38 hand-colored carte de visite photographs of individuals and groups wearing European national dress.

Collection is comprised of model photographs, sketches, photographs of sketches, show programs, some newspaper and magazine clippings with articles about or by Lucile, order forms, advertisements, and fashion plates. Garment designs include theatrical costumes, wedding gowns, day and evening wear, tea gowns, lingerie and pajamas. Bulk of the collection consists of model photographs, fashion sketches, photographs of sketches and official phototransfers. In addition there are clippings of articles from different publications written by or about Lucile, she wrote regular columns for Hearst publications. Programs for the "Model Parades" introducing lines of clothing for several years. There are some photographs of Lucile's clients, and photographs of "Rose room" interiors of Lucile. Ltd from New York and Chicago locations. Inspirational and reference materials collected by Lucile and/or her staff, mainly fashion plates and newspaper clippings from different publications. Dates range from the early 1910s to the mid 1920s. Model photographs were glued in large format (12-14"w to 16-18"h) standard, blank books to order, referred throughout this finding aid as scrapbooks; there are 12 volumes in the collection. Bulk of original drawings that are arranged according to the type of clothing are loose, drawn on a heavy weight board; sketches for 1916 and 197-18 lines were glued into scrapbooks; there are 12 volumes of original drawings and 2 volumes of photographs and phototransfers. It is possible that two types of arrangement seen throughout the collection (most of Model photographs chronologically, most of sketches by type of clothing) are due to different purpose these materials served; sketches of period gowns or theatrical costumes could have been referred to time and time again for different productions or themed social events, whereas model photographs would have documented actual creation of such a garment at a certain point in time. It is also not clear why, but some scrapbooks with model photographs are reproduced in complete entirety, using same photo session materials some fully annotated.

Disbound scrapbook, 145 photographs Autumn 1915 line, in 2 folders. Photographs are unannotated. At this time Lady Duff Gordon reached creative and financial pinnacle of her career. Success of New York branch helped to support the war-torn London and Paris branches. This line features a return to the full skirt and decorative pleating and decadent fabrics. Around this time Lucile gained status of a Permanent Resident in the United States. [See--US.NNFIT.SC.1.1.3-6 for annotation, duplicated material (models #91-#105 are not included in this volume)]

Disbound scrapbook, 170 photographs of autumn models from 1916, in 3 folders. The program for the premier fashion show of this line is available in--US.NNFIT.SC.1.3.4.1. The garments are annotated with a title and one line description for each ensemble, among them "A Song of Songs" and "Are You Prepared", #21 sports costume, #14 "Djer-kiss". Lucile, Ltd. couture houses in London and Paris were grimly affected by the First World War. In contrast, this line highlights opulence present in United States, especially high society of New York and Chicago. Produced the same year as Lady Duff Gordon's ready-to-wear line in collaboration with Sears Roebuck. [See--US.NNFIT.SC.1.1.10-12 for duplicates of this material, note inconsistency in titles (1916-1917 vs 1916)] Photographs taken at the studio