Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1950-1984 (Creation)
Level of description
collection
Extent and medium
36 linear feet, 105 boxes
Sketches
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born Sara Rosen Parnis, Brooklyn, New York. Her nickname was Mollie. Mollie briefly studied law at Hunter College before beginning her career in fashion. In 1928, Parnis began as a saleswoman in a showroom of a blouse manufacturer, but soon moved onto designing. In 1933, Parnis opened her own business, with her husband Leon Livingston. In the 1940s, she launched her own label. Her clothes were feminine, accentuating waistlines, with fuller skirts and often the inclusion of a bow. Parnis always kept her prices in the moderate range. Parnis stayed in business throughout the 1980s, even publishing a book, ‘Fashion: The Inside Story," in 1985.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This collection contains original fashion sketches.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Materials should be rehoused in paige cartons.
Accruals
System of arrangement
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 College 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 (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#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
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
The Library of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Department of Special Collections and College Archives, 27th St. at 7th Ave., NY, NY , USA, 10001
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Parnis, Mollie (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
AAT; ANSI; DACS; DCMI; ISAD(G); ISO; LoC; NISO; etc
Status
Level of detail
Partial
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
- Latin
Sources
Archivist's note
-
Arrangement, description, and/or archival processing by unknown archivist, updated October 2020 by April Calahan and November 2020 by Rita Wang, FIT, NY, NY, USA.
-
2020 October: Archivists worked on ingesting this legacy finding aid into AtoM from a remote location due to the pandemic and are unable to access the physical holdings to verify some of its data that may be incorrect or incomplete. 1. This legacy finding aid describes an arrangement at box level, however SPARC has moved away from using Box as a level of arrangement. Archivists need to verify that the finding aid matches the current physical system of arrangement. 2. Is this finding aid complete? Extent mentions 106 boxes, but this only goes up to box 34, also dates up to 1984? Provisionary ingest into AtoM is as stands...archivist to review in person.