Podcasts by Dress: Fancy: The Podcast About Dressing Up

Inside the Real Bridgerton Court: Who Was the Real Queen Charlotte? from 2023-02-24T00:00

In advance of the eagerly anticipated Shondaland spinoff series “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” (Netflix, 4th May), Lucy Clayton takes a look at the real-life story behind one of televisio...

The Crown in Vogue with Robin Muir&Josephine Ross from 2022-12-30T00:00

Lucy Clayton interviews Robin Muir & Josephine Ross, authors of “The Crown in Vogue) – join us as we rifle through the Vogue archive of a century’s worth of Royal Reporting. From Coronations, We...

Costume Anxiety&the Nativity Play – The DRESS:FANCY 2023 Christmas Special! from 2022-12-09T00:00

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, the DRESS:FANCY podcast Christmas special! Join Lucy Clayton for an episode filled with glitter, nostalgia and dressing up as we explore the chaotic wor...

The Definitive Guide to Dressing Up – A History of Fancy Dress in Britain from 2022-11-25T00:00

Lucy Clayton is joined by Verity Wilson, author of Dressing Up: A History of Fancy Dress in Britain, for a glorious exploration of the creative and chaotic ways costume plays a role in ...

Dress: Fancy needs your Christmas costume dramas! from 2022-11-24T00:00

This year, our Christmas special theme is costume anxiety and the nativity play. Together with a nursery school head teacher, Lucy will be answering your questions about making papier-mâché came...

The House of Embroidered Paper – Reimagining Regency Fashion with artist Stephanie Smart from 2022-11-11T00:00

Host Lucy Clayton visits artist Stephanie Smart, on location at Worthing Museum, for a masterclass in quilling and a tour of Stephanie’s work – Regency fashions crafted only from paper. In this ...

The Crown Bonus Special: Meet Lucy’s Mother AKA Accidental 90s Princess Diana Lookalike from 2022-11-09T00:00

DRESS:FANCY podcast celebrates the launch of the new season of Netflix’s The Crown with this by popular demand bonus show… following our episode with Eloise Moran of @ladydirevengelooks, host Lu...

Lady Diana Revenge Looks from 2022-10-28T00:00

In this episode we turn our attention to one of the most revered style icons in all the world – Princess Diana.

Join host Lucy Clayton and Eloise Moran, founder of the cult Instagram @lad...

Haunting Fashion: Clothing Beyond the Grave from 2022-10-14T00:00

Our annual Halloween show is the highlight of the DRESS:FANCY year. Host Lucy Clayton is joined by writers Rosalind Yana and Chris Woodyard to explore the perplexing human impulse to imbue cloth...

The Official Laura Ashley Fan Club from 2022-10-02T00:00

Dress: Fancy begins a new season with a special episode exploring the history and influence of Laura Ashley – join host Lucy Clayton and fellow Laura Ashley obsessives Isabel Spearman, founder o...

New season trailer – Autumn/Winter 2022 from 2022-09-28T12:06

Host Lucy Clayton gives a glimpse of what's in store for the new season of Dress: Fancy.

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Unhidden: Disability, accessibility, and universal design in fashion – with entrepreneur and activist Victoria Jenkins from 2022-06-24T00:00

Lucy Clayton is joined by Victoria Jenkins, Founder and CEO of the clothing brand Unhidden. Victoria is an award winning adaptive designer, disability advocate, write and speaker and here she sh...

“You’re Doing it Wrong” – A Celebration of Fashion, Beauty and Misogyny Throughout the Ages from 2022-06-10T00:00

Lucy Clayton is joined by guest Kaz Cooke, bestselling author of “You’re Doing it Wrong: A History of Bad & Bonkers Advice to Women” for a fresh, funny and furious look at the terrible ...

Gloves: Function, Fashion and Fantasy from 2022-05-27T00:00

Lucy Clayton is joined by Dr Anne Green, author of "Gloves: An Intimate History" for an exploration of the history of gloves, right through to their role in contemporary fashion. This episode is...

How to Care for the Shoes, Bags&Clothes You Love with The Restory from 2022-05-13T00:00

Lucy Clayton is joined by Emily Rea, Co-aFounder of The Restory for a masterclass looking after the stuff you love. From simple reheeling to full blown reimagining - discover how aftercare can t...

Launch Party for "Harry Styles and the Clothes He Wears" with Author Terry Newman from 2022-04-29T00:00

Feather boas at the ready! Join Lucy Clayton in conversation with author Terry Newman to celebrate the upcoming launch of her new book - a delicious, deep dive into the wardrobe of fashion icon Mr ...

Fashioning Masculinities – The Art of Menswear at the V&A from 2022-04-15T00:00

Join Lucy Clayton for a private guided tour of the V&A’s new blockbuster exhibition: Fashioning Masculinities, The Art of Menswear with curators Claire Wilcox and Rosalind McKever.

In Intimate Detail: Everything you need to know about lingerie with Cora Harrington and Lucy Clayton from 2022-04-01T00:00

For the first time, in this episode of DRESS:FANCY we’re taking OFF our clothes to uncover what lies beneath...

Guest Cora Harrington is an American writer and commentator widely recognised as o...

Sali Hughes&Lucy Clayton introduce Beauty Banks x DRESS:FANCY from 2022-03-18T00:00

Welcome to a new season of DRESS:FANCY where we’re using our collective power to do some good by partnering with the charity Beauty Banks. Together, we’re launching their micro donation campaign. J...

New Season Trailer – Spring 2022 from 2022-03-11T00:00

THE podcast about dressing up. Listen to discover what the new season of Dress:Fancy has in store.

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Dressing Up With… Lou Taylor from 2022-03-04T00:00

From the makers of DRESS:FANCY podcast comes a new series about the messages and meaning behind what we wear.

Host Lucy Clayton is joined by designers, artists, activists, celebr...

Part 2: A Very British Scandal, with Adrian Tinniswood from 2022-02-04T00:00

Join Lucy Clayton, author Adrian Tinniswood, Margaret Ducness of Argyll and the international jet set for a conversation about the social context surrounding this fashion icon and controversial soc...

A Very British Scandal: The Real-Life Wardrobe of the Duchess of Argyll from 2022-01-28T00:00

Hands up if you enjoyed “A Very British Scandal” the BBC drama written by Sarah Phelps, starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany? ****OF COURSE YOU DID! So, here’s a treat for everyone craving more ...

Christmas Special - Dress: Fancy Goes to Claridge's from 2021-12-15T00:00

It’s here! The DRESS:FANCY Christmas special.

This is always a show full of delight and sequins but this year, it’s an extra-glittery treat because we’re taking you all to Claridge’s.

Dressing up with... Alex T Smith from 2021-12-10T00:00

From the makers of DRESS:FANCY podcast comes a new series about the messages and meaning behind what we wear.

Host Lucy Clayton is joined by designers, artists, activists, celebr...

Styling Sustainability with Patrick McDowell from 2021-12-03T00:00

Lucy Clayton is joined by special co-host - maverick designer, sustainability campaigner and consummate dresser upper, Patrick McDowell.

Sustainable fashion is the future - but it's also ...

Mary Quant: the Life and Times of a Fashion Legend – In Conversation with Director Sadie Frost from 2021-11-26T00:00

Lucy Clayton is joined by special guest co-host Sadie Frost – fresh from directing the new documentary about the life and times of fashion legend Mary Quant.

Lucy and Sadie discuss the le...

Dressing in Disguise: Evasions, escapes, and emancipation from 2021-11-19T00:00

Join Lucy Clayton and Guest Co-Host Patrick Grant for an exploration of the history of dressing for disguise. This episode covers clothes for evading detection, getting away with murder, avoidin...

Dressing Up With... Phin Harper from 2021-11-10T00:00

From the makers of DRESS:FANCY podcast comes a new series about the messages and meaning behind what we wear.

Host Lucy Clayton is joined by designers, artists, activists, celebr...

Noble Ambitions: The Fall and Rise of the Post-war Country House, with Adrian Tinniswood from 2021-10-29T00:00

Join Lucy Clayton and author Adrian Tinniswood to celebrate the launch of his new book. With the grandest houses in Britain as the backdrop to this episode, we take you to a period where traditi...

My Beautiful Radium - Glow in the Dark Halloween Special from 2021-10-18T00:00

Join Lucy and Ben for an exploration of fashion's eternal fascination with Glow in the Dark. From the heart-wrenching story of the Radium Girls in the 1920s to neon nights in the 1990s' rave sce...

Dress the Baby Halloween Costume Competition from 2021-09-17T00:00

Reflecting on the season that has been, and teasing exciting future developments, Lucy and Ben introduce a frighteningly fun competition for Halloween to keep listeners engaged in the costume dr...

Code Purple: Costumes&Cavorting with Prince from 2021-09-03T00:00

In this episode, Lucy and Ben are joined by author Casci Ritchie to talk about the life and wardrobe of one of the greatest artists of all time: Prince. Reflecting on gender, race and the role o...

Dressed x Dress: Fancy Go Through the Looking Glass from 2021-08-25T10:50:38

Inspired by this season’s epic exhibition at London’s V&A museum, April and Cassidy, Lucy and Ben play dress up in a collaborative show about the influence of Alice in Wonderland on fashions pas...

Dressing for Laughs: Comedy in Costume from 2021-08-13T00:00

This episode puts the gags front and centre. We don’t mean the effortless banter between Lucy and Ben, or her relentless teasing of him (which is only funny for one!), but the laughter and joy t...

Paper Dreams: Costumes from Crêpe from 2021-07-30T00:00

Inspired by a listener’s costume design project, this episode explores the possibilities – and problems – of dressing up with paper. As Lucy struggles with her own creativity (paper patterns are...

Head to Toe: Costume on the Extremities from 2021-07-16T00:00

In this episode, the stars of the show are the bits of the human body - from heads down to toes – that tend to get neglected in our daily clothing, but which take on new prominence and meaning w...

Bare-Faced Cheek: Playboy Undressed from 2021-07-02T00:00

Never slow to come forward, and certainly not shy, Lucy and Ben throw their costumes to the wind this week and talk Playboy. A brand very familiar with dressing up and stripping off. Qu...

Social Climbing on Gilded Stairs from 2021-06-18T00:00

This week, Lucy and Ben take a trip to gilded age New York and rub shoulders with robber baron-socialites, the Vanderbilts. They examine a battery-powered costume and reflect on the trauma and t...

Season 9 trailer from 2021-06-07T16:18:36

Lucy and Ben are back for yet more costume drama, announcing season 9 of the Dress: Fancy podcast, and something to slake your thirst for vintage couture until the first episode arrives...

Dressing Up In Art from 2020-08-14T00:00

This week’s theme is a broad and beautiful one: Lucy and Ben explore the role of dressing up in art with special guest, artist Volker Hermes. The conversation is framed (pun intended) by conside...

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? from 2020-08-07T00:00

Appropriately for a summer quite unlike any other, this week Lucy and Ben invite themselves to a series of surrealist balls. Tagging along with Salvador Dalí, they discuss the Rothschild Ball of...

You Crazy Fool from 2020-07-31T00:00

This week, Lucy and Ben ponder the enduring appeal, and representation, of the duelling relationship between the fictional frenemies, the harlequin and pierrot. From plays and paintings, to fash...

The Chiffon Trenches from 2020-07-24T00:00

This week, Lucy and Ben tweak their normal designer-focused episode to review Andre Leon Talley’s memoir, The Chiffon Trenches. Reflecting on Talley’s exuberant and complex life – in and out of ...

Masqued Realities from 2020-07-17T00:00

This week, Lucy and Ben are off to the court to enjoy the spectacle that was the masque. Propaganda par excellence, this short-lived entertainment during the seventeenth century glorified monarc...

Vive la Révolution: Make-up Gets Ugly from 2020-07-10T00:00

In this week’s episode, Ben and Lucy are taking their diamanté magnifying glass to the face itself, and thinking about a new fashion coinage: Ugly Make-up, or Brutalist Make-up. Reflecting on th...

Episode 46: Keep Your Distance from 2020-06-12T00:00

As the global lockdown eases and we all begin to think about wearing clothes in public, possibly for the first time in three months, Lucy and Ben discuss how the pandemic could change the way we...

Episode 45: A Truly Splendid Spectacle from 2020-06-05T00:00

The past months have been strange, difficult and trying. Fancy dress has been worn by people around the world to provide joy during the pandemic. In this week’s episode, Lucy and Ben consider ho...

Episode 44: Bienvenue, Willkommen, Welcome! from 2020-05-29T00:00

It’s about time! Lucy and Ben wear their smudgiest eyeliner and descend into the subterranean world of the Cabaret. Focusing on two examples from early twentieth-century Europe, in England and G...

Episode 43: Hide and Seek from 2020-05-22T00:00

For many people, the essential part of any fancy dress costume is a face mask. Concealing one identity and making another possible, face coverings have been a source of excitement and anxiety th...

Episode 42: Thoroughly Modern Molly from 2020-05-15T00:00

This week, in the second of our designer-focused mini episodes, Lucy and Ben discuss the bold and beautiful, strong and soft, powerful and playful creations of Molly Goddard. Since 2015, Goddard...

Episode 41: The Darker Side of Dress from 2020-05-08T00:00

This week, Lucy and Ben walk towards the precipice and consider the role and meaning of clothes in six different cults. Reflecting on the relationship between fashion and fanaticism, the show co...

Episode 40: New Kids on the Block from 2020-05-01T08:07:54

Lucy and Ben sacrifice comfort to probe the dark, sometimes demonic, always disruptive world of the New York Club Kids, a diverse group who caroused and challenged in the City That Never Sleeps ...

Episode 39: Scandalous! Beaton & The Bright Young Things from 2020-04-24T00:00

This week, Lucy and Ben explore the life and times of Dress: Fancy’s patron saint, Cecil Beaton. The social upheavals in Europe between the First and Second World Wars created an unsettling mix ...

Episode 38: When Lucy Became Mariella from 2020-04-17T00:00

Series seven commences with a super-niche, and super-indulgent, episode as Lucy transforms herself into Mariella Frostrup and interviews Ben about his new fancy dress-related tome, Listen

Episode 37: Viva Victoria! The enduring appeal of Victoriana from 2019-12-12T06:00

In a suitably festive episode, and to conclude this season’s costume shenanigans, Lucy and Ben consider a form of cultural expression that always seems relevant: Victoriana. From the costumes of...

Episode 36: Pharaohnic Fashion: Egypt, Art Deco and Costume from 2019-12-05T06:00

Lucy talks with Egyptologists Dr Colleen Darnell and Professor John Darnell to reflect on the enduring cultural and sartorial appeal of the land and history of Tutankhamen. From rampant consumer...

Episode 35: Playful Pageantry: Costume revelry at the Royal Opera House from 2019-11-28T06:00

Every year from the late-nineteenth century Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House opened its doors for a night of costumed revelry. Urbanites from all social levels dressed up in the most creative o...

Episode 34: Gender Bender: Behind the Seams with Craig Green from 2019-11-21T06:00

In this week’s episode, Lucy and Ben begin a new mini-series that looks in-depth at the work of fashion designers whose clothing engages with themes we regularly explore through costume; chiefly...

Episode 33: Sirens’ Call: The Underwater World of Mermaids & Mermen from 2019-11-14T06:00

Dress: Fancy has yet to venture off-shore: until now. In this week’s aquatic-themed episode, Lucy introduces Ben to the complex and beautiful world of the merpeople, a diverse community who dres...

Episode 32: Shimmer & Shine: The Pearly Kings & Queens from 2019-11-07T06:00

The City of London has many august traditions, but few are as beautiful, striking and good-natured as that of the Pearly Kings and Queens. Exploring the origins of the Pearlies, the meaning of t...

Episode 31: Little Podcast of Horror from 2019-10-31T06:00

Little Podcast of Horror: Season Six commences on the year’s biggest day for fancy dress: Halloween! Always looking to raise the costume stakes, Lucy and Ben consider costume inspiration from so...

Episode 30: Fancy That! Dressing Up Comes of Age from 2019-10-03T05:00

In this indulgent, nostalgic birthday episode, Lucy & Ben review a year’s worth of super-niche, sequinned dressing up stories. Talking about the podcast’s origins, they revisit their favourite e...

Episode 29: Still Standing: The Costumes and Curation of Elton John from 2019-08-09T09:42:01

In an especially glittering episode, Lucy and Ben discuss the costumes (off stage and on) of the inimitable Rocket Man, Elton John. Reviewing the Star’s sartorial choices decade-by-decade, and c...

Episode 28: Into the Pleasure Garden - The RA Summer Show Lates Event from 2019-07-29T05:00

Getting into the summer spirit in central London, Lucy and Ben re-join the Royal Academy for another Lates costumed extravaganza. Talking with revellers, hosting the Georgian Moonlit Promenade a...

Episode 27: Indulging Imaginations: Picnicking with the Jane Austen Pineapple Appreciation Society from 2019-07-22T05:00

In Pride and Prejuduce Jane Austen extolled the virtues of indulging the imagination ‘in every possible way’. With this in mind, Lucy and Ben joined members of the Jane Austen Pineapple Apprecia...

Episode 26: Stylish Sketches: Manga Lates at the British Museum from 2019-07-15T05:00

Lucy and Ben record live from the front row at the British Museum, listening in on Grayson Perry as he talks with Kensai Yamamoto, and dissecting the fashion and cosplay catwalks inspired by the...

Episode 25: A Midsummer Night’s Dream from 2019-07-08T05:00

On Saturday 20 July, Dress: Fancy will be hosting a costumed parade at this year’s Royal Academy Summer Show Lates event. The theme, excitingly, is ‘Georgian Pleasure Garden’... To prepare for t...

Episode 24: Carte Blanche - The Power of Dressing in White from 2019-06-24T11:31:01

Pristine, pure, powerful, peaceful: the meanings of white are many and various. It should occasion no surprise, then, that dressing in white (and its opposite, black) have long been a popular th...

Episode 23: Going Batty – A Costumed History of Bats from 2019-06-14T05:00

If you were to think of your costumed alter-ego as a creature, it’s unlikely you’d immediately conjure an image of a bat, and yet as this super niche episode demonstrates, bats have long been – ...

Episode 22: Fandoms & Self-Fashioning: Into the World of Cosplay from 2019-06-07T05:00

This week, Dress: Fancy speaks with Professor Therèsa M. Winge from Michigan State University to explore the compelling, complicated and challenging world of cosplay. A distinct form of fancy dr...

Episode 21: Adolescent Avatars: the power and powerlessness of costumed children from 2019-05-31T05:00

Children playing dress-up is age-old and innocent. Or is it? Lucy and Ben go behind the seams to consider if children really do enjoy fancy dress as much the coaxed smiles in family photos sugge...

Episode 20: Your Culture, Their Costume? Fancy Dress and Cultural Appropriation from 2019-05-24T05:00

In 2011, Teen Vogue drew attention to harmful consequences of insensitively chosen fancy dress costumes that reduce beliefs, cultures and people to garish stereotypes. In previous episo...

Episode 19: The Campest Christmas Eva! from 2019-05-17T05:00

The pink carpet has been walked and Lucy and Ben reflect on the costume highs and lows of this year’s Met Gala held on 6 May 2019. Were the outfits sufficiently camp? Why is Ben falling out of l...

Episode 18: Ethereal Excess – Carlos de Beistegui’s Venetian Ball from 2019-05-10T05:00

Described, in all seriousness, as the ‘Ball of the Century’, the Beistegui Ball of 1951 was a fancy dress event like no other: the guest list, the costumes, the l...

Episode 17: Camper Than Christmas? A Preview of the Met Gala Ball from 2019-05-03T05:00

Aside from Halloween, the only other date that gets Lucy and Ben excited is the first Monday in May, when the Metropolitan Museum, New York, hosts its gala ball t...

Episode 16: Aesthetes and the Avantgarde: Costume Balls at the Chelsea Arts Club from 2019-03-14T06:00