Dressed: The History of Fashion
Jun 19, 2026 · 18 min · 13 segments
It's World Pride month and all things rainbow! This 2019 minisode discusses the origin of the multicolored pride flag emblazoned upon innumerable garments to be worn this month. Learn more about your…
Cass, today is our Thursday fashion history mystery minisode, and today's inquiry comes to us by way of a listener question and also my recent trip to Target.
[laughs] Um, well, a some- some time ago, a few months back, listener Stephanie McMurray wrote to us, and she requested an episode on the wearing of flags.
And I thought this was a really intriguing question, as there are very specific examples in haute couture and in high fashion, um, of designers using flags to create garments.
Like for instance, Elsa Schiaparelli worked with the luxury textile ma- manufacturer Colcombet in 1940 to create silks printed with versions of flags of famous French military regiments.
Yeah, and designer Elizabeth Haas did something similar around the same time.
Silk was being rationed at this time due to its p- use for parachutes during World War II, so Haas actually purchased existing flags from the inventory of a flag retailer.
And, and while these are two very specific instances, an entire episode on the wearing of flags this does not make.
So for a few months now, I'd kind of been racking my brain of how to speak about the wearing of flags in a broader context, and that's where my visit to Target comes in, because I had popped in recently to get some napkins for a party that I was having, and when I walked in, I was met by an entire wall of rainbow garments.
Yes, and because of course June is World Pride Month, and if you have ever wondered about how the six-striped rainbow flag came to be a proud symbol of the LGBTQ+ communities, well, that's what we are very excited to delve into today.
Cass, today is our Thursday fashion history mystery minisode, and today's inquiry comes to us by way of a listener question and also my recent trip to Target.
[laughs] Um, well, a some- some time ago, a few months back, listener Stephanie McMurray wrote to us, and she requested an episode on the wearing of flags.
And I thought this was a really intriguing question, as there are very specific examples in haute couture and in high fashion, um, of designers using flags to create garments.
Like for instance, Elsa Schiaparelli worked with the luxury textile ma- manufacturer Colcombet in 1940 to create silks printed with versions of flags of famous French military regiments.
Yeah, and designer Elizabeth Haas did something similar around the same time.
Silk was being rationed at this time due to its p- use for parachutes during World War II, so Haas actually purchased existing flags from the inventory of a flag retailer.
And, and while these are two very specific instances, an entire episode on the wearing of flags this does not make.
So for a few months now, I'd kind of been racking my brain of how to speak about the wearing of flags in a broader context, and that's where my visit to Target comes in, because I had popped in recently to get some napkins for a party that I was having, and when I walked in, I was met by an entire wall of rainbow garments.
Yes, and because of course June is World Pride Month, and if you have ever wondered about how the six-striped rainbow flag came to be a proud symbol of the LGBTQ+ communities, well, that's what we are very excited to delve into today.
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