Fashion and Beauty

Content type
Collection
Image of Eva smiling and wearing gold necklaces with flowers in background

My Golden Sanctuary

Eva Stern

I’ve realized that, in my life, my jewelry, my gold, has been a source of strength and sanctuary that allows me to connect with my family, culture, and self.

Collage of gold chain with "F" pendant surrounded by gold stars on blue background

My "F" Necklace: From Generation to Generation

Frieda Belasco

I often overlook how lucky I am that this necklace was passed down to me. My great-aunt gave it to me when I was born. Now I feel connected to my great-grandmother, despite having never met her.  

Collage of kippah and other clothing on patterned green background

The Gendered Dimensions of Choosing to Wear a Kippah

Miriam Stodolsky

For some reason, wearing kippot gave me that same itchy, wrong feeling I had experienced from feminine clothing in elementary school or masculine clothing in middle school

Woman wearing Victorian costume

7 Questions For Vi

D. B. Ashkenazi

JWA talks to Vi, historical costume designer and YouTube creator.

Collage of drawings of skirts and pants on periwinkle background

Is the Future of Modern Orthodox Women In Pants?

Aviva Schilowitz

For some Modern Orthodox Jewish women, skirts versus pants gets tricky.

Black and white collage of clothing items and hangers

To Reveal or Not To Reveal: Modesty, Jewish Feminism, and the Male Gaze

Ava Weinstein

Recently, I’ve embarked on a mission to dress how I want, when I want.

Collage of Milla Jovavitch in The Fifth Element on a blue sparkling background

Finding Tzniut in The Fifth Element's Futurist Costumes

Noa Karidi

The film The Fifth Element creates an aspirational society in which a woman does not feel exposed or sexualized because of what she wears. I want that for all of us. 

Collage of Clara Lemlich on blue background

Slowing Down Fast Fashion: Lessons from Clara Lemlich

Clara Sorkin

Clara Lemlich, the female garment workers she led in striking, and the women who have come after her prove that strength truly comes in numbers and in unity.

Frances Berman Sulsky

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Frances Berman Sulsky was interviewed by Elaine Eff on April 30, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Sulsky discusses her upbringing, millinery career, family moves, the Jewish neighborhood, business growth, and reflections on being a businesswoman and life in Baltimore.

Collage of Cass Elliot and Rabbi Minna Bromberg on white and yellow checkered background

Unearthing the Fat Underground

Judy Ruden

All Jewish bodies are important, no matter what they do or don’t look like. We have to care for each other in a way that makes every single body feel included.

Micky Loveman

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Miriam “Micky” Loveman on August 14, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Loveman reflects on her life journey, from her childhood in Boston to move to Baltimore, her successful career in shoe sales, and her experiences with family and relationships, highlighting her love for her work and the joy she found in connecting with customers.

Outlined drawings of New York City skyline, Star of David necklace, and subway cars

Wearing My Star of David Necklace, Loud and Proud

Nora Auburn

The thought of wearing something that declared my Judaism felt strange.

Selma Litman

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Marcie Cohen Ferris interviewed Selma Cohen Litman on July 9, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Litman recalls her family history, including her father's journey from Russia to the United States, her mother's immigration, and her childhood memories in Baltimore, as well as experiences working at a Bridal Shop and balancing her career with raising her children in a vibrant Jewish household.

Elsie Miller Legum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Elsie Miller Legum on April 19, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Legum talks about her childhood in a large family, strict upbringing, Jewish observance, neighborhoods in Baltimore, elopement, work at Miller Brothers, second marriage, and reflections on friendship, family, and Judaism.

Carolyn Blumenthal Danz

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Carolyn Danz on May 11 and May 16, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words project. Danz shares her family history, childhood experiences with volunteer work, a career as a businesswoman, single parenthood, involvement in Jewish and civic organizations, and her active life, including founding the Northwest Croquet Association.

Frieda Piepsch Sondland

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Frieda Sondland on May 1 and 17, 2001, in Mercer Island, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Frieda recounts her family's escape from Nazi Germany, their journey to South America, and their eventual settlement in Seattle, highlighting community involvement, and the challenges of parenting and aging.

Image of Star of David Necklace Over Star of David Background

How My Star of David Necklace Helped Me Understand My Jewish Identity

Sofia Isaias-Day

The Star of David and its history helps me understand the different layers of my Jewish identity; the symbol represents the different cultures we’ve embraced as part of the diaspora.

Collage of Torah, Jade Chai Necklace, and Image of Amanda Xinhui Malnik

My Necklace is a Symbol of My Jewish-Chinese Feminist Identity

Amanda Xinhui Malnik

My jade chai necklace has become my most prized possession as a Jewish-Chinese feminist.

Photo of Mirushe Zylali in her handmade entari

Reinventing Fashion: What’s Old Is New Again

Mirushe "Mira" Zylali

Fashioning my own dress in a traditional Ottoman style helped me reclaim my multilayered roots.

Collage with Three Women in Underwear; Background of Squares overlayed with underwear

Commercial Femininity: A Jewish Reckoning with Victoria's Secret's Legacy

Goldi Lieberperson

Growing up, Victoria's Secret models represented my default (and only) view of femininity and what it means to be an adult woman.

Illustration of Curly Hair

Embracing My Curls, Embracing My Jewish Femininity

Simone Miller

My hair doesn’t only destroy hair ties; it also destroys insecurities about my Jewishness and femininity.

Gold Star of David necklace hanging in midair, in partial focus.

Jewelry and Jewish Feminism

Lila Goldstein

Like everything we wear, our jewelry displays our tastes and preferences. On a deeper level, though, it also projects our values to the world.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

The Fashion of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"

Rebecca Long
This summer, no movie captured our hearts like Netflix's To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Rafaella Rabinovich, the costume designer responsible for film's iconic looks, discusses the most popular outfits from the movie and the importance of representation in film.
Man Wearing Native American Headdress

Inappropriate Appropriation

Sofia Heller

My classmates started posting pictures from last year’s Coachella, their excitement for the music festival illuminating my phone screen. However, amidst all the elation, I couldn’t help but notice the troubling cultural appropriation that also filled the pictures. In the backgrounds of nearly every photo I saw, there were young women wearing bindis and feathered headdresses, and young men wearing war paint. Unfortunately, this insensitivity to and misappropriation of cultures is not specific to Coachella, nor is it a new problem in fashion.

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