HALL OF FAME REVEAL: Pauline Trigère

Pauline Trigère, 1951 

Of course the answer to yesterday's post is Pauline Trigère!  (I know Michael McGraw and Kristen Vigrass guessed correctly!)

The first time I met Pauline Trigère was when I was working for Eleanor Lambert in 1995 – it was one of those days that you just know you will never forget.  We had just left a meeting with Geoffrey Beene and were on our way to a meeting at Tiffany & Co.  Just outside of Tiffany’s we spotted Pauline Trigère coming out.  The two women had known each other for at least 50 years by this time.  As we went into the building Miss Lambert remarked that it was funny that we should see Trigère outside of Tiffany -- as she had been the designer chosen to create the outfits for Patricia Neal’s character, wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in the movie Breakfast At Tiffany’s.*  Miss Lambert joked that maybe we would see Givenchy who designed Audrey Hepburn’s outfits today too if we stuck around.  

Patricia Neal’s character, wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast At Tiffany’s

more Patricia Neal 

& more Patricia Neal 

Pauline Trigère was a master cutter; she worked directly on a live model. Her plaque on the Fashion Walk of Fame on Seventh Avenue is represented by a pair of scissors, which she always had with her…  Her garments were known for sophisticated and structured tailoring, and the best of these were her coats and dresses made from fine wools. She even made evening dresses from wool - in designs that were extremely elegant. She was also a master at fitting; her clients often said that her dresses fit like a second skin.

Pauline Trigère was born in Paris and immigrated to the United States in 1937, she was on her way to South America, but after stopping in New York, she decided to stay.  She ended up working for for Ben Gershal, Travis Banton and then Hattie Carnegie.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1942 and at the onset of World War Two, Carnegie laid her off. She actually ended up renting space in Carnegie’s studio in a business she started with her brother designing under the name "Trigère." By the 1950s, her label read, "Pauline Trigère"and this label was used for the rest of her career.

“People always say to me,

‘Aren’t you French?’

And I say,

‘No, I am American.’

“I found in this country 

everything I wanted.

This country made me 

Pauline Trigère.”

more Pauline Trigère to follow...

*some have suggested that it was Edith Head who designed Neal’s wardrobe, Eleanor Lambert claimed it was in fact Trigère and I must say,  it looks very much like Miss Trigère’s work.