Vintage Dress

 Look what I found while flipping through the racks at Goodwill. I love this dress! The happy buttery yellow color makes me smile. It's just a little bit big, but the tie waist makes it work out just fine. And my favorite thing was paying 5.99 for it.

 It's a true vintage. And I have decided that I am in love with polyester. It never needs ironing.

Look! A union label. Here's what I found out about it:

At the height of its power during the 1930s and 1940s, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) was one of the most important and progressive unions in the United States. Founded in 1900 as an organization dominated by Jewish and Italian immigrants, its membership rolls expanded greatly in its first few years of operation. Nonetheless, a weak economy and conservative business forces were able to keep the union’s gains in check, leading to two major strikes. In 1909, 20,000 New York shirtwaist makers, mostly women, launched a fourteen-week strike, called “The Uprising,” followed several months later by a strike of 60,000 cloakmakers. In the negotiations that followed, the ILGWU was recognized by the industry and won higher wages as well as important new benefits for its members, such as health examinations. In 1911, 146 workers, most of them young women, were killed in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire leading to a public call for laws to protect workers. As a result, by 1920 the ILGWU was one of the most powerful unions in the organized labor movement.

And this is the designer. She's darling, is she not?

Anne Fogarty, spring 1967: linen culotte ensemble.

Born: Anne Whitney in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2 February 1919. Education: Attended Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1936-37; studied drama at Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, 1937-38; studied design at East Hartman School of Design, 1939. Family: Married Thomas E. Fogarty, 1940 (divorced); married Richard Kollmar (widowed, 1971); married Wade O'Hara (divorced); children: Taf, Missy. Career: Worked as a fit model and copywriter in New York; designer for Sheila Lynn, New York; fashion stylist, Dorland International, New York, 1947-48; fashion designer, Youth Guild, New York, 1948-50, and with Margot Dresses Inc., New York, 1950-57; designer, Saks Fifth Avenue, 1957-62; managed own business, Anne Fogarty, Inc., New York, 1962-74; lines included Anne Fogarty Boutique, Clothes Circuit, Collector's Items; closed business, circa 1974; freelance designer to 1980; final collection designed for Shariella Fashion, 1980. Awards: Coty American Fashion Critics award, 1951; Neiman Marcus award, 1952; Philadelphia Fashion Group citation, 1953; International Silk Association award, 1955; National Cotton Fashion award, 1957. Died: 15 January 1980, in New York.

This is my other favorite Goodwill find from a few months back. It still had the tags attached. I paid 12.00. for it. I don't remember what its original price was, but I do know it was spendy. Because Banana Republic is spendy. And that's why I don't shop there.

The End