Bernadine Morris was a ''New York Times'' fashion critic and journalist who influenced women's fashion.

Early life and education

She was born in 1925 in Harlem, New York. Morris earned an undergraduate degree from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

in 1945, and then went on to earn a master's degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

Morris started working in fashion weekly magazines at ''Millinery Research''. She went on to write for ''Women's Wear Daily'' where she started as a dress editor working on what she called "cheap dresses". She also wrote for ''Fashion Trades'', and ''The New York Journal-American'', before joining the staff at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 1963. Morris attended fashion shows in multiple countries, including within the United States, Europe, and Britain where she had been invited by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

. In 1980, Morris wrote "While short skirts may seem

déjà vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is the phenomenon of feeling like one has lived through the present situation in the past.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford University Press. pp. 167–1 ...

, short pants have a lively, contemporary air" which was later used in the definition of the phrase déjà vu in Merriam Webster's Dictionary.

Selected publications

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Awards and honors

In recognition of her contributions to the fashion industry, Bernadine won the

Medal of the City of Paris The Medal of the City of Paris (), established in 1911, is an honour in the gift of the Mayor by nomination of members of the Council of Paris and devolved administrations. Awarded in four grades, ''ie.'' bronze, silver, large silver and vermeil ...

in 1985. She was recognized by the

Council of Fashion Designers of America The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessor ...

in the 1987 awards ceremony. In 1994 the city of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

awarded Morris with a gold medal in recognition of her work in the fashion industry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Bernadine 2018 deaths Hunter College alumni New York University alumni American fashion journalists Newspaper writers