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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 | 
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Comments (8)
Thanks so much Sandra, for the dress and the write up. It was wonderful getting to know you a little bit and doing business with you. You're a doll. Big friendly hugs, Jacqui
Posted by jacqui hyland | May 14, 2006 2:28 AM
Posted on May 14, 2006 02:28
I own that green floral dress.....do you know any history on it?
Posted by Chloe | January 30, 2007 2:58 PM
Posted on January 30, 2007 14:58
Chloe,
I don't know anything about who owned the dress prior to me, just some history on the designer. I purchased it for resale in Upland CA.
Posted by Sandra | January 31, 2007 6:16 PM
Posted on January 31, 2007 18:16
I have a beautiful Jeanette Alexander dress, it is not casual, but beautiful evening. It is yummy. I am having problems finding any information about JA evening dresses. Can anyone help?
http://www.ssb9.net/users/40507/ja1.jpg
http://www.ssb9.net/users/40507/ja1.jpg
Posted by Debbie | March 3, 2007 10:15 AM
Posted on March 3, 2007 10:15
My grandmother worked for Peggy Hunt Originals as the seamstress who first made a garment from the designs before they went out on the "line". She was called "Mrs A". She was Petra Atkinson. I remember her taking me to work on occasional Saturdays when I was a kid.
Posted by Tom O'Neil | March 26, 2007 7:02 PM
Posted on March 26, 2007 19:02
Tom,
thanks for sharing that wonderful bit of fashion history!
Posted by Sandra | March 26, 2007 7:56 PM
Posted on March 26, 2007 19:56
HI Everybody,
Tom, I'll ask my Mom tomorrow if she remembers her. I'm sure my Grandparents would have. Is she still alive? I so would have loved to have interviewed her, to collect her stories. Do you remember anything about the factory or about my Grandparents? BTW my Mom used to take me to work on Saturdays sometimes too and since my Mother and my Grandparents shared the same location until the mid sixties we might have met.
My e-mail addy is jacquiscloset@aol.com, if you write be sure to send a copy to songmon@aol.com and that way if I miss it for any reason, because AOL has some pretty tough filters, it'll reach me via my boyfriend.
Big hugs,
Jacqui
Posted by jacqui | April 18, 2007 10:54 PM
Posted on April 18, 2007 22:54
Chloe -- I have the same green dress as well. Maybe I bought it from you or Sandra. It is so hard to keep it all straight. I have so many of them now. It looks like it would have been from my Grandmother's Spring line and probably a day dress. Looks kind of sixties to me.
Debbie, Thanks for posting the pictures. I'm so late coming back to check here but if there's any chance you're reading this; My Mom didn't really feature evening dresses in her line. Her clothes were meant to be much more affordable than my Grandmother's so she mostly stuck to day wear. She would occasionally make evening dresses but they would have been made out of the least expensive fabric. She was very clever with prints, selecting parts of a print that stood out to cut out and re-embroider onto the dress. When I do run into a dress like yours it will usually be made of a man made fabric as opposed to the more expensive silks and taffettas my Granny would use. I love your dress though, I wish I found it : )
Oh and Tom, if my Mom remembers your Granny and has any stories to share I'll come back and post it.
Big hugs,
jacqui
Posted by jacqui | April 18, 2007 11:06 PM
Posted on April 18, 2007 23:06