They Started the Fads
Recently we were lucky enough to find the November 9, 1946 issue of "Saturday Evening Post," and much to our delight it had a fabulous article by Frank J. Taylor about the origins of the California Apparel Creators group.
Previously referred to as the Southern California apparel cutters, they were the laugh of the national garment industry being regarded as "a screwy sideline to the movies." However, in 1945 things changed when they captured the sportswear style market. The Los Angeles cutters passed those of Baltimore, Philadelphia and St. Louis and raced neck in neck with Chicago. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia warned New York's gament makers to keep a close watch on the upstart Westerners! ......(more to follow)
To watch the video, double click in the middle. To stop to take a closer look at a picture, just click the photo. (Photography by Gene Lester)
Los Angeles cutters insisted they were not trying to out do Manhattan and that their primary interest was the sportswear field...casual shirts, jackets, loose cardigans, collarless coats that looked like vests with sleeves, sports trousers for men, pedal pushers, outing ensembles, mannish shirts, slacks and wrap-arounds for women. They hoped to make Los Angeles the mecca of Sportswear design, as New York was for tailored apparel and Paris for high style.
Soon, in order to promote their clothing not only in California but around the nation and world, they started calling "sportswear" , "casual wear" or "functional wear." They weren't worried so much about the women since women always gambled on new styles. They concentrated their efforts on men. A business man can wear functional wear without being kidded. Starting with tourists buying sportswear on their California vacations, the California Apparel industry soon starting shipping their goods to haberdashers east of the Rockies.
And money they did make. Sam Slate, who owned a shirt and jacket factory, made it big on men's Fiesta shirts with bulls' heads for pockets and a lariat embroidered across the chest and down the sleeves. Before the fad faded, 12,000 of Slate's Fiesta shirts were sold, plus imitations produced by competitors.
William Friedman and partner, Barney Beller , owned the Hollywood-Rogue sportswear factory. They introduced a pullover shirt for men which was completely buttonless. No losing buttons again with this open collar, loose sleeve, solid breast shirt. Later they developed a shirt with one button and a loop so it could be buttoned and worn with a tie and jacket if need be. Friedman added other features to his shirts, too, such as whipstiched collars. He also pioneered shirts in many colors, previously only worn by women.
And California women's wear boomed, too. Marjorie Montgomery, one of the inner group known as The Affiliates, started out as a widow living on an Arizona ranch when she had the idea to "move cotton out of the kitchen" and started designing colorful cotton dresses with more style and flair. Her idea met with so much success that she sold the ranch and moved to the city to set up shop. Even though she lost her shop and the right to use her name in 1940, Montgomery later started a new business called Marjorie's Things, Inc. One idea that made her a leader in the Southern California women's wear business was a play suit over which a woman could wear a short skirt to be dressed for the outside or a long skirt and jacket to be worn for more formal events. Sort of like an "outfit-in-a-bag", a woman could tuck into her purse an entire outfit for a weekend. She is generally credited with originating play things for evening wear.
Joseph Zukin also followed in Marjorie's footsteps by introducing several weekend ensembles consisting of Spanish-sleeved bolero jackets and long skirts worn over blacks shorts and bras.
The ensemble idea also was adoped by Fay Foster, Pat Premo, Addie Masters and others in an attempt to emancipate women from the strait jacket of of more tailored or formal styles.
Many of the California designers first started out as dancers as did Mabs Barnes. Being dissatisfied with the tights issued by the studios, she began designing tights which she called a "wee fit." When she approached a local store to display them, the blushing manager ordered them to be kept out of sight as being too immodest. Later she married Wallace Barnes and together they built a thriving business in swim and play suits.
Louella Ballerino had yet another idea. Having studied fashion design at USC, the Frank Wiggins Trade School and under Andre Anni, the movie costume maestro, she took woman's everyday items to another level by featuring clothing from different nationalities. She adopted Africa as inspiration one year with her black and red primitive prints.
Other designers had brainstorms, too, such as Agnes Barrett's broomstick skirt and Lynn Eccleston's chopping off women's slacks to just above the knee for active wear and thus the pedal pusher. Viola Dimmitt, who designed expensive evening wear, was also noted for revolutionizing women's rain wear with bright colors which when belted looked like dresses.
In the early days, the best fabrics went to the Eastern customers so to fight back, the Los Angeles designers had to resort to other ideas. Irene Bury, known for her corduroy lounging pajamas, took Osnaburg, a rough cotton fabric and made it into Lonacloth which launched a new line of play suits, wrap-around shorts and tennis dresses. Marjorie Montgomery discovered a naval tailor who bleached denim for sailors. The bleached and softened denim was taken by her and redyed to other shades and many of the Southern California designers used this fabric. In 1946, it was a different story. Californians no longer have to beg for fabrics. (....more to follow)
LOUELLA BALLERINO
ADDIE MASTERS
STELLA BACICH LOU TABAK
WILLIAM FRIEDMAN
Californians did not mind if other Californians copied their looks but became very perturbed if Easterners or Mid Westerners tried to get in on the act. At the time of this article (1946), the California Creators as an association filed an injunction suit up to the highest court to restrain non-Californians from using "California-styled." Many Californias had added California to their names as their rightful designation such as....Cole of California, Tabak of California, Sally 'n' Susan Togs of California.
There were many small organized groups such as The Affiliates for women's wear, the League of California Dons, for menswear, but in 1942, the big association, the California Apparel Creators, was dreamed up by Sol Baumn of Miss Hollywood, Jr. He wanted to sell Southern California as a style mecca. Joe Zukin was the first leader of the association after it was launched and he urged them to promote California and drop the popular Hollywood label. He also started style shows at Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Catalina and on dude ranches where eastern buyers could come to one place when the weather back east was bad.
Those Californians had some crazy ideas...crazy ideas that made billions. Out of their imaginations and hard work came a thriving industry that poured more riches into the state than the Gold Rush.
Yes...they started the Fads....
Here are a few California labels. The first two we have had the fortune to own. The Pat Premo one is from a early 50's New Look dress and the Marjorie Montgomery one is from a 60s dress which is for sale on this website. The Tabak label is compliments of Maggie at www.denisebrain.com and comes from a late 60s mod double breasted dress.
