2,179 articles
Bedding and Linens
Bedding and linens are bed textiles, from flax sheets to hospital laundry. Distinguishing facts: US healthcare launders about 5 billion pounds yearly, hot-water washing at 71°C for 25 minutes disinfects, and many antibacterial bedding claims fail independent testing.
Behati Prinsloo
Behati Prinsloo, Namibian model (born in Vanderbijlpark or Grootfontein, sources differ on 1988/1989), discovered by Sarah Doukas of Storm Models in Cape Town, Victoria's Secret Angel 2009, wife of Adam Levine.
Belén Rodríguez
Belén Rodríguez (María Belén Rodríguez Cozzani, born 1984, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine model, showgirl and TV host active in Italy since 2004; breakthrough as runner-up (44%) on L'Isola dei famosi 2008, Sanremo 2011 co-host, host of Le Iene and Tu sì que vales.
Belk
Belk is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk, with roughly 300 stores across sixteen Southeastern states selling apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and home goods.
Bell-bottoms
Bell-bottom trousers, also known as flare jeans, are trousers that flare wide below the knee. They were a popular fashion icon in the 1960s and 1970s.
Benin Bronzes
Benin Bronzes: thousands of royal brass plaques, heads, and figures cast by the lost-wax method for the Oba of Benin, Nigeria; looted by Britain in 1897 and now the leading case in colonial-art restitution, with over 1,400 objects' title returned since 2021.
Benin coral beadwork
Benin coral beadwork is the royal bead tradition of the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, in which red coral beads (ivie) mark the Oba's rank.
Benny the Bull
Benny the Bull, mascot of the NBA's Chicago Bulls, debuted in 1969 as the league's first mascot, was named after Ben Bentley, won Forbes' 2013 popularity ranking, and joined the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2017.
Benty Grange helmet
Benty Grange helmet: seventh-century Anglo-Saxon boar-crested spangenhelm, first Anglo-Saxon helmet found, excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1848 at Monyash, Derbyshire; iron frame with horn plates, silver cross, boar crest; Weston Park Museum, Sheffield.
Berber carpets
Berber carpets are handwoven rugs made by Amazigh (Berber) women of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria, with geometric motifs carrying symbolic meanings in Amazigh culture.
Beret
Beret: a round, flat, brimless cap of felted wool, also called the Basque beret or boina. Originating with Béarn shepherds in the Pyrenees, adopted by the Chasseurs alpins in 1891 and later elite military units worldwide.
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman, founded in 1901 by Edwin Goodman and Herman Bergdorf, is a luxury department store at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, Manhattan, with a 1928 Buchman & Kahn landmark building, a 1990 men's store, and ownership history running from Carter Hawley Hale to Neiman Marcus Group and Exemplar Luxury Group.
Bespoke tailoring
Bespoke tailoring: garments made from a pattern drafted from scratch for one customer, with multiple fittings; distinct from made-to-measure, which adjusts an existing pattern; centered historically on Savile Row.
Bestseller (company)
Bestseller A/S is a Danish, family-owned fashion company founded in 1975 and headquartered in Brande, Denmark. It sells clothing through more than 20 brands, including JACK & JONES, VERO MODA, ONLY, and NAME IT.
Betsey Johnson
Betsey Johnson (born 1942) is the American designer of the eponymous "pretty and punk" label, founded with Chantal Bacon in 1978, known for runway cartwheels, leopard prints, and the 2026 Paris Hilton collection.
Bettie Page
Bettie Mae Page (1923–2008), American pin-up model known as the Queen of Pinups, active 1950–1957; Playboy January 1955 centerfold, Irving Klaw bondage films, Kefauver hearings, 1980s revival.
Betty Brosmer
Betty Brosmer (Betty Weider, born Betty Chloe Brosemer) was the highest-paid American pin-up model of the 1950s, famed for her 'impossible waist' (39-19-36), 200+ magazine covers, and later career as a Weider fitness author and icon after marrying Joe Weider in 1961.
Beverly Johnson
Beverly Johnson (born 1952) is an American model, author, and entrepreneur, the first Black model on the cover of American Vogue (August 1974, Francesco Scavullo photo), with 500+ covers, a bestselling 2015 memoir, and an off-Broadway play.
Bhutanese textiles
Bhutanese textiles are the handwoven fabrics of Bhutan, above all the gho and kira national dress, forming one of the most developed weaving traditions in the Himalayas.
Bianca Gascoigne
Bianca Jade Gascoigne (born 1986) is a British glamour model and television personality, the adopted daughter of footballer Paul Gascoigne, known for winning Celebrity Love Island and finishing sixth on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.
Biba
Biba was a London fashion label and retailer founded in 1963 by designer Barbara Hulanicki and Stephen Fitz-Simon, growing from mail order into Big Biba, a seven-storey Kensington High Street department store that closed in 1975.
Biblical clothing
Biblical clothing: dress of ancient Israel and the biblical eastern Mediterranean, from wool and linen tunics, himation cloaks, and nailless sandals to the Exodus 28 priestly vestments, known from texts, Dura-Europos art, and Dead Sea cave textile finds.
Bidriware
Bidriware is a metal handicraft from Bidar, Karnataka, India, where silver wire is inlaid into a blackened zinc-copper alloy, leaving bright silver designs on black.
Big Baller Brand
Big Baller Brand (BBB) is an apparel and footwear company founded in 2016 by LaVar and Tina Ball in Chino Hills, California, known for Lonzo Ball's $495 ZO2 signature shoe, its NCAA-rules controversy, and later legal disputes with co-founder Gregory Alan Foster.
Big Beautiful Woman
BBW (Big Beautiful Woman) is a positive term for a plus-size woman, coined in 1979 by Carole Shaw with BBW Magazine; the male counterpart is BHM, and usage spans dating, fashion, and adult contexts.
Big Tex
Big Tex is the 55-foot cowboy statue and official greeter of the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park, Dallas, famous for "Howdy, Folks!" Originally a 49-foot Kerens, Texas Santa Claus bought for $750, he debuted in 1952, burned in 2012, returned in 2013, and wears size 96 Lucchese boots.
Biggest ball of twine
Biggest ball of twine: disputed US roadside-attraction title held under different measures by Darwin MN (one man, 17,400 lbs), Cawker City KS (community sisal ball), Lake Nebagamon WI (24,100 lbs claim), and Branson MO.
Bigoudène
The bigoudène is the tall white lace headdress of women in the Pays Bigouden, Brittany, around Pont-l'Abbé. It grew from about 8 cm around 1900 to 35 cm after WWII and became a symbol of all Brittany.
Bikini
Bikini: two-piece women's swimsuit with bra top and navel-baring bottoms, introduced in Paris July 5, 1946 by engineer Louis Réard and rival Jacques Heim's Atome, named after Bikini Atoll's nuclear tests.
Bikini variants
Bikini variants: styles of the two-piece swimsuit introduced by Louis Réard in 1946, including string bikini, monokini, tankini, tanga, thong, bandeau, halter, triangle, and underwire tops, with support and coverage differences.