Late 1930s Hattie Carnegie cocktail dress, a little piece of American Designer history
American fashion history is far more fascinating to me than Haute Couture, this is not a judgment, Haute Couture will always reign supreme, I just find the stories of American designers to be so interesting PLUS there were so many women designers...Hattie Carnegie, Claire McCardell, Ceil Chapman, Bonnie Cashin, Sophie of Saks....
Hattie Carnegie was a true success story. She was born in Vienna in 1889 and named Hattie Kanengeiser. As a child her family moved to the US. Her formal education ended before she was a teenager and soon there after she began working. She opened her first shop (with a partner, Rae Roth) in 1909 at the tender age of 20. The shop was called Carnegie-Ladies Hatter. By 1913 the business had expanded to include custom made dresses and a few years later they started importing high-end French labels like Lanvin, Patou, Channel, Vionett... Carnegie had an exquisite eye which earned her great respect from clients, designers and the fashion world at large. In time she bought out her partner and continued to grow her business. The shop became a fashion emporium carrying every type of clothing (made to order and ready to wear) and accessory (with the exception of shoes). Hattie’s initial clientele were high society but during the depression she offered ready to wear that was somewhat affordable to mainstream society and helped her stay in business. More than a fashion designer and savvy businesswoman she was also a fashion voice and tastemaker. Her influence remained strong for decades. The Fashion Spot has a good article on Hattie Carnegie and there is a sweet blog about her on Zuburbia , plus a number of other online sources if you just do the Google :)
The dress we feature here is from the very end of the 1930s, no later than 1940. It is a cocktail/dinner dress (a few inches below the knee). The fabric is cranberry red, crepe back satin with the crepe side out (matte finish). It has all the elements of it's day...padded shoulder line, gathered sweetheart neck, form hugging torso and 4 gore bias cut skirt. The focal point of the dress is the heavy black beaded fringe, which circles the shoulder and back and falls in three layers from the short cap sleeves. The dress zips up the front with a delicate brass zipper...the zipper pull is covered in the same dress fabric. It looks just beautiful on the body.
The size is a smallish medium with the following measurements.
Bust – 36”
Waist – 27”
Hips will fit up to 38” (Bias gives it a little stretch)
Length of skirt from waist to hem 23”
Condition is Good and totally wearable, issues as follows:
1.There are three areas with slight smudge marks. They are faint and were hard to photograph but I did my best and have included arrows to point them out. They may very well come out if you send the dress to a good cleaner, someone who works with better vintage but personally I would leave well enough alone as they are so faint. That’s up to you of course.
2. The seam binding that finishes off the inner neckline has split in a few places and needs to be tacked down. This does not affect the way the dress looks on. See photos
3. Finally there were three small holes just a little bigger than a pinhead. These I mended so they are no longer visible.
