Podcasts are undoubtedly one of the most popular forms of digital media in our current age. Like many of my peers, I love putting on a good podcast while I’m running errands, tidying my room, doing the laundry etc. I had never thought to listen to fashion podcasts – in fact, I subconsciously assumed none of any value existed. Fashion, in my mind at least, has always been an art expressed in a very binary manner: either through digital and physical magazines, or social media. Podcasts and fashion instinctively feel contradictory; fashion is fundamentally based on visual appeal, so how can the essence of the art be captured in audio form? Once the thought popped into my head that fashion podcasts might exist, I spent hours scouring the internet to compile a list of all of the fashion podcasts out there. Far more time than I would like to admit has been spent listening to hours upon hours of talk about clothes, accessories, trends, ins and outs, the list goes on. Hopefully, this time has not been wasted (if not for the sake of my own sanity) as I present to you, in my opinion, the current ‘best’ fashion podcasts.

“Fashion, in my mind at least, has always been an art expressed in a very binary manner”

Style-ish

If you are searching for the most up-to-date fashion news and trend insights, this is the podcast for you. Weekly episodes are hosted by its three female hosts, Maddison Sullivan-Thorpe, Anika Joshi-Smith and Joanna Fleming, with episode topics ranging from breakdowns of outfits worn by celebrities to musings on fashion icons like Vivienne Westwood, as well as practical tips for finding your personal style. I particularly enjoyed how data-driven this podcast is in comparison to the others on this list. The episode titled ‘The trends that will define 2025’ particularly comes to mind here; in this episode, one of the hosts, Anika Joshi-Smith, delved into internet search engine statistics to predict the comeback of boho-chic and the nautical trend. If the idea of ‘cores’ in fashion interests you, you will enjoy this podcast’s deep dive into how ‘Castlecore’ – a product of ‘Medieval Revival’ that blends storytelling and fashion – is set to dominate fashion in 2025. The dialogue is very accessible and feels more like a conversation between friends, so Style-ish is definitely the kind of podcast you can have playing in the background.

Dressed: The History of Fashion

The clue’s in the name with this one. This podcast is led by two fashion historians, April Calahan and Cassidy Zachary, whose passion for the history of the industry is infectious. This podcast is definitely the most retrospective out of the bunch, so if you are looking for coverage of current fashion news, events or trend predictions, you might want to skip this one. However, if you are interested in tracing the social and cultural histories of what we wear today, this is definitely the podcast for you. A unique aspect of this podcast is how much academia is embedded within it – Calahan and Zachary frequently interview academics and experts in fashion history. Episodes range from the history of pockets and eyeliner to the history of fashion houses such as Gucci. One episode, titled ‘Fashion by the Letter: A to Z’, even unpacked the fashion of fictional characters in literature like Dolly Varden from Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge, a character who triggered what would later become known as the ‘Dolly Varden Dress Craze’ in the 1870s. No episode is the same and each one is filled to the brim with historical information in an easily digestible form.

Articles of Interest

Produced and hosted by Avery Trufelman, this podcast began as a miniseries for the public radio show 99% Invisible. Trufelman admits herself that she, in the past, “…thought [fashion] was snobby. The way that women’s bodies are represented, those idealized, white, poreless faces, who can relate to that? I certainly couldn’t.” Viewing the fashion industry through a critical lens, Trufelman’s podcast confidently approaches the less ‘glamorous’ yet deeply intriguing fashion topics such as prison uniforms and designer knockoffs. Out of all the podcasts, the topics discussed in Articles of Interest are by far the most abstract, but they are thought-provoking. Trufelman does not shy away from challenging topics; her episode titled Modesty asks the question “Why would God care what we wear?”, touring through Islam, Mormonism and Judaism to explore religious commands surrounding modesty and whether it has an oppressive or liberating effect. If complex issues attached to the fashion industry interests you, this podcast will not fail to provide some food for thought.

“There is truly a plethora of high-quality, entertaining fashion media in audio form”

Sustain This!

As its name suggests, this podcast is fundamentally concerned with the importance of slow fashion and mindful consumption. Much like Style-ish, this podcast is hosted by a trio of fashion designers – Alyssa Beltempo, Christina Mychas and Signe Hansen – who take the listener on their personal journey towards becoming a conscious consumer and building an intentional wardrobe. This is not just a podcast about sustainable fashion, though. Episodes range from practical advice to discussions on the current challenges the fashion industry is facing; whether you need help getting out of a style rut, are seeking some colour analysis expertise, require secondhand shopping tips, or are interested in how AI may shape the fashion industry in the future, Sustain This! offers a rich bank of fashion insight, with slow fashion as its driving force.

If there is one thing I have learnt from listening to dozens of fashion podcast episodes back to back in a short period of time – which I highly recommend against doing – it is that there is truly a plethora of high-quality, entertaining fashion media in audio form. This list provides just a glimpse into the world of fashion podcasts and is only my opinion of the ‘best’ ones out there. Have a listen to any of the ones I have suggested, or by all means, find your own personal favourites – the fashion podcast world is your oyster.

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