THE DUCHESS OF WINDSOR

"Mine is a simple story. 

It is the story of an ordinary life 
that became extraordinary."

- The Duchess of Windsor

"In my opinion, there is only one 

important rule about clothes: 

it is that they should be so simple 

and unobtrusive as to seem unimportant."

- The Duchess of Windsor

photos by Cecil Beaton 1937

LA FIORENTINA -- SUMMER OF 1972

It was the summer of 1972 at La Fiorentina, a villa in the French Riviera that Eleanor Lambert and Gerald Van der Kemp, talked about the idea of a fundraiser to restore the King’s bedroom at the Palace of Versailles.  Extensive restoration had recently been completed on the Royal Opera House at Versailles overseen by Van der Kemp who was the palace’s curator.  He thought it might be a good idea to raise funds for the bedroom by showing off the Opera House.  Eleanor agreed...

Since the mid 1930s, Eleanor Lambert had been patiently thinking about how she might put American fashion on an equal footing with Europe, especially the French.  This wasn’t exactly an easy task, especially when – as a fashion publicist – she eventually came to represent designers from Italy, France, England and America.  

After four decades of promoting American fashion all over the world Miss Lambert understood that the timing was finally right to showcase American fashion onstage in France – against the French and the location…  the Palace of Versailles... came right to her on a silver platter while she was relaxing on vacation at La Fiorentina!

In his book BILLY BALDWIN DECORATES A BOOK OF PRACTICAL DECORATING IDEAS, Baldwin describes La Fiorentina, as a “villa for active Americans.”

The Villa was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Harding Lawrence who hired Baldwin to decorate the house when they purchased it.   He described the couple as “two quick, bright, fast-living Americans."  He claimed that when they saw the enchanting villa, they knew they were destined to own it.  They told Baldwin that they wanted "lots of linen and cottons, big puffy sofas and chairs, and good lights to read by."  They also added: "but let us remember that we bought the house because of what it is.  Let's not revolutionize it"   

These pictures were taken shortly before Miss Lambert and Mr. Van der Kemp had their meeting.  It would take more than a year to plan what would come to be known as The Versailles Exhibition.  Miss Lambert billed it as a Franco-American collaboration for the Versailles Restoration Fund, but it has come to be known as one of the greatest moments in fashion history.  Vogue called it "the fashion show to end all fashion shows!"

                       

all photos by Horst.  

from the book Billy Baldwin Decorates A Book of Practical Decorating Ideas, 1972

SAVE THE DATES...

I am very excited to announce that I will be leading a three part lecture series at LIM College this fall and a special session in November at LIM's Leadership Conference in New York.

 The lecture series is called A Conversation of Fashion Through the Decades

Friday, September 6^th :  Special VIP Reception 6pm

1940s - 1950:  The Age of a New World View and the Birth of the Status Quo  6:30pm - 8pm

Monday, September 30^th: 1960-1970:  Youthquake!  6:30-8pm

Monday, October 14^th: 1980-2000: Age of Excess and the Dawn of Restraint  6:30-8pm

The LIM Leadership Conference: Special Session

Saturday, November 16^th:  Eleanor Lambert: Don’t Look Back

Immediately following the lecture, I will sign copies of my book, Eleanor Lambert: Still Here 

books will be available for purchase.


Keep checking back for more details of the lecture series and the leadership conference.

This series will be hosted at:

LIM College

Maxwell Hall

216 East 45^th Street

New York

Please contact LIM College at studentlife@limcollege.edu

for registration and ticket sales.  Seats are limited.

A portion of tickets sales will be donated to the LIM Fashion Education Foundation.

HALL OF FAME: Pauline Trigère Part Two

Pauline Trigère’s plaque on the Fashion Walk of Fame

@ 35th Street & 7th Avenue

Interestingly enough, both of Pauline Trigère’s parents were tailors in Paris.  Over her long career, which spanned from the late 1930s to the late 1990s, Trigère's business remained relatively small.  But, in addition to her clothing line, she created perfume, scarves, jewelry, raincoats, jackets and quite a few other licensed products.

Even though her business was small, her influence was great.  She was recognized numerous times:  she received three Coty Awards, the first in 1949, the second in 1951 and her third in 1959, entering the Coty Hall of Fame.

Halston and Pauline Trigère at the 1959 Coty Awards 

Trigère won her third Coty and entered the Coty Hall of Fame that night

a Trigère look from 1959, Eleanor Lambert: Still Here

Trigère look from 1961,  Eleanor Lambert: Still Here

She also received fashion awards from Neiman Marcus, Filene's, and the National Cotton Award.  Even though she was a proud American, she was recognized by her native France – receiving both the silver and the vermeil medals of the City of Paris.

In 1962, she was one of the original 20 founding members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.  

Her 50th anniversary in fashion was a milestone in the industry celebrated in 1992 at a benefit fashion show and dinner at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.  It was attended by 600 of the most influential names in design, manufacturing and retailing, as well as by numerous clients and friends.  The only other designer in America to reach that milestone and celebrate 50 years in the industry was Norman Norell.

In 1993, at a ceremony at Lincoln Center, Miss Trigère received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Trigère look from 1964, American Fashion

Trigère 1964, American Fashion

For over five decades she was one of the great symbols of the American fashion industry.  Miss Trigère lived to the age of 93, The New York Times called her “an exemplar of style” and she was described by her fellow fashion designers as ''a true intellectual” and ''a creator of timeless fashion.”

Pauline Trigère by Kenneth Paul Block, Drawing Fashion, Pointed Leaf Press

''Fashion is what people 

tell you to wear,

style is what comes 

from your own inner thing.''

                - Pauline Trigère

HALL OF FAME REVEAL: Pauline Trigère

Pauline Trigère, 1951 

Of course the answer to yesterday's post is Pauline Trigère!  (I know Michael McGraw and Kristen Vigrass guessed correctly!)

The first time I met Pauline Trigère was when I was working for Eleanor Lambert in 1995 – it was one of those days that you just know you will never forget.  We had just left a meeting with Geoffrey Beene and were on our way to a meeting at Tiffany & Co.  Just outside of Tiffany’s we spotted Pauline Trigère coming out.  The two women had known each other for at least 50 years by this time.  As we went into the building Miss Lambert remarked that it was funny that we should see Trigère outside of Tiffany -- as she had been the designer chosen to create the outfits for Patricia Neal’s character, wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in the movie Breakfast At Tiffany’s.*  Miss Lambert joked that maybe we would see Givenchy who designed Audrey Hepburn’s outfits today too if we stuck around.  

Patricia Neal’s character, wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast At Tiffany’s

more Patricia Neal 

& more Patricia Neal 

Pauline Trigère was a master cutter; she worked directly on a live model. Her plaque on the Fashion Walk of Fame on Seventh Avenue is represented by a pair of scissors, which she always had with her…  Her garments were known for sophisticated and structured tailoring, and the best of these were her coats and dresses made from fine wools. She even made evening dresses from wool - in designs that were extremely elegant. She was also a master at fitting; her clients often said that her dresses fit like a second skin.

Pauline Trigère was born in Paris and immigrated to the United States in 1937, she was on her way to South America, but after stopping in New York, she decided to stay.  She ended up working for for Ben Gershal, Travis Banton and then Hattie Carnegie.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1942 and at the onset of World War Two, Carnegie laid her off. She actually ended up renting space in Carnegie’s studio in a business she started with her brother designing under the name "Trigère." By the 1950s, her label read, "Pauline Trigère"and this label was used for the rest of her career.

“People always say to me,

‘Aren’t you French?’

And I say,

‘No, I am American.’

“I found in this country 

everything I wanted.

This country made me 

Pauline Trigère.”

more Pauline Trigère to follow...

*some have suggested that it was Edith Head who designed Neal’s wardrobe, Eleanor Lambert claimed it was in fact Trigère and I must say,  it looks very much like Miss Trigère’s work.

HALL OF FAME FRIDAYS...

What is the HALL OF FAME you ask?

The "HALL OF FAME" consists of those designers who are no longer here…   Some started their careers working for other designers or in the back rooms of garment manufacturers… others owned their own shops or ran their businesses from the very beginning.  They were rebels & revolutionaries who broke the rules along the way, changing not only fashion, but also the culture.  Some dictated a looked that defined a season, a decade or even a generation - the world not only took notice, but followed.

These are the stories of the most creative, talented, and innovative people in the fashion industry – the names that are known, some unknown, the legends that have been forgotten, and the legendary who defined a decade.  Their influence and work is a milestone in fashion history.  

So let’s get started… 

Can you guess who our very first HALL OF FAME designer is? 

HINT:  She had one of the longest careers in American fashion and often proclaimed…

“If you feel blue, wear red”

BACK IN THE SADDLE…

on the streets of New York

Back when President Reagan was in his first term of office, part of my enthusiastic and ultra preppy daily uniform included saddle shoes.  The Western White House – Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo -- was just up the road, and while plenty of people had saddles and riding gear in the Santa Ynez Valley where I grew up, I didn’t know anyone else who owned saddle shoes.  In those days the uniform of choice for locals was – English or Western riding gear, Levis or Wranglers, athletic uniforms, beach attire or blue Future Farmers of America jackets.  I however, created a unique preppy look that looked very out of place on the California’s Central Coast.   It was a look that I pulled together piece by piece from stores in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County.  I wore crazy colored socks, two or three polo shirts (at the same time), and a sweater or two, and wide-whaled corduroy pants.  Sometimes it was topsiders, but most of the time, I wore saddle shoes… 

courtesy of Leffot

Many years have passed, but it’s those saddle shoes that still get so much attention!  Two years ago, I wrote a book about my mentor and former boss called Eleanor Lambert: Still Here, and my cousin Anna, taunted me:  “Did you talk about your saddle shoes in the book? Haha!”  I was reminded of how everyone had an opinion of my saddle shoes, but I loved them and I did not really care what anyone else thought. I do admit, that wearing them on a day trip with my godmother Chrissie to Palm Springs was a big mistake.  As dusk approached she decided it would be fun to take "a quick short hike in the mountains"… to test out her new backpack.  Let me just say that saddle shoes were not designed for hiking.  I am not sure whatever happened to those saddle shoes after that hike...

courtesy of Leffot

Now of course saddle shoes are back.  A whole new generation of very CHIC and very SMART young people are embracing saddle shoes.  If you want to see some great saddle shoes – or just great men’s shoes period – it is a must to check out Leffot! 

Leffot


10 Christopher Street (corner of Gay Street)


New York, NY 10014


(212) 989-4577


info@leffot.com

Often people who experienced something the first time around, find it tempting to judge the next generation to pick up an idea, but I actually find it very exciting to see people embrace something new to them and make it theirs.  The truth is people were wearing saddle shoes long before I was in the 1980s, I would be willing to bet they might fade away again only to return one day in the future. 

courtesy of Leffot

That brings me to the purpose of why I created this blog…  I am passionate about telling the stories of the pioneers that have come before us, I want to share their stories, but, I am always thinking: How is it relevant to us in our lives today?  I know that each story has the ability to change the narrative of what we know, engage our imagination, ignite (or re-ignite) passion, as well as build community.  I want to build a connection between today and the past, but it is important to always move the conversation forward.