Lifestyles Podcast

Lifestyles is a six-episode original short podcast series from The Museum at FIT. MFIT Digital Media Manager Tamsen Young sits down with people whose distinct expression of style is outside conventional fashion trends. Discover how they use clothing to define themselves on their own terms.

New episodes drop twice a month.


Subscribe and listen to find your own style inspiration. 

Latest Episode: Cynthia Alberto

Cynthia Alberto is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and the founder of Weaving Hand, a Brooklyn studio blending weaving with the healing arts. Her work connects traditional and modern techniques to bring communities together.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 3 WITH CYNTHIA

Cynthia Alberto Episode Cover

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Cynthia with multiple nose piercings and face tattoos, wearing a long, open indigo kantha quilt featuring a geometric pattern in teal, cream and rust over a black MoMA sweatshirt. She is also wearing cream and pink Manitoba Mukluk boots with white pom poms

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Detail of cream and red Manitoba Mukluk boots in geometric pattern with white pom poms

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Cynthia's side profile, showcasing her face tattoo, a traditional geometric diamond motif at her temple, and an stack of intricate gold filigree hoops at her ear, finished with a matching gold nose ring.

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Cynthia sitting on a stool in front of a soundboard, showing her whole outfit

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Cynthia Alberto Episode Cover
Cynthia with multiple nose piercings and face tattoos, wearing a long, open indigo kantha quilt featuring a geometric pattern in teal, cream and rust over a black MoMA sweatshirt. She is also wearing cream and pink Manitoba Mukluk boots with white pom poms
Detail of cream and red Manitoba Mukluk boots in geometric pattern with white pom poms
Cynthia's side profile, showcasing her face tattoo, a traditional geometric diamond motif at her temple, and an stack of intricate gold filigree hoops at her ear, finished with a matching gold nose ring.
Cynthia sitting on a stool in front of a soundboard, showing her whole outfit

 

Episodes

New episodes released on the 1st and 16th of the month.

debra rapoport

Episode 1: 

Debra Rapoport

dandy wellington

Episode 2: 

Dandy Wellington
Cynthia Alberto

Episode 3:

Cynthia Alberto

Cheyney McNight

Episode 4: Up Next

Cheyney McNight
Wren Britten

Episode 5: Coming Soon

Wren Britton
Elena Kanagy-Loux

Episode 6: Coming Soon

Elena Kanagy-Loux

 

Episode 3: Cynthia Alberto

Cynthia with multiple nose piercings and face tattoos, wearing a long, open indigo kantha quilt featuring a geometric pattern in teal, cream and rust over a black MoMA sweatshirt. She is also wearing cream and pink Manitoba Mukluk boots with white pom poms

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Detail of cream and red Manitoba Mukluk boots in geometric pattern with white pom poms

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Cynthia's side profile, showcasing her face tattoo, a traditional geometric diamond motif at her temple, and an stack of intricate gold filigree hoops at her ear, finished with a matching gold nose ring.

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Cynthia sitting on a stool in front of a soundboard, showing her whole outfit

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Cynthia Alberto is a multidisciplinary artist and designer and the founder of Weaving Hand, which is a Brooklyn based weaving and healing art studio and cultural center. Cynthia's interdisciplinary practice engages traditional and contemporary weaving techniques through socially engaged, community centered work. Drawing from textile histories and collective making traditions across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa, Cynthia approaches weaving not only as a material process, but also as a framework for care, resilience and collective experience.

Her work emphasizes sustainability through a zero waste ethos and spans sculpture, performance and large scale participatory installations that have taken place in cultural institutions, civic organizations and public spaces. Cynthia has received numerous awards and been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at the Museum of Modern Art in conjunction with the exhibition Woven Histories, Textiles and Modern Abstraction, and she has a forthcoming fellowship at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens.

Listen to Episode 3

 

Episode 2: Dandy Wellington

Dandy wearing a tan newsboy hat with a navy, peak label suit styled with a tan waist coat, blue, red, and white medallion tie, and two toned brown button boots

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Detail of Dandy's vintage white cuffling with a blue letter D on a white cuff with blue stripes underneath a navy suit jacket

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Detail of a red carnation made of fabric and a pin that says Vintage Style not Vintage Values

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Close shot of Dandy looking to the side while holding a golden/brass pocketwatch holder for his Apple Watch

Photo courtesy of Reina Hernandez

Dandy Wellington, born and raised in Harlem, New York, is a bandleader, entertainer, event producer, and creative consultant. He has performed with his jazz band all around the world and, as a vintage menswear savant, he has consulted on events throughout the United States, including the fashion exhibition Superfine: Tailoring Black Style at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dandy's look epitomizes the undeniable cool of the Jazz Age. He is an impeccably dressed man-about-town whose signature style has earned him features in outlets such as The Financial Times and Vogue magazine. Dandy's appreciation for the swinging big bands, elegant parties, and beautifully tailored clothing of the 1920s and '30s makes him a certifiable Renaissance man and a true modern dandy.

Listen to Episode 2

 

Episode 1: Debra Rapoport

Debra wearing a red satin jacket styled with magenta pants with black side seams, black shoes, and a gray hat

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Detail of a circular, metal, patina necklace with swirls

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Back view of Debra's outfit, showcasing an illustration of a portrait, embroidered in yellow thread

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

Detail of Debra's earrings: interlocking circles made of toilet paper rolls, embellished with paint and decorative yarn

Photo courtesy of Tamsen Young

The artist and maker Debra Rapoport brings a playful exploration of beauty and ingenuity to both her fashion and her life. Her style, a blend of making and thrifting, reflects a lifelong commitment to sustainability. Debra studied weaving in Stockholm, Sweden, holds a BFA from Carnegie Melon University and an MA from UC Berkeley where she graduated in 1970. She taught throughout the 1970s at UC Davis and continued teaching here in New York City, including at the Museum of Modern Art, MAD Museum, and NYU, just to name a few. Debra's work has been featured in numerous art museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the National Museum of Sweden. Debra was featured in Advanced Style, a film about the style of people over the age of 60, as well as in the three Advanced Style books that followed.

Listen to Episode 1