Who's Your Fave "Non-Name" Designer?

Claire, that's very interesting about the Silverman/Rodgers collection. I assumed that the collection they gave to Kent State was mostly their own work.... I really like their 60's things. But the Rodgers sundress I had from the 50s was made before he hooked up with Silverman, for Jack Horwitz, Coty-award winning designer. And I had almost no info on him and lost the little bit I found, but wow, I just googled him, and there's a great article in the Times on him today!

Here's the article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3DE113BF93BA25752C0A961948260&sec=&spon=
 
Once I stopped looking for "labels" and kept my eye open for quality and interesting things I was surprised to see that what I picked up was pretty interesting "store brand" items like Carol Brent. I'm always impressed with the quality of pre-eighties clothing - even Sears and Kmart had cute stuff that wasn't assembled with spit and a prayer~

P.S. LOVE Julie's Heat Miser avatar!
 
I love Goldworm - so under appreciated but some of the pieces are fabulous. This was my favorite dress ever - tried to loose enough weight to fit into it and after a few years of owning it let it go. Broke my heart too!

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oh and here is a lovely Jerry Gilden dress that I sold last year:
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Great minds _ in my personal wearable collection I have a tweed 2-piece dress from R&K, a wonderful 1967ish Jerry Silverman, and an early 60s Harvey Berin. All are flattering and very well made. Also I have and love a Carlye, which was a junior line, but still has great quality and fit!
 
Carlye, yes! I didn't realize it was for juniors. I've never had a blah Carlye
 
Right now, living in Santa Fe , NM, I would have to say my favorite is Patra - they have great, great dresses. It are fun, not expensive, and I see them all the time!
 
I don't give away TOO many secrets of the hunt....but....I adore Miss Mary, an incredibly fine milliner in New York City, whose hats in the 1950s rivaled any French maker. I have handled hats by hundreds of makers and she is among the top 20. Her designs were simple, yet amazingly constructed. I especially like her black velvet hats... they might not look like much in a photo, but in your hand you will delight in her masterful talents. She also did beautiful work in Milan straws, often with black velvet trims.

B
 
I'm currently collecting some Australian designers; in particular, the House of Merivale ('60s-70s), Prue Acton ('60s-70s), Norma Tullo ('50s-70s) and Studibaker Hawk ('80s). I focus on local labels so most of my labels would not be known overseas.
 
INVINTAGEV said:
I love LBD by Ben Barrack !!!
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I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Ben Barrack fashions--not just their LBDs but everything by them. I have a couple in my personal collection and a couple in my "to sell" inventory--which I never get around to selling because I like having them around.... I've never had a BB dress that was less than top shelf in fabric and workmanship, or that didn't have some styling detail that set it apart from others of its kind. I once bought a 1950s' Barrack silk dress with separate overskirt, and it was one of the most stunning pieces I've ever had (or seen). But, sadly, the condition was so awful--much, much worse than described--that I returned it. Had it not been for the fact that I paid a lot of $$ for it, I'd have kept it for my collection.

I have a few pieces by much "bigger" names but, IMHO, they are not any better quality than my Ben Barrack pieces. Maybe more dramatic in style, although I've had at least 1 or 2 Barrack pieces that were stunning, but for RTW pieces from the 40s through the 60s, you can't beat Barrack!

It's always sad when pieces from design houses like Ben Barrack and others get overlooked simply because they do not carry a "label" with more cachet. Early R & K and Jonathan Logan pieces, as others have pointed out, were wonderful, too (a step or so below BB, but nice nonetheless), but the perception of them suffers, I think, because of their later entry into the mid-priced, junior fashions of the late 60s and into the 70s. Not that those brands weren't quality. Well made, still, but nowhere near as upscale "looking" as their predecessors.
 
Adele Claire. She was out of New York and had some connection with the Chevalier Company but I am not sure what.
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I would never of probably ever picked up a hat or vintage clothing if I would not of found a hat by Adele Claire.
In 2006 I stumbled across the Fedora Lounge to ask about my hat I had found.
This place at that time then sparked a love for vintage clothing and more hats etc.

To this day I still have not found much about her or her hats.
 
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