Couture, Designer & Vintage Clothing

 Swatch Card & Textile Auction

  Sale April 9th & 10th, 10am

Preview April 8th, 12pm-6pm & 8am sale days

New Hope Eagle Fire Co. Route 202 & Sugan Rd.

New Hope, Pennsylvania 18938

 

            This spring our sale will feature property from the Historical Costume Museum, Inc. of Miami, Florida. The HCM at one time comprised a large part of Fashion Group International's South Florida branch.  Fashion Group was founded in 1928 by 17 notable women including Edna Chase, (editor of Vogue), Eleanor Roosevelt, Claire McCardell, Lilly Dache, and other important figures in the fashion industry. The original mission of Fashion Group was to create a forum to express and enhance a widening awareness of the American fashion business and of women's roles in that business. In addition to Fashion Group, the HCM at one time was also part of the International Fine Arts College.

The HCM collection features a large group of Pucci garments, Chanel, Dior, Fath, Zandra Rhodes, Valentino, Courreges, Jean Desses, Lanvin, Norell, Beene, Gernreich, Hermes, Balenciaga, Galanos, Cardin, Trigere, Samuel Winston, Givenchy, Adrian, Balmain, Liberty, Worth, Pingat, Fortuny  and others. The HCM collection also contains many dead stock garments donated directly from designers collections including Pauline Trigere, Oleg Cassini and Arnold Scassi. If you are planning a spring or summer wedding, there is a large collection of wedding dresses and gowns from the 19th thru mid 20th centuries.

Accessories including several Bess-Ben hats, pair early 18th century women’s shoes, costume jewelry, photo albums, and military will also be included. Most lots carry not only the provenance of the HCM, but also the original donor names, some of which are significant American families. 

            A collection of fine estate linen from two prominent Philadelphia families will be offered in April. In the early 20th C Anne Weightman, later Penfield, inherited what was the largest fortune in America at that time. The firm of Powers and Weightman was the world’s largest chemical company at the time; we now know the firm as Merck. The first session of her estate heirloom linen will be offered in April.

The sale also includes property from several other museums as well. One of these, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, will be de-accessioning a large collection of swatch cards. The FIT collection, over 200,000 pieces, will probably be sold over several sales, the first of which will be on April 9th. The FIT swatch cards include florals, abstracts, conversationals, ethnic designs, laces, paisleys etc. with samples dating from the 19th thru the 20th century. For the most part these will be offered in large lots with the design trade in mind.

 

 

ORDER OF SALE:

FRIDAY APRIL 9TH

FIT swatch card collection, textiles, lace, linen, Chinese, Japanese, including Samurai gusoku, and other ethnic clothing, jewelry, beaded bags, export and paisley shawls.

SATURDAY APRIL 10TH

Women’s, men’s and children’s fashions and accessories

Uncataloged textiles, clothing and accessories at the conclusion of each day's catalog sale!

 

 

 

Charles A. Whitaker Auction Co.