Shop Windows – April 1971

1971 - 4471 - 59c1971 - 4371 - 38csThe diverging fashion image and generation gap is apparent in these two windows, both on view within a few weeks of each other. Lord & Taylor featured full skirted romantic dresses with pussycat bows at the throat by Norman Norell while Gimbel’s went for colour blocked skorts and granny boots.

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Fashion in Song – Cha Cha Heels – 1988

1988 song by Bronski Beat and Eartha Kitt based on a line from John Water’s 1974 film Female Trouble, when a pair of  ’cha-cha’ heels are not received for Christmas, as expected.

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High Fashion – stewardess chic in the late 1960s

Pucci for Braniff, late 1960s

Pucci for Braniff, late 1960s

I’ve never been a good air traveler and it’s even worse now that steerage class has abandoned the last dregs of comfort and luxury in the post 9/11 world. In the late 1960s however, airliners went out of their way to vie for passengers. As everyone had similar aircraft, and meal service and fares were regulated, airlines had to rely upon gimmicks, including stewardess uniforms, to win their clients. I ran across this interesting article from Flight International magazine archives from December 26, 1968, that talks about how stewardess uniforms helped to create the unique flying experience.

“Dressing for success is an expensive business. United Air Lines recently spent $3 million and American Airlines $1 million on new uniforms. Each Mohawk Airlines outfit costs $350. The costs reflect the big names behind the designs. United’s are by Jean Louis and Braniff’s by Emilio Pucci. TWA have Balmain of Paris and, more recently, Elisa Daggs. National have Oleg Cassini and William Trevere. The result is an airborne fashion show of apple-green and pink, chiffon, vinyl and paper, which make the traditional skirt, blouse and jacket look somewhat old-fashioned – and that’s a bad thing in the airline business.

Elisa Daggs "Foreign Accent" paper dresses for TWA, 1968, left to right: Italy, Olde England, Manhattan Penthouse, France

Elisa Daggs “Foreign Accent” paper dresses for TWA, 1968, left to right: Italy, England, Manhattan, France

Designing new uniforms is not left to inspiration alone when the response is so very important. To suggest that raising hemlines will raise load factors would be an imprecise and risky pronouncement on matters which airline executives know are important enough to leave to psychologists. American Airlines’ five-month $50,000 survey showed that men in the 30-50 age group actually disliked a too-short skirt, and most women agreed… The new American hamlines are no more than three inches above the knee.

In attacking boredom the stewardess is changing from a waitress to a character actress. TWA have launched a massive campaign to undomesticate domestic air travel.” On their longer routes they have introduced four “Foreign Accent” flights; Italian, French, Olde English and Manhattan Penthouse… TWA’s Los Angeles information representative Laird Kelly described the Olde English service to me. “Passengers are greeted at the airport boarding lounges with Union Jacks and taped British music. Their stewardesses wear a be-ruffed grey flannel, very short, serving-wench outfit made of paper. Passenger-seat headrest covers bear a light blue British diplomatic seal on red. Selected British newspapers include The Times.” The stewardesses are the ones who must make it all come true… and one passenger assured me he had had “a jolly good time.” TWA have their finger on the public pulse when they describe the Foreign Accent flights as “the end of routine air travel.” Passengers do not know what “country” they will be flying with until they reach the airport.

The Gay Nineties meets the Space Age aboard Golden Nugget service on Alaska Airlines, c. 1968

The gay 90s meets the space age aboard Alaska Airlines’ Golden Nugget service, c. 1968

Perhaps the biggest, most flamboyant spectacle of all is an Alaska Airlines’ service from Alaska to Seattle. Advertised as “Golden Nugget” flights, they aim to reproduce the atmosphere of the Klondike and the Gold Rush in the “gay nineties.” Genuine saloon swing doors open the way to the jet where free tap beer is served in an interior of red and gold. There is tinkly ragtime music. Big tufted velvet seats and red velvet curtains with gold braid adorn the cabin. If that is not enougn, the stewardesses are dressed in period costumes of red velvet flowing skirts, with their hair in buns.”

If you want to see more great 1960s stewardess uniforms check out this online collection.

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Fashion Hall of Obscurity – Dorothy Gray

Dorothy Gray, c. 1940

Dorothy Gray, c. 1940

Although not as well remembered as Helena Rubinstein or Elizabeth Arden, Dorothy Gray was also a cosmetics pioneer. Born into a farming family in Gorham Maine on 18 December, 1886. Dorothy’s roots (her mother was Canadian) may have helped her obtain a position at Canadian-born Elizabeth Arden’s company in New York, however, her unmarried status got her fired in 1915 when Arden discovered Dorothy was living with a man.

The following year Gray opened a salon on Fifth Avenue, not far from Elizabeth Arden’s red door, providing beauty treatments and gossip about Arden. With the rise in popularity of beauty culture, Gray’s business prospered and by 1922 Gray began manufacturing and marketing a cosmetics line of her own.

In January 1927, the Dorothy Gray Company was purchased for a large, but undisclosed, sum of money by the drug and chemical firm Lehn & Fink. Dorothy Gray was all but retired from the new firm – her name remained only as the product line. Lehn & Fink weathered the Depression successfully because the cosmetics industry was one of the few to actually grow during the Depression. The Dorothy Gray Line along with Lehn and Fink was sold to Sterling Drug in 1966 and has since been sold many more times, the brand becoming weaker with each resale. Today, the brand is only available in South America.

This advertisement for Dorothy Gray cosmetics from the 1950s brings a new meaning to the idea of make-up bringing a ‘glow’ to you face…

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Broad Ambition

I received an email from Melodie Bryant, the director of a film about the Barbizon hotel in New York City. They are looking for funding and are asking for public support via kickstarter. After viewing the trailer below, I have to say it looks really interesting and there are obviously going to be lots of fashion stories in the film!

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Passing Legend – Ottavio Missoni 1921 – 2013

Missoni dress, mid 1980s, from the Fashion History Museum collection

Missoni dress, mid 1980s, from the Fashion History Museum collection

Ottavio Missoni was born February 11, 1921 in what is now Dubrovnik, Croatia. In his youth, Ottavio was a track-and-field star, winning national medals and even competing in the 1948 Olympics. His wife Rosita was the daughter of a shawl manufacturer, and the newlyweds followed in the textile business in 1953, opening a small factory in Gallarte (near Milan), producing athletic jersey knitwear. As the company expanded in size and product line, the main factory was moved to Sumirago.

The scandalous collection of 1967 where the tops appeared transparent under the catwalk lighting

The scandalous collection of 1967 where the tops appeared transparent under the catwalk lighting

The Missonis showed their first eponymously named collection in 1958 in Milan, the emerging centre of the Italian ready-to-wear industry. In 1967 the company became famous when they unwittingly showed a scandalous high fashion line at the Pitti Palace in Florence. The lame tops worn by the braless models appeared transparent under the catwalk lights. Although the Missonis were not invited back to the Pitti Palace the next year, their clothes soon graced the covers of all the top fashion magazines. By 1970 the Missoni lightweight silk knitwear, in its trademark Art-Deco inspired geometric patterns had become one of the leading luxury brands Italy became known for in the 1970s.

Ottavio passed away May 9, only four months after his eldest child and CEO of the Missoni company, went missing when his plane disappeared off the coast of Venezuela.

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Once Upon a Time a fashion designer foolishly tried to be a film director…

I think Karl Lagerfeld tried really hard to make this film overtly chic, and he might have been successful had he hired a writer to create a storyline and dialogue, but what Karl ended up with instead is a pretentious mess with a 1970s porn film acting style. Worst of all, Lagerfeld makes it look like Chanel stole all her ideas from her clients, from ropes of pearls to using tweed and jersey…

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Beatle Boots

The Beatles trying on boots at Anello & Davide, Charing Cross, London, c. 1963

The Beatles trying on boots at Anello & Davide, Charing Cross, London, c. 1963

A few weeks ago I blogged about how in the months leading up to the release of the first Beatle’s album the Fab Four were restyled into Mods by Douglas Millings. I didn’t mention that  their shiny wool collarless suits were paired with high-heeled blunt-pointed-toe boots that became known as ‘Beatle’ boots. The style was created in late 1962 by the London theatrical-shoemaker Anello & Davide. When the Beatles ordered their ankle-high boots with elastic inserts, Paul McCartney and John Lennon requested tall Cuban heels instead of lower stacked heels. When the popularity of the Beatles took off in 1963, the boot style was copied by manufacturers, but lower heels sold better than tall Cuban heels to all but the most die-hard Mods.

Beatle boots, c. 1962-1963 coming up for auction at Kerry Taylor auctions, London

Beatle boots, c. 1962-1963 coming up for auction at Kerry Taylor auctions, London

This pair, which is available at the upcoming Kerry Taylor Auction, has all the bells and whistles of the original Beatle boot style. The original owner of these boots saw the Beatles perform at the Smethwick Baths in the West Midlands on 19th November 1962. After the show he was told by Paul McCartney where the boots had been made and promptly ordered an identical pair from Anello & Davide. This original version with the high heels that closely resemble a pair of cowboy boots when worn under pants, are very scarce.

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A date for the symphony…

I found this collection of photos years ago – all undated and unidentified, however, the model in the striped suit is standing next to a lobby card that advertises the St. Louis Symphony’s 63rd season which a quick google search confirms was 1943.

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Fashion Hall of Obscurity – Fleur Cowles

Fleur Cowles is best remembered as the founding editor of the short-lived Flair magazine. An extravagantly inventive and costly publication that ran for 12 issues, from February 1950 to January 1951.

fleur cowles3Born Florence Freidman in New York on January 20, 1908, ‘Fleur’ rarely discussed her childhood with any consistent details, although she said in many interviews that her first ambition was to become a writer. She bluffed her way into a job as a copywriter for Gimbels at the age of 16, but her writing career was put on hold when she married Bertram Klapper, a manufacturer of shoe heels. After a divorce, Fleur remarried, this time to advertising executive Atherton Pettingell in February 1932. She returned to writing, penning a column entitled “A Woman’s New York” that appeared from September 1933 to June 1934 in The New York World-Telegram under her nom de plume Fleur Fenton.

In 1937 Fleur and Atherton founded an advertising agency with clients consisting mostly of Seventh Avenue clothing manufacturers, as well as cosmetics giant Helena Rubinstein. After Atherton ran off with a blonde Fleur returned to writing, this time for the War Production Board. In 1945 she became the first civilian American woman to fly to Europe after VE day. During this time she encountered Gardner “Mike” Cowles, who was Domestic Director of the Office of War Information. In civilian life, Cowles was a media scion that included publishing Look magazine “…a sleazy barbershop sheet” according to Fleur “…published on cheap paper and full of sex…”

Soon after Fleur and Mike were married on On December 27, 1946, Fleur convinced Mike to use Life magazine as a model for revamping Look. Fleur became the director of the Woman’s Department at Look magazine, and by 1948, the associate editor. The magazine was transformed into a family magazine with quality photography, clean layouts, and features on fashion, food, and modern living aimed at female consumers.

However, Fleur was frustrated by the limitations of a mass market magazine. She became determined to create an original fashion, art, and culture magazine that would appeal to an elite class of reader. With the support of her husband Fleur began to create her new magazine she called ‘Flair’. She spent months looking for the best paper stock, printing techniques, and graphic design available and in Milan discovered the opulent annual review Aria d’Italia, purchased the U.S. rights for the magazine, and hired its creators Daria Guarnati and Count Federico Pallavicini.

fleur-cowles-flair-magazine-cover-1Unrestrained by budget Flair’s staff, that by some accounts topped 100 people, worked throughout the summer of 1949 to create a limited edition premier issue. Released in September 1949, the magazine featured expensive die-cut pages, heat sensitive invisible ink, and fabric swatches. Although cutting edge in its presentation, reviews were reserved. Time magazine called the first issue “a fancy bouillabaisse of Vogue, Town & Country, Holiday, etc.” and few others were any kinder, calling it: undirected, impractical, and effeminate. The 12 issues that followed were just as fanciful and included  pop-ups, accordion foldouts, and fragranced pages. Despite the magazine becoming a bit of a joke in the publishing industry for its pretentiousness, there was no denying that the magazine was exciting and ‘cool’, a slang word borrowed from the jazz scene coined in Flair magazine by Fleur Cowles.

Fashion advertisers began to pull out, especially after Fleur began asking for custom ads for her themed issues. By fall 1950, the death of the magazine was inevitable. Look magazine’s board of directors were alarmed by how quickly Flair drained Look’s profits. By the end of 1950, Flair’s estimated losses mounted to nearly 2 1/2 million dollars – averaging a 75 cent loss on every copy sold. The magazine was shut down, although a swan-song edition appeared Christmas 1952 when the Flair Annual 1953 was released – a compilation of stories that had not run when the magazine was still in print.

Fleur and Mike Cowles marriage suffered, and in 1955 ended in divorce. Later that same year, Fleur married for the fourth and final time to Tom Montague Meyer, an English timber tycoon – Cary Grant was the best man. Fleur moved to England and remained there for the duration of her life, passing away June 5, 2009 at the age of 101.

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