A Fond and Fashionable Farewell to Dressed

Dressed: The History of Fashion

Hosts April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary announce the conclusion of their podcast, Dressed: The History of Fashion, after 580 episodes and eight

Key takeaways

• The podcast officially ended after 580 episodes and nearly nine years of broadcasting.
• April Callahan is launching Fashion Scene Paris, focusing on fashion history-based tours in Paris.
• Cassidy Zachary is continuing her work through The Art of Dress with new classes and a newsletter.
• The hosts transitioned from being part of the iHeart network to running the show independently.
• Notable past guests mentioned include Mary Wilson of the Supremes and designer Barbara Hulanicki.

Main topics

• Podcast conclusion
• Reflections on fashion history
• Future projects

Notable quotes

It's just a thing where that something has run its course.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a heartfelt tribute to the impact of public fash

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Dressed the History of Fashion is a production of Dressed Media. With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day, we all get dressed. Welcome to Dressed the History of Fashion, Speaker 2 (0:17) a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are friends, fashion historians, and your hosts, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary. Speaker 1 (0:27) It has been a minute. It certainly has. Hi, dress listeners. We're sorry for probably the unexpected breach in this new season that we launched and then stopped launching. Speaker 2 (0:40) Yeah, yeah. So we took Speaker 1 (0:42) a longer than expected hiatus this year. You might have noticed. Usually we always go on break for our. winter hiatus. And we did, but we took four months. It just took us a really long time to come back. And then we in all of our brilliancy, is that a word, decided to launch can be in this context, launch season nine, literally the week April moved to Paris and sustaining that got really hard. And some things revealed themselves to April and I during this process. And that is why today's episode is our last episode of the dress podcast. Speaker 2 (1:23) Yeah. Us working on an eight hour time difference, not a functional system in the way that Cass and I work. And also too, just to be perfectly honest, we have made almost 600 episodes and it's not that we have run out of content. It's that we are tired. Yes, yes. Speaker 1 (1:45) And I think many of you have been with us since the very beginning, since we launched in 2018. And we were with iHeart. We had a team with iHeart and a support system. And then we got to take the show independent, which was a huge opportunity for us to own our show and own our content. And we were so grateful. But that also meant that April and I were now the editors, our own assistants, social media managers, all of this stuff. And then again, perfectly honest, dress listeners, just to financially sustain this just has not been tenable. And it's been really hard on us. It's been really burnout is a good word, April. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Basically, we have been doing 10 people's jobs. Yes. And Speaker 2 (2:31) creating also at the same time. Yes. Speaker 1 (2:34) And then while also trying to pursue our own individual things. April just moved to Paris to launch fashion history tours. I'm doing stuff with the art of dress and and finishing your PhD. Yeah, let's Speaker 2 (2:47) not. Speaker 1 (2:48) And going back for my PhD and we very much love each other. We love dress and everything we've built and we love you dress listeners and we just want you to know that this decision is one that we did not come to lightly or easily. We talked about Speaker 2 (3:04) it for months. We've been talking about this for months. We're like, Speaker 2 (3:10) Like, it's just a thing where that something has run its course. And it was beautiful. And it was lovely. And it was amazing. But now we just want to, we both just kind of want to go do other stuff. Speaker 1 (3:23) Yeah. So this is not. It's goodbye to dress, but it is not in any way goodbye to April and I. We both at probably near the end of today's episode will share with you what our new projects are and where you can find us moving forward. But let's not make this a sad day. April and I, I think we can maybe reflect a little bit on what dress has meant to us, how much we have achieved together over the last 15 years, because April and I actually... Speaker 2 (3:52) 15 Speaker 1 (3:52) years! Yes! 15 years! Started working together, as many of you know, in 2011 when we met and bonded over fashion plates and special collections and then got to start this wonderful podcast together in 2018. So I don't know if you have most memorable moments, April, or favorite episodes you want to reflect on. But yeah, it's been an incredible experience. 15 years is an insane run. Speaker 2 (4:18) Yeah. I would like to say that. Some of my most favorite moments are with the guests that have just open arms said yes. I think over the course of our now almost 600 episodes. So I don't know if you guys realize this, but when Cassidy produces an episode, it's her interviewing the guests. We'll both be on at the intro and the outro. But if it's my episode, it's the thing. You're doing the bulk of the interview. Yeah, yeah. That's how you know who's producing that episode. I think maybe we've only ever had two people that we've invited on the show say no. Speaker 1 (4:59) At least Speaker 2 (5:00) for me. Yeah. And people have just embraced us with open arms. And we have created this thing that will exist in perpetuity. It will exist forever. This is fashion history available to anyone and everyone in the form of public history. And I think that's what I'm the most proud of. What about you? Speaker 1 (5:23) Yeah, I think so, too. I think going, we both started in academia, right, or academic with our master's degree in the fashion and museum studies program at FIT. And you never really know where you're going to go from there, right? And a lot of people do go into museums or they work in academia, they teach. And there is a very... In academia in general, there's an