Adjunct Assistant Professor
Natalie Nudell
- School of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- History of Art
In American Fashion
Ruth Finley's Fashion Calendar
In American Fashion is the first scholarly analysis of the Fashion Calendar, the unique scheduling service and trade publication for the American fashion and creative industries between 1941 and 2014.
Published by Ruth Finley for almost seven decades, the Calendar had an extensive impact on the development of the American fashion industry in the 20th century. Unlike European fashion capitals, the American fashion industry relied on an independent small publisher to manage the schedule of an ever-growing industry. In American Fashion shows how this independent position influenced the democratic approach reflected in the industry in the United States. Finley’s unique contribution to the development of the time-system and culture of American fashion made her a key player during the ascendency of American fashion design.
Natalie Nudell unveils the Fashion Calendar as a historical archive, and also looks at its development into an open-source digital humanities project (released in November 2023). Through historical analysis and the upcoming digitization of the Ruth Finley Collection, this study unpacks the history and impact of the publication and the women behind it.
How did you first come up with the idea for this work?
It is the culmination of a decade of work and research on the Fashion Calendar and Ruth Finley.
Does this work relate to your role at FIT? If so, how?
Yes, it includes a chapter on the development of FIT’s Fashion Calendar Research Database which was also used in the process of researching this book.
- Professor at FIT since 2017
- Book published in 2024