An Evening of Fashion & Fascism

Join us at the Institute Library on Thursday, April 25th for a special event indeed, one of the Gallery events held in conjunction with : authors Gioia Diliberto, Becky Conekin, and Debby Applegate will discuss the connections between fashion, and the people who make it, and fascism, and the people who make that happen, with a particular focus on personages of the early 20th century.

This is the kind of hidden history where we think we know what we’re looking at, but the true story is more weird and complex than we can guess at — and what could be better than having learned, eloquent, elegant people discuss such matters?

Gioia Diliberto is the author of several books about noteworthy women in history. Her most recent title, Coco at the Ritz, is a novel about Coco Chanel’s involvement with members of the Nazi party during World War II, and the impact her personal decisions had on her life and work. Becky Conekin, currently teaching at Yale University, is the author of many books on the subject of history and fashion, including works on Lee Miller (Monacelli, 2013) and Vernier (Univ. of Chicago, 2012). Debby Applegate is the author of The Most Famous Man in the World, and more recently, a biography of Polly Adler, Madam (Random House, 2021).

These three women visiting us on the 25th collectively know more about brazen women in the 20th century than most of us can imagine. Come hear their presentations and conversation, and ask questions during the Q&A session to follow. We will be convening in the Music Suite on the third floor of the Institute Library, and this will be an intimate evening: please click to RSVP for seating. 

While this event is free and open to the public, there is a $10 suggested donation for this event; we will be so grateful to those who make a gift to the Institute Library online by clicking here or who’ll fling some moolah/spondulicks/dosh/cabbage into a donation box on-site on April 25th.