History & culture

A pattern-design method that arranges garment pieces to use an entire fabric width with no offcuts discarded, a technique with historical roots in traditional garment shapes like the kimono and sari.

A garment closure of interlocking teeth drawn together by a sliding tab; Gideon Sundback patented a reliable version in 1913, and fashion designers popularized it on clothing in the 1930s.

An exaggerated men's suit with broad padded shoulders and high-waisted, tapered trousers, popular among Black and Mexican American communities in the 1930s-40s and controversial for its wartime fabric use.