Five YouTube Channels About Fashion
In the last few years I have been following a great number of YouTube channels that cover a variety of topics, and I believe they are an excellent source of learning. Among content creators, it has become increasingly popular to publish video essays; videos that take an in-depth look at a particular subject, whether it is a movie, a fashion trend, or another pop culture topic.
Because I work in the fashion industry, I find myself watching more and more videos centered around fashion because I think they are very useful for becoming aware about industry news and expanding one’s cultural background.
In this article I am going to share my five favorite Youtube channels about fashion (plus two additional bonus channels); each channel offers unique content and rarely covers the exact same topic, except when discussing current fashion trends.
1) CLEVER & CHIC by Michelle Magda: I have been following Michelle’s fashion channel on YouTube since it was founded about four years ago; since then it has expanded into an online academy called The Chic League . It includes many style analyses of pop culture personalities (such as Serena Van Der Woodsen from the Gossip Girl TV show), fashion analyses from certain movies such as Clueless (1995) and The Neon Demon (2016), tips on how to curate a chic and stylish wardrobe, and a few retrospectives on the careers of prominent fashion designers like Tom Ford. After a hiatus of several months to finish her studies, Michelle returned to work on the channel full time and expanded her repertoire by appearing in videos to provide her audience with style advice and also address topics related to fashion psychology. She recently published her first volume, The Little Chic Fashion Dictionary, which is described as “a veritable treasure trove, brimming with the language you crave to engage in intelligent and captivating dialogues about the ever-evolving world of fashion.” I think Clever & Chic is great both for its stunning aesthetic (Michelle is incredibly talented with graphics and video editing) and for the way it covers different topics, giving it all an elegant touch. The channel’s motto is perfectly reflected in Oscar Wilde’s famous quote “You can never be overdressed or overeducated”, and this is how Michelle describes her online academy and community; “[Clever & Chic] is the destination for self-paced fashion studies – a space to develop your true style and understand fashion on numerous levels past the surface level it is typically taken at through the use of art theory, social sciences, and fashion design.” My favorite Clever & Chic videos so far are The Guide To Preppy & Ivy League Style, The Philosophy of Style in French New Wave Cinema and American Psycho Analysis: How Clothes Make The Man.
2) Fashion Roadman by Odunayo Ojo: I have been following this brilliant fashion journalist since the beginning of 2020. A Nigerian-British journalist who recently graduated from Central Saint Martins, his videos are very educational and deal with many different aspects of the fashion industry. Odunayo was already a Chemical Engineering graduate from the University of Leeds, but his passion for fashion led him to make it a full-time career (with all the hard work and sacrifices that this entails, as he explained in his video The Truth About Working In Fashion, which I think addressed the topic excellently). His YouTube channel Fashion Roadman covers multiple topics in the fashion industry, from the history of prominent fashion designers such as Karl Lagerfeld to issues related to sustainability and proper work ethics (one of his most popular videos is Exposing The Dark Side of Unpaid Fashion Internships), and I really appreciate his way of looking at the fashion world and taking into account all its various aspects, not just the glamorous ones. I first found out about his channel through the video Fashion Books You Should Be Reading because I love book recommendations and am always searching for new ones; in his video, Odunayo recommended Burberry Days by Brian Kitson, which I have read and found incredibly informative. Odunayo has published articles for fashion magazines such as Vogue, Business of Fashion and GQ in addition to founding The Fashion Archive Magazine. My favorite Fashion Roadman videos are Why South African Fashion Is So Good, Gianni Versace & The Art of Prints and The Drama & Chaos of 90s Runway Fashion Shows.
3) ModernGurlz by Life According To Tessa: even though this channel is not only about fashion (on its official Instagram profile, ModernGurlz is described as “fashion, film and everything in between”), it is undeniable that fashion is one of its main themes. The channel was created by Life According To Tessa, who now heads a full-fledged team of collaborators (the channel counts about 700.000 subscribers at the writing of my article); we mainly get to know Tessa through her voice because she rarely appears in front of the camera; her content usually consists of a series of images and video clips about the topics she is presenting. I really enjoy Tessa’s channel because I find her way of narrating quite soothing and her voice really makes you focus on what she is talking about. ModernGurlz is responsible for creating numerous style analyses (The Devil Wears Prada Style Analysis has more than two million views), does monthly “pop culture recaps” and chronicles the evolution of various fashion trends, including those of the past (which tend to make you quite nostalgic for a certain era, even if you didn’t actually get to live it!). I love her videos related to dress colors in cinematic history (especially The Best Blue Dresses In Cinematic History) and my favorite ModernGurlz videos are The Rise of Stealth Wealth and Quiet Luxury, What Is The Coconut Girl Aesthetic? and How The Economy Affects The Height of High Heels. Tessa often gives her honest opinion about newly-released TV movies as well, so the channel includes many reviews such as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
4) ParisianVibe: I discovered this channel about two years ago. ParisianVibe is entirely dedicated to Parisian style and the French way of life; again, it is not only about fashion, which remains, however, one of the most important themes of the channel, described as “the go-to destination for French fashion and beauty,” as ParisianVibe “immerses itself in French culture through the lens of Parisian it-girls and talents-how they shop, live, and date; what they wear, listen to and watch; and how they remain effortlessly chic.” Typically, the people starring in ParisianVibe’s videos are French and the content is usually in English or French (with English subtitles available); watching some of the videos really feels like walking the streets of Paris! ParisianVibe’s fashion content is often seasonal, so they offer French-style outfit recommendations according to seasons. Their At Home In Paris series is also really inspiring because it allows you to see the inside of many Parisian homes. The video 5 Essential Sunglasses 2023: Your French Style Guide featured many retro-flavored Oliver Peoples frames (I was very indecisive about which one of the frames is my favorite because they all look great!) and I also really love the channel’s occasional reading tips. My all-time favorite ParisianVibe fashion-themed videos are Decoding Jane Birkin’s Summer Style, 5 Chic Blazer Looks To Elevate Your Style and How To Dress Effortlessly Chic Like a Parisian: Winter Looks , but I also recommend Iconic French Movies: Revolutionary Nouvelle Vague and Where To Find The Best Croissants in Paris.
5) Mina Le: what I enjoy the most about Mina Le, a young Vietnamese-American woman who has been creating online content for about three years, is that she is incredibly spontaneous and will give her honest opinion on anything. Her channel description is pretty simple: “I’m just a gal who likes fashion and movies.” Mina Le often covers topics related to pop culture, but there is also room in her channel for completely original content, such as The Cult of Cleanliness, Teeth as a Fashion Statement or TikTok is Kind of Bad for Fashion. I think she is one of the best commentators on fashion and general culture and I became aware of her channel through the Q&A that ModernGurlz addressed to her about three years ago. Mina Le always appears in her videos, speaking into the microphone to her viewers while looking into the camera, and her makeup and sense of style are always amazing. They are the result of a great creative mind; in fact, she is also known for wearing period clothing and is a big fan of vintage fashion, as well as being incredibly passionate about movies. I love the fact that YouTube and other blogging platforms allow you to come across like-minded personalities from whom you can always learn something; I think it is one of the positive sides of the internet era and we should always be supportive of this aspect. It is quite tough to choose my favorite Mina Le videos because there is always a new one coming out that becomes a favorite of mine; for this article I have chosen Explaining The Old Money Aesthetic, The Fashion In The Nanny Is Still So Good (which I have also mentioned in my Substack article Style On Screen: The Nanny) and Why Is Everything So Ugly: The Curse of Modernism, but a special mention definitely goes to Explaining The Ballet Trend In Fashion.
Speaking of honorable mentions, I feel this article would not be complete without including two fashion channels that I really appreciate and have been following for some time: Alexandra Pereira, created by the eponymous Spanish fashion influencer, which hosts weekly vlogs with recaps of Alexandra’s travels, fashion events, and life experiences (her most popular videos are from the Mi Vida En Dubái series, which is about Alexandra’s life in Dubai, where she now lives). The videos on her channel are all in Spanish, and for me they are also an ideal tool for maintaining my ability to understand and speak Spanish, which unfortunately I cannot always put into practice in my everyday life. My favorite videos from Alexandra Pereira are Mi Vida En Dubái Vlog 21 – Especial Halloween, Viajamos a Marrakech and Super Vlog: Descubriendo el Sur de Francia.
The last YouTube channel about fashion that I would recommend is The Ultimate Fashion History by Amanda Hallay; she was one of my professors in the Fashion Systems course I took for my online Fashion Business Specialization with NYC Parsons School of Design – The New School. Amanda Hallay, who sadly passed away in January 2023, was in fact a college professor specialized in fashion and costume history who also served as a consultant for Chile’s Fashion Museum over the years, and her YouTube channel is full of illustrated explanations of fashion history, style icons, and fashion on film. It is very sad that Amanda is gone, but her YouTube channel is among the most obvious testaments to her commitment to the world of fashion and education and to her being a great mentor and an extraordinary fashion historian. All of The Ultimate Fashion History videos are still available for viewing, and my favorites are Essential Fashion History Books, 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Fave Film Fashion: Charade, as well as the History In Color series, in which Amanda analyzed the color palette of each decade.
I hope you will have a chance to watch some videos of these creators; if you like fashion and are interested in learning more about the industry and all its different aspects, I am sure you will definitely find something that suits you in the various channels I have mentioned in this article.