'Covered' Is The (Smart, Funny) Fashion Podcast We've All Been Waiting For

If you're both a fashion enthusiast and a podcast lover, then there has likely been an empty space in your media diet. There are hundreds of fashion podcasts out there, but finding one that addresses the lore, culture, vintage, and trends in one breath is a tall order. In their new podcast, Covered, Ruby Redstone and Natalie Brennan are serving up exactly that.

Ruby, a fashion historian and writer, and Natalie, a podcast producer and writer of fashion newsletter In Search Of, first met as kids. Years later, they reconnected as fellow fashion fans working in media in New York. Their new project together not only marks a reunion between friends in the name of fashion, but also a long-awaited addition to the fashion media zeitgeist. Below, Ruby and Natalie tell us about their newly-launched pod, how it came to fruition, and what we can expect.

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MO: How long has this been in the making?

Natalie Brennan: Last year, Ruby messaged me that she heard my name in the producer credits at the end of a podcast she was listening to. I immediately responded that we should work on something together and we’ve been scheming, researching, and creating Covered ever since. We both had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted the show to sound like from the start because it is a show that we’ve been waiting to hear ourselves. There’s a really big gap in the women’s fashion podcast market. When we launched last week I sent Ruby a screenshot of those DMs but it was unfair of me to make a pregnant woman cry so early in the morning.

Ruby Redstone: Natalie said it best!! It’s been exactly a year since we had this little seedling of an idea, but I think we’ve both been wanting a funny, smart fashion podcast since…podcasts began? Hopefully Covered is that very thing.

MO How did you two meet originally?

NB: Ruby and I met when we were 16 on a high school summer program. We were in the same creative writing class – which really tracks for us now. When I met Ruby I had to go through the devastating process that all kids who grow up in the suburbs must go through at one point or another which is meeting your first city kid. She really broke my brain there for a bit. You must understand how impossibly cool she was even then!

RR: I think it takes a very specific type of teenager to say that they want to spend their summer voluntarily doing summer school, so I’m not surprised that Natalie and I gravitated towards each other. What’s so special to me is that we met as kids, grew apart, and then reconnected as fully-fledged adults. It’s such a rare opportunity to have a new friendship with an old friend.

NB: Okay, now I’ll cry. I care about fashion, but I really, really care about female friendship. It’s the last art form left!

MO: What do you hope your listeners get from the pod? Will there be events or programming around it?

RR: I hope that there’s a little bit of something for everyone who listens! If you love contemporary fashion, Covered provides a little peek into the historical roots of so much of what we see on runways today. If you’re a history nerd, I think we provide an opportunity for some really exciting dialogue between past and present–that’s always my favorite thing. If you just love clothes, there’s that in abundance: our shopping habits, unabashed criticisms, and everything we fawn over.

NB: And if you love banter, we also just do a lot of that! Covered will run every Tuesday for the next few months. Each week, we will cover a different moment in fashion history and dive into its cultural significance today. We end each episode with a segment called “The Accessory” where Ruby and I ask each other questions about our own relationship to clothing, hypotheticals, and what we’re keeping a close eye on. For our first season, we want our listeners to get to know us. But we’re already scheming up some new ideas for season 2!

MO: Can you tell us a little more about each of your backgrounds in fashion?

RR: I’ve worked in fashion since I was 13, and I’ve held a pretty wide variety of roles in the industry from shoe designer to celebrity stylist before settling on fashion writing. I realized that the common thread amongst all my jobs was that I loved the process of researching clothing and digging through archives, so I ended up getting my masters degree in Fashion History a few years ago, which was a wonderful, life-affirming choice because it brought together my nerdier, more disparate interests across the industry. I feel really lucky that I now get to do freelance research, writing, and broadcasting on a blend of historical and contemporary fashion, and I also write my own newsletter about the intersection of the two called Old Fashioned.

NB: I write a fashion newsletter ISO which looks at style through the lens of yearning on the internet. But other than that, I’m on the podcast side of things! I’ve worked in audio for the past 5 years at NPR on All Things Considered and at Pineapple Street Studios on shows like Wind of Change, 9/12, and Borderline Salty. I studied history in university and have always known I wanted to work in the intersection of history and culture – so Covered really is a perfect blend of all of my interests: podcasting, history, and fashion.

MO: Fashion is an interesting world that can both feel frivolous and beautiful/poignant at the same time. How do you rectify that? Or find balance within it?

NB: I’ve always been captivated by media that adds an academic spin to conversations that have been classified as trite or undeserving of further analysis. There's a lot of misogyny wrapped up in the way we talk about fashion – and women’s fashion specifically. Especially at this moment where there is so much hype around menswear. Fashion can be superficial or it can be a tool we can use to understand our past and present culture. Over the years, I’ve come to understand that clothing, for me, is a lens through which I can better understand my own relationship to desire and depth.

RR: This is an impossible question because I think you could say so many human endeavors are both frivolous and poignant. As Natalie said, it’s misogyny that keeps the conversation around fashion in this space. And to be honest, it’s not a conversation I’m working to keep alight! No matter where you are in the world, within reason, you must get dressed every day–nothing frivolous about that. The meaning you ascribe to the act of getting dressed and the industries you build around it are unique to your personal beliefs, your culture, and all that came before you–that’s what I think is worth exploring.

MO: What are you most excited to cover on the podcast?

NB: On this week’s episode we look at the first ballet flat marketed to the general public. We get into a really interesting conversation around our generation’s obsession with “core” – from bloke core, to coquette, and the third wave portmanteau that is “bloquette.” I think it tells us a lot about where fashion is at right now and our collective obsession with complexity.

RR: Precisely – I’m excited that we have room to have these (mostly) unfiltered, informal conversations! We can talk about Depop resellers and the Costume Institute in the same breath! It feels so true to how I talk about fashion history in my daily life, and I think it’s the most fun thing ever to share that collage of references with the world.

MO: You both have extensive knowledge in fashion history, and thus, vintage. Where are your favorite places for vintage shopping?

RR: I do my best work at vintage fairs these days. If you’re looking to become a collector, they’re a perfect place to start because you’ve got the best of the best vendors condensed in one room. If you’re searching for something specific, they’re also really great places to establish relationships with vintage sellers who can help you with your hunt. Both A Current Affair and Manhattan Vintage (two of my absolute favorites) are happening in New York this month, so get shopping!

NB: I must admit that I am an eBaby bb through and through. I am saving those searches….I’m clicking around on The RealReal…I’m moving product on Depop. But, with that being said, I have been known to look for god in Lara Koleji.

MO: Last, but not least, what’s your favorite vintage garment you’ve ever acquired?

NB: I am constantly In Search Of specific clothing items, semi convincing myself that the

perfect item will finally fill the deep sense of yearning sprinkled into my soul. Miu Miu’s Spring Summer 1999 collection is my favorite of all time. I once stumbled upon (re: consistently typed Miu Miu SS 1999 into the search bar) a jacket from this collection and got an amazing deal on it because some monster committed a cardinal sin against Miuccia Prada and cut the buckle belt off of the jacket. I gave the jacket a god loving home and a gorgeous replacement buckle from H*me D*pot. I think there should be more “tech” on womenswear. Gear is for the girls….

RR: Oh gosh, my answer to this probably changes every week, especially the weeks when the DHL guy and I are seeing each other all the time. Off the top of my head in this moment: a 1930s fringed bikini set made from army surplus paracord, two pairs of daisy print shoes from Miu Miu S/S 2010, a late 1910s silk dress with big rosettes on it, a heavyweight woolen kilt that becomes a staple for my outfits every fall, and, most recently, a Louis Vuitton F/W 2011 blouse from my favorite collection that Marc Jacobs did for them. It’s a very prim, buttoned-up blouse, but when you get up close, it’s printed with all sorts of kinky S&M motifs. I’ve been unable to squeeze into it since I am currently pregnant, so just wait for the outfits I’ve been dreaming up…

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Dive into the new podcast, Covered, here.