Adele Simpson Ensemble - 1964

You know I love Bergdorf ads.  But it's the outfit here that catches my imagination.  From 1964, the Adele Simpson rayon sheath dress with interesting seaming is set off with a matching capelet.  The cape was lined in contrasting silk and the set came with a leather tie belt in the same color as the cape lining.  The color combinations were wonderful: navy with vivid green lining and belt, sea green with turquoise, gold nugget with black or black with gold nugget.  The set sold for $160 in 1964 (about $1220 in today's dollar.)

Which color would you choose? 

Harvey Berin for Bergdorf Goodman, 1956

Harvey Berin is one of my favorite vintage labels. This stunning dress was sold by Bergdorf Goodman and featured in a full page ad in December of 1956. 

"Out of the Blue by Harvey Berin $175
As fragile-looking as a snowflake drifting through the night. Our short evening dress of imported white French point d'esprit appliqued with pale blue French silk Chantilly lace embroidered with rhinestones. Heavenly dressing after dark for sizes 8 to 16. Ready-to-Wear Evening Gowns, Fourth Floor."

Point d'esprit is white lace netting with little polka dots woven into it.  The blue Chantilly lace appliques were individually cut and appliqued onto the white point d'esprit base and the whole thing sparkles with rhinestones.  Maybe someday I'll see this dress in person.  For now, I have to dream about it.

$175 in 1956 is equal to about $1,502 in today's dollar!

Photo by Sharland for Bergdorf Goodman full page ad appearing in Harper's Bazaar, 1956.

Ceil Chapman - 1955

You know that I love the ad copy that accompanies Bergdorf Goodman ads.  This one is from 1955.

"Chiffon Flame in the Wind by Ceil Chapman $135
Born to dance the night away - our silk chiffon in a smoldering, flaming pink.  It's draped bodice, one-shouldered stole and cloud-formation skirt beautiful accompaniment to music heard or unheard.  Also in black, in sizes 8 to 16."

The stole shown draped around her head is attached at one shoulder and can hang freely down the back of the gown.  Interesting gathered waist extends up into the bust and down into the hips.  $135 is about $1,176 in today's dollar.

Would you chose pink or black?

Photo by Karen Radkai for Bergdorf Goodman.  
Full page ad from Harper's Bazaar, 1955.

Krizia, 1984

I've talked about Bergdorf Goodman ads in the past.  Often found on page 1 of Vogue, the company was genius at catching your eye with black and white artwork or photography.  In the 50s and 60s, their ads featured wonderful descriptions that described the garments.  In the ad shown here for Krizia in the Spring of 1984, Bergdorf's lets the clothing speak for itself.  There is no attribution for the artist who did this marvelous pencil sketch, but it certainly captured my attention this morning!

Ad from page 1 of Vogue, February 1984.

Bergdorf Goodman Coat for Spring, 1956

What ever happened to spring weight coats?  Back in the day, women had a wardrobe of coats for fall, winter and spring.  They were different weights, different colors and different fabrics.  This spring coat from 1956 was an exclusive design at Bergdorf Goodman.  Lighter in color and far less bulky than a winter coat, this one is almost an outfit in and of itself.

I've talked before about the wonderful copy writing for Bergdorf's ads.  Their fashion writers were able to evoke a sense of desire for a garment unlike any others.  Here's what this ad says:

Beautiful Wanderer - Coat Exclusive $165
Our blonde beauty in pure wool homespun with the wandering waistline that starts high, ends low, makes a fine figure of the fashionable inhabitant.  '56 new-look, forerunner of one of the prettiest Springs in years.  Also in lipstick red or navy.  Sizes 8 to 14.

By the way, $165 in 1956 is equivalent to $1,393 in today's dollar.  

Lanvin-Castillo Dress - 1958

Bergdorf Goodman offered this copy of a Lanvin-Castillo design in their custom salon for Spring 1958.  The dress was available in all white lace or white lace re-embroidered in gold or silver threads. Perfect for your New Year's celebration, no? Sold for $650 in 1958 (about $5,093 in today's dollar.)

Vintage Bergdorf Goodman Mink Coat - 1954

I am a firm believer that if you chose to wear fur, you should always chose vintage. That keeps coats and stoles already in existence out of our landfills and at the same time doesn't support the unneeded slaughter of today's animals for fashion. Since fall and winter are approaching and since fur coats were an accepted part of fashion in the past, I will be showing images of furs over the next few months. In showing images of vintage furs on this blog, I hope to inspire you and show you how beautiful they can be for the modern woman.  If you choose not to wear real fur, let these images inspire you to make your own with today's high quality faux furs.  

The year is 1954 and Leslie Morris is the head designer in Bergdorf Goodman's custom design department, a post she had held starting in 1931.  Morris was considered one of the top designers in the U.S. during the 30s, 40s, and 50s.  In the following year, Bergdorf's would lure fur designer Emeric Partos away from Maximillian Furs by giving him free reign as their custom furrier.  But the coat shown above was designed by Leslie Morris in Eastern Canadian Wild Mink.  It is a clutch style coat with a big collar and pear-shaped sleeves.  Bergdorf's would make it to order for you in their Fur Salon.  If you had to ask the price, you couldn't afford it! 

Bergdorf Goodman Ads

Fashion writers have such an enviable talent. They can make a dress desirable with the choice of a few words. Ads for Bergdorf Goodman showcased this talent at its best. While Bergdorf's ads often featured fashion photography, I think their ads with beautifully drawn illustrations spark the imagination in a better way. Can't you just see and feel what these garments are like based on the verbal imagery?

September 1965 - "Fur Doubles the Dash of this new suit shaping, echoing the close-fitting cut of the trim jacket as well as the deep-tobacco color of the crisp gabardine. Under the jacket lies a neatly curved, sleeveless over-blouse and a front-gathered skirt that slopes gently into walking ease. By Marquise in yarn-dyed tobacco brown worsted wool gabardine edged with brown-dyed deep-curling Afghanistan lamb." $395 (about $2717 in today's dollar).

September 1965 - "Wool - Afloat Under Fur...Watch it skimming along the boulevards this Fall with a graceful awareness of figure and a bouyant ripple of hemline. Its special drama: a great, wide fur boa whipped into a dashing bow and flung over the shoulder. The deeply sculptured grey wool from Italy comes with a boa of natural grey Afghanistan lamb; also in navy with black-dyed nutria boa." Dress alone, $275 (about $1892 in today's dollar). Dress with fur boa, $735 (about $5055 in today's dollar).

February 1964 - "The Capelet Costume...full-of-flair and elegant bravado. Watch this shape-in-the-news sweep South and into Spring'64, a beautiful balance of crisply-controlled width and eased slenderness. Adele Simpson flings the breezy little silk-lined cape over a dress of matching rayon Fibranne, its waistline lashed with a sliver of leather. Navy with vivid green lining and belt, sea green with turquoise, gold nugget with black or black with gold nugget." $160 (about $1100 in today's dollar).

Gigliola Curiel

I enjoy reading old fashion magazines. I learn so much by doing so. Yesterday, I was leafing through a 1968 Vogue, and came across this ad for Bergdorf Goodman. Our own Gigliola Curiel of Milan veils a willowy silk print dress with a shoulder-closed coat of twin-printed silk organza. Who??? Gigliola Curiel? Who??????? Seeing this ad sent me on a quest to learn more about this designer.

In 1948, the Centro Italiano della Moda, or Italian Fashion Center, was formed in Milan. Several local dressmakers, including Gigliola Curiel, whose businesses had survived the restrictions of WWII, joined forces to form a national fashion fair that would facilitate the Italian fashion industry. In the early 1950s, the Centro Italiano worked to promote Italian fashion in the US with elaborate fashion shows staged in Milan for department store buyers who had just finished viewing the Paris couture shows.

In 1955, Bergdorf Goodman signed an exclusive contract with Gigliola Curiel to produce ready-to-wear fashion for the store. She did so until her death in 1969. The dress shown above would have been from one of her last collections for Bergdorf's.

I went searching for dresses by Curiel online, and there is not much available. Here are a couple that I found.

1957 Evening Gown in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum.

My friend Jamie, of Jamiexmas, recently sold this 1950's cocktail dress by Curiel. He has graciously agreed to let me share these photos with you.

Another friend, Mary Jane of Poppy's Vintage Clothing has this gorgeous 60s Gigliola Curiel orange suit for sale in her shop at Ruby Lane.  Isn't that color stunning?

So there you have it - my serendipitous journey on a lazy Sunday afternoon from magazine ad to learning about a designer from the past that I had never heard of. I am now on the search for a Curiel dress for my own collection. I love my job.

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Pleats Three Ways from 1955

Pleats. There's something about the way they swish and sway when you walk that makes them so alluring. Here are pleats done three ways from 1955.

A tailored suit with a box pleated skirt from Bergdorf Goodman. Made in navy or grey worsted flannel, there's nothing severe about this whirlaway style. Sold for $195 in 1955, the same suit would cost about $1600 today. Love the short matching gloves with the bracelets stacked on top and the super slim umbrella makes an elegant accessory.

Knife pleats are narrow at the top and gradually widen to the hem to add fullness to the skirt in this dress by Junior Sophisticates. The belt keeps things in check at the waist.

A dramatic peignoir set by Vanity Fair offers a robe with a grand sweep of sheer pleats falling from the shoulder. In nylon tricot and French lace, the set was available in white or pastel colors. In 1955, the gown sold for $29.95 and the robe for $59.95 - that equals $244 and $489 in today's dollar!

1961 Leslie Morris for Bergdorf Goodman Coat

Leslie Morris was hired by Bergdorf Goodman in 1931 and worked in their custom design department well into the 1960's. She traveled to Paris every year for the couture collections. She was considered in the top rung of American designers in the 1930's, 40's, and 50's on par with Sophie of Saks, Mr. Leone of Bendel's, and Wilson Folmar of Jay-Thorpe. I can find no evidence that Morris' name was ever put on the labels sewn into the garments, although it appeared prominently in advertisements for Bergdorf's.

This ad for Bergdorf's is from the September 15, 1961 issue of Vogue magazine. "Leslie Morris designed this flare-shaped city coat in rich black wool. Exclusive in our Made-to-Order Collection on the Second Floor." Well-to-do customers would go in to the store and have garments made specifically for them and to their measurements - the equivalent of couture. Note the 3/4 sleeves worn with long gloves and the large alligator bag, as well as the high bubble hat.
Get the look with this 1960's coat in Forstmann wool with genuine mink fur collar and cuffs, now available in our EBay store. Click the picture to see the listing.