Designer Chester Weinberg

I've talked about Chester Weinberg in the past, but today I want to show you a few more of his pieces. Weinberg trained at Parsons School of Design and worked at Leonard Arkin and Herbert Sondheim before becoming the designer at Teal-Traina in 1963. In 1966, he struck out on his own with financial backing from William and Edward Parnes, son and nephew of designer Paul Parnes. The dress shown above is from his first collection in the Fall of 1966. Bergdorf Goodman carried his line, and this dress sold for $160 (about $1085 in today's dollar).

Weinberg's designs were always exquisitely tailored and he only used the finest fabrics. “Fabrics set the whole mood of my collection. I cannot design a dress until I know what the fabric will be.” said Weinberg. You can see that high quality fabric and tailoring in the suit shown above, also from the Fall of 1966.

For the Fall of 1967, his fabric choices became a bit more bold. Here, a geometric tent shaped coat in black and white wool.

A vibrant black, green and red chinchilla cloth coat is flared and has a heavy brass zipper at the side. Sold for $190 in 1967 (about $1250 in today's dollar).

In the early 70s, the Chester Weinberg company floundered due to poor sales of the midi lengths he offered. In 1973, he found new financial backing and re-emerged to offer this collection centered around cashmere sweaters. The Weinberg label closed in 1975, but he continued to design for the Jones Apparel Group and Ballantyne Cashmere.

Chester Weinberg Dress 1967

Iconic Mod era design for the grown-up set - that's Chester Weinberg. Not as well known as Oscar de la Renta or Geoffrey Beene, Weinberg was an influential American designer in the late 1960's and early 70's whose clothing has become highly collectible today. He built his reputation on simple elegance, and his designs were always worked in beautiful fabrics. "Fabrics set the whole mood of my collection. I cannot design a dress until I know what the fabric will be."

May 1967, in an ad for Bergdorf Goodman - What else but the costume-in-the-round, beeping out the summer dress/jacket news this way: short, bouncy top, short, bouncy skirt, belted waist between. Medium for the message is honeycomb cotton, and Chester Weinberg is the sender of same. Are you listening world? In butter with black or nutmeg with white trim. $185 ($1210.00 in today's dollar).