collection SC.149 - Elizabeth Hawes papers, 1967-1970

Identity area

Reference code

US NNFIT SC.149

Title

Elizabeth Hawes papers, 1967-1970

Date(s)

  • 1967 - 1970 (Creation)

Level of description

collection

Extent and medium

.5 linear feet

Context area

Name of creator

(1903-1971)

Biographical history

Elizabeth Hawes was an American fashion designer and outspoken fashion industry critic. Hawes was a champion of the ready to wear industry and people's right to have the clothes they desired, rather than what was specified as "fashionable." These ideas are encapsulated in her 1938 book Fashion Is Spinach. Hawes began her career as a dress copier in Paris in 1925. In 1926, after the garment firm she worked for closed, she began work as a fashion sketcher. Returning to New York in 1928, and began to produce ready-to-wear copies of French designs with Rosemary Harden for their company, Hawes-Harden. After Harden sold her portion of the company to her, Hawes began to work on designs of her own. In 1931, she became the first non-French designer to show at the Paris Spring Fashion Shows, garnering her a great deal of media attention. In 1935, she showed her designs in Moscow, the first display of Western Fashion there since the Russian Revolution of 1917. In 1937, she presented an all-male fashion show of her own brightly colored designs, followed in 1939 by the publication of another book, Men Can Take It. Throughout her career, she became one of the first American designers to establish their reputation outside of the Parisian haute couture model. In addition to her work in the fashion industry, she was an author, union organizer, champion of gender equality, and political activist.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

This collection is comprised of working manuscripts and drafts of essays.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Thematic and chronological if known

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Access is open to researchers by appointment at the Fashion Institute of Technology Library, Department of Special Collections and College Archives. If you have any questions, or wish to schedule an appointment contact us at fitlibsparc@fitnyc.edu or call (212) 217-4385.

Conditions governing reproduction

The Department of Special Collections and FIT Archives does not own copyright for all material held in its physical custody. It is the researcher's obligation to abide by and satisfy copyright law (Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 108) when copying or using materials (including digital materials) found in or made available from the department. When possible, the department will inform a researcher about the copyright status of material, the researcher's obligations with regard to such material, and, wherever possible, the owner or owners of the copyrights. Any and all reproduction of originals is at the archivist's discretion.

Language of material

    Script of material

      Language and script notes

      Physical characteristics and technical requirements

      Finding aids

      Generated finding aid

      Allied materials area

      Existence and location of originals

      Existence and location of copies

      Related units of description

      Related descriptions

      Notes area

      Alternative identifier(s)

      Access points

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Genre access points

      Description control area

      Description identifier

      US

      Institution identifier

      NNFIT

      Rules and/or conventions used

      AAT; ANSI; DACS; DCMI; ISAD(G); ISO; LoC; NISO; etc

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation revision deletion

      Language(s)

      • English

      Script(s)

      • Latin

      Sources

      Archivist's note

      These manuscripts were written while in residence at the Hotel Chelsea between 1967 and 1970/1971, the year of her death. At the time of creation, Hawes' health was suffering from chronic alcoholism; she died of cirrhosis of the liver September 6, 1971.

      Archivist's note

      Arrangement, description, and archival processing by April Calahan, FIT, NY, NY, USA.

      Accession area