Heather Vaughan Lee

Heather Vaughan Lee is a historian, author, lecturer, and museum consultant whose work focuses on the intersection of clothing and cultural history. Lee specializes in the study of dress from the late 19th through the 20th century, with particular emphasis on American fashion history, the history of knitting in America and the United Kingdom, and the career of Natacha Rambova, a film costume and fashion designer. Lee is the founding author of Fashion Historia, a platform dedicated to exploring the history of fashion with a focus on California and the West Coast, offering book reviews, historical research, theoretical discussions, and insights from both scholars and enthusiasts.

Lee has worked in the fields of clothing and history for more than 15 years, collaborating with museums nationwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and Turtle Bay Exploration Park & Museum. Her curatorial experience includes hands-on exhibition projects, such as her work on the exhibition "Material Culture: Form, Function & Fashion" at Turtle Bay Exploration Park & Museum, where she identified significant artifacts that highlight the stories found in everyday objects. Lee has also delivered lectures on the fashion career of Natacha Rambova in conjunction with exhibitions at the Phoenix Art Museum Fashion Gallery.

Her publications include editing and contributing to "Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion From Head to Toe," "Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style," "Essays on Women's Artistic and Cultural Contributions 1919-1939," and the "Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing in American History." Her book "Artifacts from American Fashion" examines daily life in 20th-century America through fashion artifacts, exploring key aspects of social life and culture. The book covers 45 essential articles of fashion or accessories, chosen to illuminate significant areas of daily life and history, including politics, world events, war, transportation, technology, home and work life, art and entertainment, health, sport, leisure, and alternative cultures such as youth, ethnic, queer, and counterculture.

In addition to her publications and exhibitions, Lee provides consulting services and self-publishes modernized knitting patterns based on historical designs. Her articles have appeared in publications such as Piecework Magazine, including "Specialties of the House: Designer Elizabeth Laird Mathieson, J & P Coats, and Spool Cotton Company" and "Make Do: Feed-Sack Fashions in the First Half of the Twentieth Century." Lee's work encompasses articles, books, and lectures for both academic and general audiences interested in fashion history. She has also served as Costume Society of America Western Region past president, reflecting her ongoing involvement in the field of dress history.