2,179 articles
Vikki Dougan
Vikki Dougan (Edith Elaine Tooker, born January 1, 1929), American model and actress nicknamed "The Back" for her backless gowns, a Milton Weiss publicity strategy from 1956; Batjac contractee, LIFE cover subject, later inspiration cited for Jessica Rabbit.
Villanovan culture
The Villanovan culture, also known as the Villanovan civilization, was the Early Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, regarded as the formative phase of the Etruscan civilization.
Vineyard Vines
Vineyard Vines is a privately held American lifestyle clothing brand founded in 1998 on Martha's Vineyard by brothers Shep and Ian Murray, known for its smiling pink whale logo, neckties, slogan "Every day should feel this good," and Stamford, Connecticut headquarters.
Vintage clothing
Vintage clothing: garments and accessories at least 20 but under 100 years old, distinct from antique (100+ years) and retro (new old-style). Dated by labels, construction, and sizing; now a major resale market segment.
Vinted
Vinted is a Lithuanian online marketplace for buying and selling second-hand items, especially clothing. Founded in Vilnius in 2008, it has over 80 million users.
Violet Chachki
Violet Chachki, the stage name of Jason Dardo, is an American drag queen from Atlanta, Georgia, who won season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2015.
Virgil Abloh
Virgil Abloh (1980–2021), American designer, architect, and DJ; founder of Off-White (2013) and Louis Vuitton's first Black menswear artistic director (2018); died of cardiac angiosarcoma at 41.
Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood, born Vivienne Isabel Swire (1941 to 2022), was a British fashion designer who defined London punk style, revived the corset, and became a Dame in 2006.
Vogue Knitting
Vogue Knitting, also published in Europe as Designer Knitting, is an American fashion-knitting magazine founded by Condé Nast in 1932, relaunched in 1982, and now Soho Publishing's flagship title, issued five times yearly with Knitting LIVE! events and The Next Loop membership.
Vogue Williams
Vogue Williams, born 1985 in Dublin, is an Irish presenter, model, DJ and podcaster who rose to fame on RTÉ's Fade Street (2010), won Bear Grylls: Mission Survive (2015), hosts My Therapist Ghosted Me, and is married to Spencer Matthews.
Volcom
Volcom is an American action sports apparel brand founded in 1991 by Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall in Orange County, California, known for the Stone logo and "Youth Against Establishment" ethos; formerly Kering-owned, now an Authentic Brands Group licensing asset.
Vologda lace
Vologda lace (вологодское кружево) is a Russian bobbin lace made in the Vologda region of northern Russia, recognizable by a dense curving tape pattern over a fine openwork mesh.
Von Dutch
Von Dutch is a Los Angeles streetwear brand named for custom-car artist Kenneth Howard, famous for early-2000s trucker hats, celebrity gifting, internal disputes, and its 2024 acquisition by WSG Brands.
Vyshyvanka
Vyshyvanka (вишиванка) is the traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt or blouse, also worn in Belarus, made of linen, cotton, or hemp with regional motifs; a marker of Ukrainian identity, revived after 2014 and central to World Vyshyvanka Day on the third Thursday of May.
Waistcoat
The waistcoat, called a vest in American English, is a snug sleeveless garment buttoned down the front, first decreed part of gentleman's dress by Charles II in 1666.
Wajima-nuri
Wajima-nuri (輪島塗) is Japanese lacquerware from Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, known for exceptional durability from a diatomaceous-earth undercoating and cloth reinforcement, made in roughly 120 specialist steps and designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1977.
Wallace Collection
Wallace Collection: national museum of fine and decorative arts at Hertford House, Manchester Square, London. Formed by the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace in 1897, opened 22 June 1900, free entry, 5,637 works.
Walt Flanagan
Walt Flanagan (Walter Flanagan), American comic shop manager of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash since 1997, Comic Book Men cast member, Tell 'Em Steve-Dave podcaster, and artist of Batman: Cacophony and Cryptozoic Man.
Wampum
Wampum (sewant, zewant): tubular purple and white shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands, made from whelk and quahog, used in diplomacy belts, as mnemonic treaty records, and as colonial currency.
Wang Shusheng
Wang Shusheng (王树森; 1917–1989), courtesy name Shaozhi, was a Chinese jade carver from Beijing, one of the "Four Talents of Northern Jade" and leader of the "86 Project."
War bonnet
War bonnet (warbonnet, Cheyenne mȧmaa > ėstse): a Plains Indian ceremonial headdress of golden eagle feathers earned through brave deeds, not a generic Native costume; two main forms, eagle-feathered and split-horned, with NAGPRA repatriation issues.
Wardown Park Museum
Wardown Park Museum, formally Wardown House, Museum and Gallery, is a free local history museum in a Grade II listed Victorian mansion in Wardown Park, Luton, a museum since 1931, known for its hat, Bedfordshire lace, and regimental collections.
Wardrobe malfunction
Wardrobe malfunction: an accidental (or supposedly accidental) clothing failure exposing private body parts. Coined in 2004 by Justin Timberlake after Janet Jackson's Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime incident; FCC fined CBS $550,000, later overturned.
Wari tapestry weaving
Wari tapestry weaving is the elite textile tradition of the Wari Empire (c. 600–1000 CE), centered near Ayacucho, Peru, and expressed in prestigious tapestry-woven men's tunics.
Warli painting
Warli painting: tribal wall-painting tradition of the Warli Adivasi tribe of the North Sahyadri Range, Maharashtra and Gujarat; white rice-paste geometric figures on cow-dung walls; GI-tagged since 2014; Jivya Soma Mashe brought it to world galleries.
Warner Bros. Museum
The Warner Bros. Museum, opened 1996 in Burbank, is a 7,000-square-foot exhibit space on the VIP Studio Tour, distinct from the WB Archives and the London Harry Potter tour, displaying costumes, props, Batmobiles, and Oscars.
Warping (weaving)
Warping is the weaving process of measuring, arranging, and mounting the lengthwise yarns, the warp, onto a loom, including beaming, threading the heddles, and sleying the reed.
Washi (和紙)
Washi (和紙) is Japan's traditional paper, made from kōzo, mitsumata, and gampi bark fibers by hand papermaking since around 610; paper from 702 survives in the Shōsōin, and three techniques were inscribed by UNESCO in 2014.
Weaving
Weaving: interlacing warp and weft yarns on a loom to make cloth. Also called loom or textile weaving. Defined by shedding, picking, and beating in; plain, twill, and satin structures; handloom versus powerloom.
Weaving cooperatives
Weaving cooperatives are member-owned enterprises in which hand-weavers jointly own the business, elect leadership, and share surplus, ranging from village societies of a few dozen women to Indian state federations with over 20,000 members.