Hattie Carnegie (03.15. 1886 - 02.22. 1956)
"We have the loveliest women in the world in this county and wherever there are beautiful women there will be beautiful clothes. To show the American woman herself off to best advantage—that has always been my aim and that is my real biography."
- Hattie Carnegie
Hattie Carnegie is a favorite of many vintage collectors of fashion and jewelry. Her personal story is as fascinating as her designs. On March 15 1886, Hattie was born in Vienna, in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire as Henrietta Kanengeiser. She was the second child of a family with seven children. Her father was an artist and a tailor of men's clothing. He is believed to be the person that first introduced her to the world of fashion. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was six years old. Early in her career she changed her name to Carnegie upon learning that Andrew Carnegie was the richest man in the United States. Hattie's brothers and sister adopted the last name of Carnegie as well. They too were active in the establishment of her fashion empire.
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An amazing business woman indeed!
The concept of Hattie Carnegie as a designer is somewhat misleading. What she was instead was an amazing business woman who knew to hire smart creative people. She had an uncanny skill of looking at a design and knowing immediately if it was right for the American woman. At the height of her success she had five different companies that sold hats, perfume, jewelry, custom and ready-to-wear clothing. For decades Carnegie's personal fashion sense influenced countless American women. During her lifetime she was most famous for her clothing lines. Yet it is her jewelry that is so popular today.
Hattie's beloved father died in 1904 and she had to leave school. She worked as a messenger girl for Macys and took a job trimming hats in a millinery salon. It is believed this is when she acquired the name "Hattie" Carnegie, for her association with hats. Some sources say the name was a result of an experiment she did when she was thirteen -- she wrapped a length of lovely fabric around her head into a turban. It is said that the neighborhood women tried to buy Hattie's creation. (Turbans did play a major role in her hat designs.)
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Hattie never learned to sew, but she mastered the ability to tell those who could sew how to make clothes for the wealthy high fashion trade. She opened her first business with a partner, Rose Roth, in 1909 -- a shop called "Carnegie Ladies Hatter" in New York City. By 1913 the shop was so successful it moved to West Eighty-Sixth Street near the most fashionable part of town.
At this time Carnegie herself was the only form of advertisement for the shop. She would dress up in the clothing made by Rose Roth and in her own hats to go to the finest restaurants and even to the theater in the city. The other women who saw her, just "had to have" whatever Hattie was wearing. Her prices started at approximately $75. She always wore the shop's fashions in public and when working in the store.
Though she never finished school she spoke four languages: German, English, French, and Hebrew. Throughout her life she remained a bit of a contradiction. She passionately supported the women's rights movement and held on to the principles of women's equality her entire life. Yet one of her famous quotes was "I sell clothes to women who are more concerned about their clothes than their careers."
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Hattie Carnegie in her wedding gown for her wedding to
Major John Zanft |
From the beginning to the end of her business career she controlled the vast majority of stock and certainly had her way with everything. After World War I Carnegie bought out her partner Rose Roth and created Hattie Carnegie Inc. In 1918 she opened her custom dress making salon -- a grand salon where wealthy women had their own mannequins with their specific measurements.
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Hattie started traveling to Paris in 1919. She attended shows three or four times a year for decades (142 lifetime buying trips). Paris trips were halted during the five years most affected by World War II. It was during this period that she began using the finest American made fabrics and continued to do so even after French fabric became available again. A fun story has it that our grandmothers have Carnegie to thank for not having to wear the awful corsets of the day (a French invention). The story claims Hattie wore one as a "test" on a plane trip in 1939. In mid flight however, she asked for her secretary and the stewardess to help her out of the "living casket," which she then declared unfit for American women. Eventually, she became one of the few designers who was as popular in Paris as in the United States.
In 1925, I. Magnin & Co. became the first fine store to buy her wholesale collections.
It's actually correct to think of Carnegie more as an "editor" than as a designer. She provided editorial direction to her staff of designers and the manufacturing of the her lines. Her east 49th Street shop doubled in size and became a haven for stylish shoppers, where they could find furs, cosmetics, antiques, costume jewelry, chocolate bonbons, bed jackets, sweaters, blouses, slacks, perfume, scarves, dresses, and hats. Here she pioneered the "head-to-hem" boutique -- a concept that paved the way for the future success of designers like Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors in America. Fashions and style trends attributed to Carnegie are the use of and love of capes, street length cocktail dresses, the use of sequins or sparkles, and of course the iconic "Little Carnegie Suit".
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| vintagefashionguild.org |
In the 1930s and 1940s her clothing was considered stylish, beautiful and well-tailored. Some credit her with the development and popularity of the little black dress.
Her clients included Tallulah Bankead Joan Fontaine, Norma Shearer,
Joan Crawford and the Duchess of Windsor. Yet it is said that the "proudest moment" of her career was her design of the Women's Army Corp (WAC) uniform in 1950. It was first worn on New Year's Day of 1951. In 1952 Hattie Carnegie received the Congressional Medal of Freedom for the WAC uniform that was in use until 1968.
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| fashionencyclopedia.com |
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By 1940, Carnegie's empire was so vast that it employed over 1,000 people. Most of them worked in manufacturing the ready-to-wear lines. Yet the custom shop remained the foundation of her business.
Carnegie Jewelry:
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| vintagefashionguild.org |
In contrast to her clothing designs, which were traditional, Carnegie's jewelry was on the wild side, drawing from certain motifs. It was a bit wild, giving a touch of flair and fun to otherwise conservative outfits. She would often commission a number of talented jewelry designers to create jewelry in a variety of styles. In general, her jewelry stayed away from all-paste copies of gemstone fine jewelry. Often the designs were influenced by a real world mix of themes; animals, Asian and African art, Egyptian Revival and East Indian culture and art. She preferred to employ plastics, enamels and gilt metals. Her whimsical brooches became iconic in the 1950s. Carnegie's jewelry is noted for its attention to detail and creativity. For example, a metal brooch depicting an apple has a slice cut out.
From Judy of Judys Gem2 on why she love's to collect Hattie Carnegie jewelry:
"One of the main reasons I love her jewelry so is because of the quality and the workmanship of all the pieces ,and with each artist she worked with she allow their personality or design qualities to show through. When KJL worked for her you can tell its his work. even when they made pieces together he still came through. That really sums up why I like her work-she was confident enough about her own work to allow two ego's too shine through."
Carnegie jewelry also had a traditional, romantic style, with necklaces and bracelets made of double- and triple-strand crystal, glass and rhinestone beads, graceful chokers with trailing chains and large brooches with giant, shimmering stones in rich colors.
Hattie Carnegie died in 1956 -- the jewelry designed before then is more valued by collectors than the later pieces. The jewelry created under her direction and with her approval are the most cherished and have the most value. They are very much worth collecting.
Sources:
"Hattie Carnegie Jewelry
Her Life and Her Legacy"
by Georgiana McCall
hattie-carnegie.info
wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_Carnegie
http://vintagefashionguild.org
jwa.org (Jewish Women's Archive)
www.collectorsweekly.com
www.fashionencyclopedia.com
www.vintagefashionguild.org
A most informative, thoroughly researched article on Hattie Carnegie and her contributions to women's fashions!
ReplyDeleteWonderful piece on her life and legacy. Thank you for featuring two of her brooches from my etsy shop.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. Thank you for using my brooch.
ReplyDeleteExcellent article! I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot along the way!
ReplyDeleteOutstanding blog - realy enjoyed reading about a fabulous designer!!!
ReplyDeleteWendy -- as always you gave us a great look at a fabulous and extremely important designer with flair and lots and lots of pretty pictures! I never knew that Hattie was a nickname that came from wearing hats! Your co-editor in crime, Shelli
ReplyDeleteWhat an informative post! $75 was a lot of money in the 20s!!! A testament to her great talent. Thanks for featuring my brooch as well.
ReplyDeleteWendy great information and Debi your shop is amazing! Love the old photos as well.
ReplyDeleteLove this! Her hats are always stunning!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all this information. I am just learning about this designer. I am a jewelry enthusiast and I am selling two Hattie Carnegie vintage items. They're really cool and unique! I have two locks in the Shape of a model T car and the other in the shape of a Cadillac. Does anyone know how much these are going for? And if there's anyone who might be interested? I am looking forward to learning more about her. If you're interested in the cars please message me at vruizny@yahoo.com or my google address...Till then, happy collecting!!
ReplyDelete