limited incomes.” According to the author, ”It need take only a little new material, a little wit, and a seamstress to join smart fashion and limited income together.”

    A couple of bon mots that still hold true today:

    “A formal suit is something the limited income is most of all in need of, for it will carry a woman anywhere.”

    “The dark brown velvet or satin suit of last year may become the chemise coat-dress of this year.”

    “For the formal evening gown, the limited income can choose nothing better than black.”

  7. This look, from 1920, feels very fashion forward, no? Published in La mode féminine de 1490 à 1920. (Paris: Nilsson, 1926).

    This look, from 1920, feels very fashion forward, no? Published in La mode féminine de 1490 à 1920. (Paris: Nilsson, 1926).

  8. Another fashionable model - Gladys Macauley at the World’s Fair in 1940.

    Another fashionable model - Gladys Macauley at the World’s Fair in 1940.

  9. Fashion Week has started here in New York. In the fashionista spirit, we’ll post some style inspiration to the Tumblr today. Here’s Mary Patricia Codd, who lived at the Hotel Barbizon, an extremely glamorous residence for single young ladies, including many models (read about it in Vanity Fair), visiting the New York World’s Fair in 1940. Meanwhile, are you on Pinterest? Check out our “Fashionably NYPL” board, featuring images from our Digital Gallery.

    Fashion Week has started here in New York. In the fashionista spirit, we’ll post some style inspiration to the Tumblr today.

    Here’s Mary Patricia Codd, who lived at the Hotel Barbizon, an extremely glamorous residence for single young ladies, including many models (read about it in Vanity Fair), visiting the New York World’s Fair in 1940.

    Meanwhile, are you on Pinterest? Check out our “Fashionably NYPL” board, featuring images from our Digital Gallery.

  10. We’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. But, you should join us tomorrow at 6pm when Helen Jennings, the author of New African Fashion, will be joined by members of Africa’s fashion industry to discuss the past, present and future of the continent’s style.