Gunne Sax

Hi,

Maybe you could help me out with some grad research I am doing on Gune Sax, prior to 1980.
I need magazine ads or editorials with photos of Gunne Sax. Any prices, store names etc. would also be great.
I think these will be found in teen or junior magazines (Seventeen, Glamour, Mademoiselle) from about 1975-1980.

Seems that most libraries and museums are only archiving the high fashion magazines: Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. So doing research on junior fashion is a real challenge (but fun)
Thanks for helping out, Jennifer O.

 

Afraid i'm no help Jennifer but I shall keep this bumped up (oh and I love the 2nd dress of Maggie's there..)

 

Hi,
I am looking for Gunne Sax photos from magazine, pattern cover or prom from the 1970's. I need the date and mag. that the picture came from too.
This will be used in a research paper I am writing for a grad class. I have been looking for junior type magazines from 1973 and later, but to no avail.
Thanks for your help,
Jennifer O.

 

Jennifer, I just merged these two threads. You might not have seen the responses to it, as it fell off "today's posts"

Chris

 

(Chris, thank you for helping me 'find' my postings)

Maggie, that first dress is right on target!

I have spent the day searching for 1970's sewing pattern covers and prom photos online-some great ones out there and you can really get a good date, since the prom photos are always dated (note: the men's wear is more outrageous that the women's)

This type of dress is certainly very early 1970's, the later 1970's prom pics have the more gauzy fabrics and pastels.

thanks again, Jennifer

p.s. I do have a photo of the dress I am dating, as part of the research, but can't seem to attach a photo to this--any suggestions?

 

Jennifer,
I've been looking through my 17 magazines, with no luck. But I only have issues through about 1977. I'll finish looking through them tomorrow and will post if I find anything.
Lizzie

Is your photo hosted somewhere? If so, go to edit and click on the little picture icon, paste in the url, and there you are!

 

Hi Lizzie,

Thanks for looking through your 17's!
I am begining to think that she didn't use advertisements (???)
They should have turned up by now if she had.
I know from personal experience that when I saw my first Gunne Sax at a shop in the mall in 1975, it was news to me, and I was an avid fashion magazine reader back then.

Well, we have alot of great prom pics out there, so I will go with that (kinda like dating a civil war dress).

I don't have my dress pic on a web site, guess I will figure out how to do that and try to post this photo in the next few days.

thank you,
Jennifer O.

 

Betcha we could swamp you with nicely photo'd pics of actual Gunne pieces, but gosh, I don't even know where a gal would have bought a Gunne. Coulnd't have been too off of a store, because I find them here a few a year, and I'm in the middle of Missouri, a good 40 miles from a mall. Figure in the 70s that was a little bigger distance than it is now (and on a rickity 2 lane highway!).
...unless they were the type of thing you bought when you were tourist shopping...hmm

Jenn

 

I got my first Gunne Sax dress from the factory outlet in San Francisco. We got the grand tour of the whole process, from cut to finish. It was in the the area where the jewelry mart is now. They were one of the first places to have an open fitting room. (no private stalls, just a big room with lots of mirrors, and half naked ladies) LOL!
My mom used to say, "Thats San Francisco for ya! Anything goes". I just loved the dresses, and seeing how they were made was really cool too.
Just thought I'd add my two cents. Wish I had some pictures to post. I dont remember too many adds, but I think my mom got some sort of flyer in the mail, with a coupon for the outlet. You may want to check old Macy's Christmas catalogs. I know they carried Gunne's for a while.
Just a thought.
Good luck,
Paula
"hws4sale"

 

There are quite a few Gunne Sax patterns out there from the time. it may not be what you are looking for but it can tell you a lot about who they marketed to as well.

 

I seem to recall one day an old episode of the Price is Right was ran from the 70s. The big prize was a 75 Gremlin I believe. Some of the gals on the show in that episode were wearing Jessica McClintock or at least it looked like it. It wasn't on the game show network, it was just one week on the regular network they ran a variety of episodes from throughout the years.

 

Hi Jennifer!

I can add another picture of an early black label Gunne for you if you like.
To save adding more pictures to the thread, I'll just add the link to the listing.

Vintage Black Label Gunne Sax Dress

I have had and see a lot of vintage Gunne's....
It's always interesting to notice the different fabrics and trims she used, from various cottons to velvets.
I don't think there is any fabric or trim she didn't use.

 

Alas, I don't have any ads either. But when I was in Junior High and High School in the early to mid 70s, Gunnies were THE thing to wear to formals and proms. I must have had half a dozen of them. I believe they were all purchased from the juniors department of Diamonds department store --- which was later acquired by Dillards.

 

I am back from vacation so I will look for you. Seem to think I remember seeing an ad in an old magazine.

 

Bumping this up for Jennifer.

 

Thanks to all of you for the great notes on Gunne Sax.
I will continue to be interested in your comments.
I hope to be able to establish what was produced by Gunne Sax during specific times/years. Hence the need for ads with dates.
Add the originial retail prices to that, and we have a great research tool!

--happy hunting, Jennifer O.

p.s. for real memory lane stuff, hit "images.google" for your favorite prom year. The photos are hysterical (or adorable, depending on your view point)

 

Jennifer, this won't help you as far as pre-80's but I have a wedding dress and bridesmaid Gunne Sax pattern on my website.

http://www.vc-mall.com/format4.php?storenum=75&user=66&itemnum=3832&previewpage=item