An Unforgettable—But Not Timeless—Walk Down the Aisle

Wedding Gowns From Priscilla of Boston's Bridal Shop Reflect Changing Fashions

Before Princess Di’s puffed sleeves and 25-foot train, before Vera Wang designed $1.5-million gowns, before we loved watching brides-to-be melt down on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress, and before every bride scoured the Internet to “pin” her top 50 wedding day looks, Priscilla Kidder was a department store buyer who thought brides needed more choices.

So in 1945, Kidder, a former yarn store owner and model, left her job at R. H. White’s in Boston to open “The Bride’s Shop” at 129 Newbury Street. The store grossed $10,000 in …

September 8, 2015

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The Steel, Glass, and Shadows of L.A.’s Cedar-Sinai

Doctor Roger Lerner Has Taken Thousands of Photographs of the Hospital He Has Known Since the Late 1970s

August 20, 2015

Dr. Roger Lerner has taken thousands of photographs of buildings. Through the lens of his camera, structures made of steel, glass, and concrete are transformed into studies of line, shape, …

Southern California’s Reservoirs Are Fuller Than You Think

It's Hard to Watch Boats Glide Over a 40-Billion-Gallon Lake and Feel Despair

By Steve Hymon | August 17, 2015

On a recent trip to Wyoming, I was talking to one of the locals about the drought back home in Southern California. She had heard that it was so bad …

Saving Nature, One Plastic Bag at a Time

Armed With Heavy Gloves and Trash Pickers, Salton Sea Residents Are Cleaning up Their Own Backyard

Christina Lange | August 14, 2015

At clean-ups I help organize in communities around the Salton Sea, volunteers are a mix of residents and visitors, of every age and background. Some people drive more than 90 …

The Special Olympics Were
A-W-E-S-O-M-E

From Ferocious Inline Skaters to Ace Ping-Pong Players, a Look Back at the Year's Largest Sports Gathering

By Steve Hymon | August 3, 2015

by Steve Hymon

After work last Tuesday, I went to the University of Southern California to photograph swimming events at the Special Olympics World Games. I was fiddling with my camera …

The Jersey Doctor Who Donated 29 Boxes of Postcards to the Smithsonian

His Hundreds of Thousands of Alluring Images Will Make You Wish You Were There

July 31, 2015

The postcard—dated February 7, 1940—shows an image of bright blue water, palm trees, and people lounging under umbrellas. A printed title rubs it in— “Enjoying Mid-Winter Bathing and Sunshine at …

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How Iranian Women Turn “Pious Fashion” Into Under-the-Radar Dissent

By Personalizing Headscarves and Painting Their Toes, They Challenge the State's Power to Define Female Morality

Why and When Did Americans Begin to Dress so Casually?

Hint: It's All About Freedom

Bringing Down the Bra

Since the 19th Century, Women Have Abandoned Restrictive Undergarments While Pursuing Social and Political Freedom

How Fashion Overcame the Transatlantic Divide

Celebrities Erased National Differences in Women's Style, but American Men Still Refuse to Dress With British Sophistication

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