From J. Crew to Jason Wu, First Lady Michelle Obama established herself as a woman who wanted to use fashion to make an impact.

American sportswear owes much to Claire McCardell, who favored a smart approach to style and worked chic, practical pieces into day and eveningwear.

Truman Capote hosted his famous Black and White Ball in November 1966, and the gala remains famous still for its ultra-exclusive guest list.

WWII marked an era of sartorial austerity when the enactment of Law 85 restricted the use of silk, cotton, nylon and wool and regulated business practices.

Five years before astronauts reached the moon, designers were getting into the Space Age groove by creating cheeky interpretations of outer-space chic.

Richard Gere dresses in a sharp Giorgio Armani suit for his role as a male prostitute in American Gigolo, helping to catapult the Italian designer to fame.

An earlier adopter of licensing, Pierre Cardin has been adorning ties, fragrances, flatware and more with his name since the Sixties.

Emboldened by women’s liberation, women ditched their brassieres in droves in the late Sixties, and the braless look became popular.

In August 1969, revelers of the counterculture gathered at Woodstock in fashions that included bell-bottoms, caftans and lots of skin.

The Fendi “Baguette” made its debut in 1997, launching the “It” bag era as we know it, though Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton started the trend in the Fifties.

Many years before he moved in next door to Sarah Palin, author Joe McGinnis was just another bright-eyed reporter with a bestseller on his hands.

With a focus on diversifying her fashion businesses, Ivanka Trump quickly shoots down the idea that she might have too much on her plate.

WWD’s profile of Mr. and Mrs. William F. Buckley Jr. in August 1969 painted a quirky, giddy picture of two of New York society’s most high-profile figures.

Writer Natasha Vargas-Cooper mines the TV series “Mad Men” for cultural and social allusions.

Though she now runs her own highly successful imprint, Talese was once a striving midlevel editor, as documented in an Aug. 26, 1969, WWD profile.