1891-1976 Mainbocher

[DosViolines]

Mainbocher (1891-1976) (born Main Rousseau Bocher ) was an American couturier who operated fashion houses in Paris and later New York from the 1930s through the 1960s. He is best known for designing Wallis Simpson's wedding dress and trousseau for her 1937 marriage to the former Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor) which was photographed by Cecil Beaton


Mainbocher was a native of Chicago, where he studied art at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He served in the Army in the first World War and stayed on in Paris after the war, working as a fashion illustrator for Harpers Bazaar and later as a fashion editor for French Vogue.

In 1929, he established his own fashion house, designing expensive, elegant haute couture dresses and gowns for an exclusive clientele, and charging them for the privilege of viewing his collections. He designed much of the Duchess of Windsor's wardrobe, naming a color, Wallis blue, for her, and created the first strapless evening gown.

In 1939 , he relocated his business to New York on 57th Street next to Tiffany's, and continued to design for generations of discerning women of means like Gloria Vanderbilt through the 1960s.

After he achieved fame for dressing some of the world's most famous women, Mainbocher was commissioned to design the costumes for Ethel Merman in the 1950 Broadway musical Call Me Madam. Merman recounts in her memoirs that she took her mother to her first fitting for her costumes. Mainbocher would not permit Merman's mother in the fitting area saying he did not allow outside persons in the areas where he created. When Merman inquired why he would not allow her mother when he allowed another old woman in the room, Mainbocher replied, "But that is my mother."

Recently, Mainbocher and twenty-three other American fashion designers were honored with bronze plaques on New York City's "Fashion Walk of Fame" in the legendary garment district.

wikipedia

 

[DosViolines]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Mainbocher Shredded Point D'Esprit Cocktail Dress
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] American, 1950s
Of hibiscus pink silk shantung, the sleeveless boned bodice with sweetheart neckline and slender skirt overlaid with coral point d'esprit self applique with rows of raw edged cut out leaf shaped flounces, size 6, labeled: Mainbocher Inc.[/FONT]

doylenewyork

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]

 

[DosViolines]

Evening dress, 1939
Mainbocher (American, 1890–1976)
Ivory silk chiffon embroidered with white and silver sequin butterflies and ivory silk taffeta

"Lady Mendl was so successful that she became a living factory of chic."
—Cecil Beaton

The artist Ludwig Bemelmans describes Lady Mendl typically descending to her famous parties wearing "one of her Mainbocher uniforms." She wore this particular Mainbocher to her Circus Ball on July 1, 1939, at the Villa Trianon in Versailles. It was the last party of the season and the last before the outbreak of World War II. Lady Mendl believed in simplicity of dress. As she said, "I always take one thing off before leaving the house." She also preferred neutral colors. When she saw the Parthenon for the first time, she exclaimed, "It's beige! My favorite color!"

Lady Mendl was equally celebrated for her Sunday lunches. After moving to the Ritz during the Phony War (a lull in fighting that lasted from October 1939 to April 1940), her Sunday lunches continued to draw a lively crowd of artists, designers, diplomats, aristocrats, and movie stars. The difference, however, was that these lunches had a more political agenda—to raise money for "Le Colis de Trianon-Versailles." Vogue noted, "Sometimes she gets as much as fifteen thousand francs in contributions."

metmuseum.org

 

[DosViolines]

Evening dress, ca. 1938
Mainbocher (American, 1890–1976)
Black silk taffeta embroidered with metallic thread, sequins, and beads

Cecil Beaton photographed the Duchess of Windsor wearing this dress for British Vogue in 1939. To highlight and complement the eighteenth-century silhouette of the gown, Beaton photographed the duchess seated in a Louis XV chair against a Piranesi backdrop. During the late 1930s, as a reaction against sociopolitical realities, fashion and the decorative arts were heavily influenced by period revivalism.

Cecil Beaton was the Duchess of Windsor's official photographer and played an important role in constructing her public image. The pair first met in 1930, when the duchess was married to Ernest Simpson. Beaton's initial impressions of Wallis Simpson were far from favorable, describing her as "brawny and raw-boned in her sapphire blue velvet." On his next meeting, however, which took place in 1934, he found her appearance much changed: "I liked her immensely. I found her bright and witty, improved in looks, and chic."

metmuseum.org

 

[eugenius]

the Mainbocher corset, photographed by Horst, popularized in modern times by You-Know-Who in her You-Know-What music-video..Love this image
(source: staleywise.com)

 

[DosViolines]

A FINE MAINBOCHER PRINTED CHINOISERIE SATIN EVENING GOWN, FRENCH, LATE 1930S

labelled, 12 Avenue George V, Paris, comprising evening gown with ruched fabric to bosom and beaded neckline detailing, tiny buttons to the back; matching belt and short jacket lined in blue silk

sothebys

 

[Luxx]

Mainbocher was such an amazing artist - his clothes are astounding. He was really one of the forefathers of American design.

1949
Model wearing red satin evening gown with slim front and flowing back with small train, and a matching cape with sable collar and squirrel lining dyed to match the sable, by Mainbocher



Image Credit | Corbis.com

 

[Luxx]

1952
Model wearing a sleeveless black eyelet dress with flared skirt by Mainbocher, with Harry Winston diamond bracelet, necklace and earrings.



Image Credit | Corbis.com

 

[Luxx]

1934
Two women wearing dresses by Mainbocher; at left a wine-colored broadcloth dress with narrow lines broken by a swinging back cape and a front slit, and at right a blue wool dress with a red velvet sash and a tiered skirt.



Image Credit | Corbis.com

 

[Luxx]

1938
Model wearing a gown with two-tiered black net skirt, white net bodice and shawl, satin belt with round clasp designed by Mainbocher; heavy gold bracelet and earrings by Mauboussin; hair upswept in pin curls.

Image Credit | Corbis.com

 

[Luxx]

1958
Mainbocher's Silhouette. New York: Designer Mainbocher, in a world shaken by the chemise and the trapeze, still believes in the palpability of the waistline. In his Spring collection he shows this suit of pink and gray wool. The outfit combines a box jacket with an extremely flared skirt, somewhat resembling the trapeze line. The halter top is pink and white lace over pink shantung.

Image Credit | Corbis.com

 

[Luxx]

1931
Two women wearing dark evening dresses by Mainbocher: the first is in clinging sapphire-blue velvet and the second in a brown georgette crepe with brown satin pouf at the side.

Image Credit | Corbis.com

 

[kahlilg]

1931
Two women wearing dark evening dresses by Mainbocher: the first is in clinging sapphire-blue velvet and the second in a brown georgette crepe with brown satin pouf at the side.



Image Credit | Corbis.com

beautiful designs

 

[SomethingElse]

Strapless Lace Mainbocher Ball Gown.

vintageous.com

 

[DosViolines]

Mainbocher Ecru Silk Satin Evening Gown
American, 1961
Original sample, slip bodice with narrow self straps, gathered into an inset waistband, full but controlled long skirt, two four inch horizontal parallel bands mid skirt of Eastern inspired fine embroidery with pearls, fine gold and silver seed beads, bronze and silver sequins, backed with a layer of silk faille darted at waistline to reduce volume.

doylenewyork

 

[DosViolines]

Main Rousseau Bocher (1891-1976) was born in Chicago and studied at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. After serving in WWI, he became a fashion illustrator at Harper’s Bazaar and then the editor of French Vogue. In homage to the designers Louiseboulanger and Augustabernard, whom he greatly admired, he changed his name to the French-sounding Mainbocher in 1929 when he became the first American to open his own couture house in Paris. He achieved immediate success, especially among fashionable Americans such as Wallis Simpson, who wore a Mainbocher dress when she married the Duke of Windsor. Mainbocher’s style was classic, even somewhat conservative, but always elegant and extremely expensive. “He not only made a woman look like a lady, but as if her mother had been a lady too,” declared fashion editor Sally Kirkland. Mainbocher’s clothes were characterized by luxurious materials and fine workmanship, and were exquisitely finished both inside and out. He loathed Schiaparelli’s flamboyance, but greatly admired Vionnet, whose craftsmanship influenced his designs. In addition to the evening dress shown here, which Mrs. A. Watson Armour III wore to Chicago’s Assembly Ball. Chic Chicago features two of his impeccably tailored suits. It was said that a suit and blouse of his “cost as much as a half year’s tuition and board at Harvard.” Mainbocher himself summed up his philosophy by saying: “Suitability is half the secret of being well-dressed.”

Mainbocher, evening dress, c.1938, France, gift of Mrs. A. Watson Armour III, photograph by Irving Solero

fitnyc

 

[LUXXX]

I wonder why this name died out...in every biography I read of stylish women from this time period they are devoted to Mainbocher.

 

[SomethingElse]

Mainbocher.com links directly to vionnet.com. Perhaps the name Mainbocher is owned by the same entity as Vionnet, but they are not doing anything with Mainbocher these days?

 

[SomethingElse]

From time.com 25 September 1963

The Main Line

"I am the Rolls-Royce of the fashion trade," says Manhattan's Mainbocher, and it is a simple statement of fact. At 72, the short, round little man with the synthetic name can boast that his clothes are the most carefully made, the slowest to change, and among the most expensive in the world. If the upper-class look characterizes the lines of both Mainbocher and Balenciaga, "Main's" clothes look like older money.

Mainbocher is also the great loner. He disregards the feverish pitch of the Paris houses and shows his collections at his own dignified pace (his butler serves ice water instead of champagne). Last week two audiences—one of society women and one of fashion pros, both as carefully hand-picked as the members of a royal wedding—were admitted to the off-white salon on Fifth Avenue, sat reverently on couches and little blue chairs to watch six mannequins parade in 150 designs while the aging master explained them in a well-modulated whisper.

The news was not dramatic—longer waistlines and shorter coats, more form-fitting shapes, and buttons all over. But sweeping innovations and fancy pace-setting are never the point. A Mainbocher is a Mainbocher, and the woman who wears it expects to go on wearing it for years. Which is almost necessary at those prices—the average price of a mere suit is $1,000.

Mainbocher is the master of the throwaway: a little tweed jacket that suddenly turns out to be lined with sable, a simple something buttoned up to the neck that unbuttons—if you just happen to feel like it—to reveal a splash of Schlumberger or Verdura in emeralds and diamonds. He was making the sleeveless sheath long before Jackie Kennedy made it a cliché.

The One & Only. Mainbocher's name is usually pronounced even by himself as if it were French (Main-beau-chez), but he is as American as blue jeans. He was named Main Rousseau Bocher (pronounced Bosher) when he was born 72 years ago on the West Side of Chicago. His mother wanted him to be a painter, his father wanted him to be a violinist, he wanted to be an opera singer. He had to change his plans when, just as he was about to go onstage for his debut in Paris, he lost his voice.

Unable to sing a note for three years, he became editor of the French edition of Vogue, and was so successful in the fashion world that in 1930 he opened his own salon. Mainbocher came to New York in 1939, where he profited by the wartime blackout of France as the fashion center of the world. Today he is America's sole exemplar of the big-name custom-only couturier. Unlike such top U.S. designers as Norman Norell and James Galanos, he does not distribute his models through department stores; anyone who wants to buy a Mainbocher has to come to the Fifth Avenue salon.

The Appointment. And it is by no means as simple as that, either. Unless she comes with an introduction from an established client, the would-be customer is confronted by a formidable lady with a foreign accent who takes her name and informs her that she will be sent an invitation to view the collection — a stall that gives the office staff a chance to check her social background and financial status. When she arrives for her appointed showing, there are seldom more than two other customers in the salon.

Mainbocher dresses some of the most glamorous properties on Broadway, as well as some of the most sedulously anonymous rich. His skill with color, plain lines and expert engineering takes especially kindly to the middle-aged figure. Many women who wear his clothes as never see him, but such favored clients as "Babs" Paley and "Ceezee" Guest can sometimes prevail on him to discuss their wardrobes over lunch at Le Pavillion or the Colony. "I think I've been a reassuring influence in fashion," he says. "I don't want my clothes to make a woman look desperate for attention; I do want them to add to her chic and not make her look smarty smart."

 

[LUXXX]

Mainbocher.com links directly to vionnet.com. Perhaps the name Mainbocher is owned by the same entity as Vionnet, but they are not doing anything with Mainbocher these days?

That's interesting...I read a about a year ago that Vionnet was supposed to be resurrected by Sophia Koksalaki...or however you say that last name. I think she is London-based.

They should try to bring Mainbocher back...someone like Nicholas G. at Balenciaga could do it...