Uncovering the Life and Work of American Fashion Designer, Marguery Bolhagen (1920-2021)
Bridget Kerr
Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
About this Item
- Title
- Uncovering the Life and Work of American Fashion Designer, Marguery Bolhagen (1920-2021)
- Contributor Names
-
Kerr, Bridget (Author)
-
Font, Lourdes (Thesis advisor)
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Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice (Degree granting institution)
- Date
- 2023
- Degree Information
- M.A. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, 2023
- Department: Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
- Advisors: Font, Lourdes
- Committee members: Davidson, Hilary
- Abstract
-
In their 2022 exhibition entitled In America: An Anthology of Fashion, the Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed a ball gown by Marguery Bolhagen (1920-2021) and utilized a photograph of its installation to advertise their exhibition. The exhibition offered little information on the designer and discussed the client and donor of the dress in greater detail. Little record existed discussing Bolhagen’s work; beyond her role as a ready-to-wear designer for Bergdorf Goodman beginning in 1965, she was relatively unknown. Despite this, her work is held in institutions throughout the United States, including the Met, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Historic Costume and Textiles Collection at Ohio State University. The aim of this paper is to consider her importance to fashion historians and the public.
This qualifying paper uncovers the life and work of American fashion designer Marguery Bolhagen, delving beyond a striking image used to advertise an exhibition, and looking beyond her relationship to her most famous client, Austine Hearst, also known as Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr. Drawing from fashion press research, object-based study, and interviews with descendants of the designer, this paper is organized into two chapters. The first chapter discusses the life of the designer chronologically from birth to death, with focus on her work in the fashion industry. The second chapter is dedicated to an examination of six objects by Bolhagen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges presented when conducting this research, and further research avenues to be pursued. Aiming to recognizing the work of a female couturier amongst her male contemporaries, this paper contextualizes Marguery Bolhagen as an American fashion designer in the twentieth century. - Subject
- Fashion
- History
- Design
- 20th century
- United States
- Designer
- Bergdorf Goodman (New York, N.Y.)
- James, Charles, 1906-1978
- Fashion designers
- Bolhagen, Marguery
- Keyword
- 20th century fashion
- American designer
- Bergdorf goodman
- Charles james
- Fashion designer
- Marguery bolhagen
- Rights
- In Copyright
- The copyright for this work is held by its author/creator(s). Usage of this material beyond what is permitted by copyright law must first be cleared with the rights-holder(s). This work has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for this work and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].
- This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
- Identifier
- FIT Repository ID: etd_000938
- ISBN: 9798379899424
- pqdiss: 30493602
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Citation
Kerr, B. (2023). Uncovering the Life and Work of American Fashion Designer, Marguery Bolhagen (1920-2021) [Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York]. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/120797
Kerr, Bridget. Uncovering the Life and Work of American Fashion Designer, Marguery Bolhagen (1920-2021). 2023. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, Master's thesis. FIT Digital Repository, https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/120797
Kerr, Bridget. "Uncovering the Life and Work of American Fashion Designer, Marguery Bolhagen (1920-2021)." Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, 2023. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/120797