Elsa Schiaparelli by Hans Wild, may 1947 via
Elsa Schiaparelli by Hans Wild, may 1947 via
Elsa Schiaparelli by Hans Wild, may 1947 via
Tag Archives: fashion designer
Claire McCardell Wearing Amazing Dresses of Her Own Creation (1945)
Claire McCardell (May 24, 1905 – 1958) was an American fashion designer in the arena of ready-to-wear clothing in the 20th century. She is credited with the creation of American sportswear.
In 1942, McCardell created her famed “Popover Dress.” It was a response to a Harper’s Bazaar challenge to create something fashionable you could wear to clean the house and then wear to a cocktail party. The simple grey dress came with a matching potholder which fit into the dress’s pocket. The “Popover Dress” sold for $6.95 and over 75,000 were sold in the first season alone.
These dresses became a staple of McCardells collections and over time she made version in different lengths and fabrics. The “Popover Dress” received a citation from the American Fashion Critics Association and in 1943, McCardell won a Coty Award.
Beginning in 1945, McCardell was featured as an “American Look” designer by Lord & Taylor’s department store. In 1946, McCardell won the Best Sportswear Designer Award and in 1948 she won the Neiman-Marcus Award.
Claire McCardell in a Dress of her creation, 1945 via
Claire McCardell in a Dress of her creation, 1945 via
Claire McCardell in her Futuristic Dress (cut only of triangles), photographed by Erwin Blumenfeld, 1945 via
Coco Chanel by George Hoyningen-Huene (1935)
Coco Chanel in Her Atelier Dressing Romy Schneider (1962)
Shahrock Hatami, Coco Chanel and Romy Schneider, 1962 via
Shahrock Hatami, Coco Chanel and Romy Schneider, 1962 via
Shahrock Hatami, Coco Chanel and Romy Schneider, 1962 via
Shahrock Hatami, Coco Chanel and Romy Schneider, 1962 via
Shahrock Hatami, Coco Chanel and Romy Schneider, 1962 via
Shahrock Hatami, Coco Chanel and Romy Schneider, 1962 via
Revolutionary Belle Epoque Fashion: Jeanne Margaine-Lacroix
Jeanne Margaine-Lacroix has been neglected by fashion historians. She inherited her couture house from her mother Mme. Margaine, in 1899. The following year she changed the name to Margaine-Lacroix.
She influenced the new slender line of fashion. She was famous for her revolutionary corsetless dresses and her ground-breaking front-lacing corsets. In the 1900s, Paris was the fashion capital of the world. Couturiers routinely sent mannequins to the racecourse, wearing their latest designs. Her models caused a sensation at Longchamp in 1908.
Three mannequins walked onto the racecourse dressed in blue, white and havane brown creations by Margaine-Lacroix. According to newspapers, spectators called the three women a “monstrosity”, accused them of being semi-naked and showing revolting décolletage .
However, soon women everywhere were wearing dresses after Margaine-Lacroix’s design.
In the Spring of 1908, three women walked onto the Longchamp racecourse in Paris and caused a scandal by the semi-naked clothes they were wearing via
Longchamp racecourse, Paris 1908 via
Tanagréenne back drape on Sylphide dress by Jeanne Margaine-Lacroix. Here is an example of her slender, corsetless line, the robe-tanagréenne. It is worn by her favourite model, who small bust and simple hairstyle were avant-garde for the time and contrasted strongly with the generally accepted ideals of fashionable feminine beauty in the first decade of the twentieth-century, 1908 via
Sylphide dress with Tanagréenne back drape by Jeanne Margaine-Lacroix, 1908 via
Margaine-Lacroix mannequins pictured in the Parc de Vincennes in March 1910, wearing the new jupe-culotte – an early version of trousers via
March 1910. Margaine-Lacroix mannequins in the new jupe-culotte via
A Collection of Vintage photos of the Biba London Fashion Store
Iconic clothes store Biba was founded by Polish born fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki OBE (b. 1936). She opened her Biba shop in the Kensington district of London in 1864 with the help of her late husband, Stephen Fitz-Simon.
The shop soon became known for its stylishly decadent atmosphere and lavish decor inspired by Art Nouveau and Art Deco. It became a hangout for artists, film stars and rock musicians, including Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull.
In the shop, a young clientele bought affordable mini-skirts, floppy felt hats, feather boas, velvet trouser suits and unisex T-shirts dyed in rich, muted colors. Incidentally, Anna Wintour started in fashion as a Biba employee.
After the shop’s 1975 demise, Hulanicki continued to work in the fashion industry, designing for labels such as Fiorucci and Cacharel and, from 1980 to 1992, designed a line of children’s wear, Minirock, licensed to the Japanese market.
The London Biba store via
Queue for the Biba store via
Inside the Biba store via
The food department was sectioned into separate units that each contained one type of item. There was a section modelled after Hulanicki’s great dane Othello in which you’d find only dog food via
Shopping at Biba, 1960s via
Some Biba sales-girls via
- Barbara Hulanicki, designer and founder of Biba, in her first boutique in Abingdon Road, Kensington, London, mid 1960s. (Photo by Charles Edridge/Getty Images) via
Mary Quant (1960s)
Mary Quant adjusting a miniskirt on a model, 1967 via
Beautiful Vintage Photos From “Shocking – The Art & Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli”
The now scarce and out of print book “Shocking Schiaparelli” features beautiful images by the surrealist inspired fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli – one of the most influential designers of the 1930s & 1940s.
Photo from “Shocking – The Art & Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli” via
Photo from “Shocking – The Art & Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli” via
Photo from “Shocking – The Art & Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli” via
Photo from “Shocking – The Art & Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli” via
Beautiful Vintage Jacques Doucet Fashion & Design Photos (1900s-1920s)
Jacques Doucet (1853–1929) was a French fashion designer and art collector. He is known for his elegant dresses, made with flimsy translucent materials in superimposing pastel colors. His clothes were of perfect taste and luxury, his name the only one equalled with Worth.
Jacques Doucet was born in Paris in 1853 to a prosperous family whose lingerie and fine linens business, Doucet Lingerie, had flourushed in the Rue de la Paix since 1816. In 1871 Doucet opened a salon selling ladies’ apparel.
His most original designs were those he created for actresses of the time. Cecile Sorel, Rejane and Sarah Bernhardt (he designed the famous white costume she wore in L’Aiglon) all wore his outfits, both on and off the stage. For them he reserved a particular style, one which consisted of frills, sinuous curving lines and lace ruffles the colors of faded flowers.
Doucet was a designer of taste and discrimination who valued dignity and luxury above novelty and practicality, and gradually faded from popularity during the 1920s.
Hat by Jacques Doucet, 1900 via
Dress by Jacques Doucet, 1901 via
Evening dress by Doucet, Les Modes June 1909 via
Jacques Doucet, Sarah Bernhardt in Aiglon via
Robe de style by Doucet, photo by Henri Manuel, Les Modes June 1923 via
Robe de style by Doucet, Les Modes June 1923. Photo by Henri Manuel via
Evening gown by Doucet, photo by Henri Manuel, Les Modes June 1923 via
Jacques Doucet’s apartment Photograph by Pierre Legrain Published in L’Illustration, c. 1929 via
Jacques Doucet’s Hall, Studio Saint James at Neuilly sur Seine via
A Collection of Photos Featuring Designs by Madame Grès (1930s)
Germaine Émilie Krebs (1903–1993), known as Alix Barton and later as “Madame Grès”, relaunched her design house under the name Grès in Paris in 1942. Prior to this, she worked as “Alix” or “Alix Grès” during the 1930s. Formally trained as a sculptress, she produced haute couture designs for an array of fashionable women, including the Duchess of Windsor, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Dolores del Río.
Her signature was cut-outs on gowns that made exposed skin part of the design, yet still had a classical, sophisticated feel. She was renowned for being the last of the haute couture houses to establish a ready-to-wear line, which she called a “prostitution”.
The name Grès was a partial anagram of her husband’s first name and alias. He was Serge Czerefkov, a Russian painter, who left her soon after the house’s creation.
She retired at the end of the 1980s after French investor Bernard Tapie took control of the company. She died in a low-cost retirement home, apparently alone and penniless.
In 2012, the last Grès store in Paris was closed.
Germaine Krebs (1903-1993) dite Alix puis Madame Grès, créant une robe du soir pour Macy’s. Paris, août 1933 via
Madame Grès draping a dress, photographed by Boris Lipnitzki, ca. 1935 via
Madame Grès, Dress, photographed by Eugène Rubin for Femina, 1937 via
Madame Grès by George Hoyningen-Huene, 1937 via
FROM THE BYGONE 