Debutante Clothing :: The Deblog

Debutante Clothing :: The DebLog

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May 1, 2006

Peggy Hunt - Collectible Grandma!

In November, Posh Girl of PoshGirlVintage and I went to an amazing fashion show. Jacqui Hyland was a wonderful MC. It probably helps that she is the proud granddaughter of Peggy Hunt and the daughter of Jeanette Alexander.

Jacqui shared many of her wonderful memories with me:

My family was/is so cool. My Grandmother, Peggy, was the first person to manufacture clothing in Los Angeles, she was hugely successful and wildly popular. She threw big parties at her gorgeous home and she really knew how to make friends. She was so much fun. So chic and glamorous.

Mom, Jeannette Alexander was the first person to manufacture shoulder pads and made a fortune during the war selling them to department stores all over the country. She took that money and rolled it into a very successful clothing business, just like my grandparents had, but her dresses were inexpensive little day dresses, mostly prints, they had to be inexpensive so that she wouldn't compete for any of Granny's business.

My Mother and Grandmother were based out of Los Angeles but they had showrooms in New York, Florida and Texas. They were huge in their day selling thousands upon thousands of dresses a year. They went out of business at the end of the sixties because women pretty much stopped wearing dressy dresses as much during the day and Mom didn't know anything about designing pants. Then they sort of faded into obscurity and for some unfair reason other designers who weren't as big in their day became more famous. I couldn't stand this, that my Grandmother who has started the fashion business in California had become so obscure that dealers didn't even know who I was talking about when I would ask them to keep an eye out for their dresses. Anyway times have changed big time and because I have worked tirelessly to promote them, people now know who they are, Granny more than Mom, and it's a kind of Catch 22 because I still want to collect their clothes but the prices have gone up.

The dresses in Jacqui's collection are breathtaking. Peggy Hunt was infamous for seductive yet lady-like illusion bust lines such as this one sold by The Vintage Peddler
We're glad we were able to contribute to Jacqui's collection of her fashion family history.

Posted by Sandra at May 1, 2006 7:47 PM | |