Ever wonder why “acceptable” forms of dress for men are so prescriptive? So formulaic? In this episode we speak to Chloe Chapin about the origins of men’s suits and the tuxedo specifically.
“What the Tux?: a History of the Tuxedo,” Dressed, January 1, 2019.

Veritalk is a podcast produced at Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In each three-episode miniseries of Veritalk, PhD students from different fields are trying to answer really big questions about the world. In the third and final episode in our series about Plumage, American Studies PhD student Chloe Chapin explores how humans have used fashion to express gender and status — and how present-day fashion can bend the “rules” we’ve come to know.
Soundcloud Plumage Episode 3: Puttin’ On The Ritz (23 February, 2018)

“How Did the Belt Win?”
Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics Radio
Episode 221 (September 24, 2015).

Costume Society of America’s Conversations on Dress
“Dress & Drinks: National Entertainment & Sports Collections, Smithsonian National Museum of American History” YouTube (April 30, 2021)

For years, the fashion industry dictated what men and women should wear. Today, younger generations are looking beyond certain labels when it comes to personal style. Here’s how Millennials and Gen-Zers are breaking fashion’s traditional binary standards by pushing the boundaries on what people can wear through gender-bending fashion.
“Fashion Beyond Gender” | NBCLX (October 10, 2019)

High-schoolers get a taste of everyday campus life through centuries of archival material – featureing some of Harvard’s most famous alumni
“Centuries of the Harvard Student Experience” Anna Burgess, The Harvard Gazette, September 6, 2023

Charles James Fox, a painting by Karl Anton Hickel, depicts a man wearing the revolutionary colors of George Washington’s army. Chloe Chapin, a scholar and former costume designer, presented about presidential fashion at Monticello last week.
“Notes from a Museum: Thomas Jefferson’s Fashion Sense” Alexandria Searls, The Daily News Record, February 24, 2023

Chloe Chapin is a former Broadway costume designer now pursuing a PhD in American Studies. If menswear lacks excitement, Chapin does not.
“Suited & Booted” Harvard Crimson (October 8, 2020).

Cover Story: “Patterns of Power: How Fashion Reveals and
Enforces the Hidden Hierarchies of Society” (profile of
fashion history course). Randall S. Barton,
Reed Alumni Magazine Volume 95, No. 1: March 2016

“Can I Wear Jeans and a White T-Shirt to Work? Plus 8 More Burning Questions On the Classic Men’s Outfit” Todd Plummer, Wall Street Journal April 15, 2023.

“Dressing for the Insurgence: When Fashion is Far from Frivolous” Jill Di Donato, Huffpost (March 9, 2021)

Redressing the Narrative, an ‘unprecedented and paradigm-shifting’ workshop around teaching fashion history.
“Revolutionary Costume Pedagogy” Michelle Souza, Howlround (September 2, 2020)

“Gender Bias and the Law: Legal Frameworks and Practice from Bosnia & Herzegovina and Beyond” Madja Halilović, et al, Atlantic Initiative / DCAF (2017).

“A Custom-Tailored Course” Liz Mineo, Harvard Law Today (January 25, 2017).

“Here’s Why Men’s and Women’s Shirts Button on the Opposite Sides” Lauren Finney, Today Show, July 13, 2016.

“Pockets Pop Up on
Fancy Gowns,” article about the history of
pockets in The Wall Street Journal. (27 August, 2014).

“Breaking the Monkey-Suit Mold,” article about male formalwear
in The New York Times. (22 August 2014).