Rebecca C. Tuite is a British author and historian. She is known for her work on fashion, costume and film history.

Early life and education

Tuite was born in

Surrey, England Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. As an undergraduate, she was an exchange student at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

. She earned a Master of Arts degree in fashion journalism from the

London College of Fashion The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

. As of 2020, she was pursuing a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the

Bard Graduate Center The Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture is a graduate research institute and gallery located in New York City. It is affiliated with Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, Annandale-on-Hud ...

in New York City.

Career

Tuite's first book, published in 2014, was ''Seven Sisters Style: The All-American Preppy Look'', which focused on the influence that students at the " Seven Sisters" (a group of prestigious all-female American colleges) had on fashion. Tuite explored the fashion trends initiated by Seven Sisters students during the first half of the twentieth century, and traced their subsequent popularity across the boundaries of fashion and film, particularly describing their influence on styles from heritage brands including

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for founding the brand Ralph Lauren (brand), Ralph Lauren, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He stepped do ...

and

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( ; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger (company), Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's P ...

. It was the first book exclusively dedicated to the female side of preppy style pioneered by U.S. college girls. The book was featured in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', Vanity Fair, ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

'', ''

Vogue Paris ''Vogue France'' (stylised in all caps) is the French edition of '' Vogue'' magazine, formerly called ''Vogue Paris'' from its inception until 2021. The magazine started publication in 1920 and has since been regarded as one of the top fashion ...

'', and described by

Refinery29 Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Sundial Media Group. History Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Ref ...

as "a beautifully illustrated, intensively researched celebration of the all-American preppy style pioneered by the women of the Seven Sisters Colleges — consider it a '' Take Ivy'' for the distaff set." Her second book, published in 2019, was ''1950s in Vogue: The Jessica Daves Years, 1952-1962''. The book was the very first volume ever published that was solely dedicated to editor-in-chief,

Jessica Daves Jessica Daves (February 20, 1898 – September 22, 1974) was an American writer and editor. She is best known for serving as editor-in-chief of influential '' Vogue'' magazine, from 1952 to 1962. Biography Daves was born in Cartersville, Georgia ...

, and her time at the helm of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

''. ''1950s in Vogue'' appeared in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''Vogue'' and ''Vogue Paris'', the ''

New York Journal of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

'', and others. The ''Vogue'' featured noted, "Having poured over the 220 issues of the magazine edited by Daves, Tuite has organized her own book into eight sections focused on subjects from cocktail dressing to culture that demonstrate the breadth of Daves's catholic interests." In their review, the ''New York Journal of Books'' observed, "Rarely, if ever, has this reader come across a book of this genre that was as thoroughly annotated, enlightening, informative and just incredible on so many different levels."

Selected works

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuite, Rebecca Living people 21st-century English historians 21st-century English women writers Alumni of the London College of Fashion Alumni of the University of Exeter British film historians English women historians English women non-fiction writers Fashion historians Writers from Surrey Year of birth missing (living people)