Fashion

During the 1920s and 30s, New York department stores such at Bonwit’s served as far more than shopping emporiums; they wielded significant power as taste- makers in interior decoration as well as fashion, with many New Yorkers first learning about modern design from merchandise on sale and from elaborately arranged model rooms.

Window displays provided another opportunity to feature the latest styles. Tom’s window display for Bonwit Teller, embraced a surrealist sensibility, then popular in both art and fashion. Every few weeks Lee would complete a new eye-catching display, which succeeded in attracting hundreds of passersby. The department store would later hire art stars such as Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol to decorate their windows. It was while working at Bonwit’s in 1935 that Tom met his future wife Sarah, then working in the store’s advertising department. 

“Falling Dream” display window for Elsa Schiaparelli’s perfume Sleeping at Bonwit Teller, New York City

As early as the 1870s department stores established elaborate window displays as a New York City tradition. Arguably no store has excelled at it more than Bergdorf Goodman, established in 1899 and since the 1920s located at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. The store commissioned couture clothing to suit the display director’s imagination, not the other way around as one might assume. Tom’s display windows picked up on a Broadway theme, with the would-be shopper able to imagine herself as the star.

Window display at an unidentified store for Revlon’s Fatal Apple lip gloss

Beginning in 1960, major New York City retailers sought to cash in on the popularity of independent specialty shops by recreating, within large department stores, the look and feel of boutiques, particularly those catering to a new generation of younger shoppers. Tom Lee designed several spaces in Bergdorf Goodman’s flagship Fifth Avenue store, including this one with the distinctively “mod” take on the venerable store’s name: Bigi (pronounced bee-gee).

 “Designing Men,” featuring Lee-designed dress sold at Bonwit Teller, unidentified magazine, probably Mademoiselle

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While working in Bonwit Teller’s advertising department, Sarah helped to create a seasonally published magazine, “The Smart Women’s Angle,” which featured clothing sold exclusively at the store and that was sent to loyal customers. The title referred to the decision by store president Hortense M. Dominici to merchandize “from a human viewpoint,” an approach she dubbed “the smart woman’s angle.” The photographs were taken by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, who worked at Harper’s Bazaar.

During World War II, Vogue asked the husbands of three of its editors, including Sarah, to report on their military experiences abroad. Tom was serving in England as a member of the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.), which later became the C.I.A.

Tom Lee letter to son Todd from London

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From 1955 to 1960, Sarah served as a vice president at Hockaday Associates, a prestigious advertising firm founded by Margaret Hockaday. During her tenure there, Sarah brought in cosmetic moguls such as Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. While at Hockaday Sarah also worked on an advertising campaign for Jantzen swimwear that including the memorable tagline, “Just wear a smile and a Jantzen.”

While working with Margaret Hockaday, Sarah masterminded a collaborative campaign in which famous artists, such as Pablo Picasso, designed fabrics that Sarah’s colleague and friend Claire McCardell used in new fashions. These outfits were photographed on models in the artists’ studios.

Sarah served as Vice President of Advertising, Publicity, and Display at Lord & Taylor department store, located on Fifth Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets, from 1960 until 1964. She built upon the marketing savvy of her predecessor, Dorothy Shaver, a pioneering woman executive who had presented exhibitions of modern art at the store and adopted a policy promoting American fashion designers.

Sarah was an ideal candidate to write this book on American fashion, because she had worked for two leading fashion magazine, served as vice president at a fashion-forward department store, and was a member of fashion-related organizations. The book focused on five leading fashion designers: Adrian, Mainbocher, Claire McCardell, Norman Norell, and Pauline Trigere, two of whom (McCardell and Trigere) Sarah had promoted in her advertising career.