Fashion Friday: Hannah Troy

This is the second in a series on my favorite vintage fashion designers; the first post covered Anne Fogarty. Today I cover Hannah Troy, another American designer, Brooklyn-born, who was responsible for introducing Petite sizing. "Her career was at its peak from the late 1940's until her retirement in 1968. She supplied top Manhattan stores like Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, Bonwit Teller, Henri Bendel, Lord & Taylor, B. Altman, and Bloomingdale's (Source: NY Times)."

One place I visit frequently for inspiration is Flickr. On it one can find a treasure trove of vintage advertisements. One of my favorite streams is curated by Sophia (skover1). She has advertisements from the 1950s through 1960s organized by the designers, the illustrators, the photographers, and the models.

Earlier this year, I came across this 1951 Hannah Troy advertisement for I. Magnin, Bonwit Teller Stores, and Kaufmann's on Sophia's Vintage Advertisements Flickr stream.

1951 advertisement photographed by Sophia and used with permission.

I wondered what the dress looked like in color, what the material "rich silk slipper satin" felt like. Do you ever wonder what the dresses were really like? With Hannah Troy's designs, I did.

Where I have a book by Anne Fogarty, as well as a dress and a petticoat, until recently I only had patterns and advertisements of Hannah Troy designs. So I could only dream about the materials and notions she used.

Over the past year I've come across a few dresses and suits by Hannah Troy in my size. None really fit my wardrobe or budget, until a couple of weeks ago. Then I found the dress. The dress in the advertisement that Sophia had photographed.

It's not in excellent condition, but it's perfect for reconstruction. My plan is to transform the dress into a skirt with matching belt. I'm going to search for a satin that matches the dress for a wrap and apply the lace from the top to create a coordinated wrap.

Do you re-imagine vintage dresses?

If you want to see more of Hannah Troy's clothes, I've gathered some of my favorite Hannah Troy designs on Pinterest.

Ciao Bella!

Eden

 

Credits: With the exception of the 1951 advertisement, which was photographed by Sophia, all other images were taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for A Timeless Affair.