Tuesday 3 May 2011



A very long and lean Ben Zuckerman suit, probably in black or navy, with a small ring collar and what appears to be princess seaming on the jacket. This suit, which is undated, would likely be from the mid 1950's. Even though most people associate the 1950's with crinoline skirts, there was also the fashion for straight, figure hugging skirts and jackets.


Ben Zuckerman was truly an American sucess story- as noted in the book 'Ready Made Miracles' by Jessica Daves. She wrote that the clothing industry was the most volatile industry in the US. Two out of every three dress houses have a volume of less than $1,000,000 a year. In Zuckerman's area, the suit and coat houses, fewer than 200 houses were in existance for more than 25 years, and hardly any were owned by second generations of the original founders.


I Magnin, an important buyer in 1967 when this book was published, noted that of a list of important design houses from 1929 only 6 houses were still in existance. The houses were George Carmel, Seymour-Fox, Maurice Rentner, Monte-Sano, Fretchel and Ben Zuckerman.

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