Portland observer., January 21, 1971, Image 5

PORTLAND/OHBEKVEK Jan. 21, 1971
C hatter for Women
Fashion Personality of the Week It s More Mixi than Mini or Midi
Ed Hamilton Celebrates 50 Years
of Doing His Own Thing
T h ro u g h 50 y ears, no
matter what trends came
and went, Hamilton has re­
mained true to his vision. At
his level, fur fashion be­
comes art, and it is that
concept which is really
“doing your own thing."
By VERNA HENDERSON
In a tim e when many fine
fashion names have been van­
ishing, and only last October
one more, Stella Sloat, closed
up with the comment that the
new generation didn't want her
kind of quality, Ed Hamilton has
been successful for fifty years.
When he opened his fall col­
lection It marked his 50th year
In the fUr business. He Is not
Just a man In the fur business.
He Is something different, this
garrulous old man. He has heart
body and soul In his business.
He makes every customer feel
like he Is a true couturier.
The term "couturier" has
g o tt e n so vague in American
fashion that It's worth nothing
here that It should mean one
who designs his collections and
makes everything only for p ri­
vate customers, with private
fittings, the best of everything,
and as much fine work as pos­
sible.
Every time you purchase Ham­
ilton's furs you realize that
the "Am erican Public" Is his
private customers, with the
personal attention you get p ri­
vate fittings and the best of ev­
erything and as much fine hand
work as possible.
Furs Are Universal
For Rich And Poor
During his 50 year career, he
has brought In many Innova­
tions, but has never had a bad
year because he says "furs are
universal furs are like music
and love." They are for the rich
and the poor and with his m er­
chandise anyone can purchase
some of the world's best furs.
Hamilton admits that he does
fifty per cent of credit business.
"But once the woman gets out
In her new fur piece a few times
with her friends she would rath­
er give up her grocery bill than
the fur coat," he says.
Ninety per cent of his busi­
ness Is mink, then Persian lamb
and broad ta ll. He has stores In
Seattle, Denver, Portland, Spo­
kane and other cities. There has
been a time that he admits when
he did more than a 11-million
worth of fur business a year.
It Pays To Advertise
M r. Hamilton says " It pays to
advertise" there Is no mystique
to Hamilton's salesl " I do 50
per cent more advertising than
anyone else," he says, seven
radio stations, two television
stations and three newspapers.
That floes It.
True American Pace Setter
M r. Hamilton Is one of those
loyal Americans who as the now
children call the establishment
Is a pace setter because he does
seek to do business with every
segment of the community, with
all ethnic groups. He Is a great
humanitarian opening his fu ll-
some purse and heart to spend
some money with the black
community by advertising In a
black paper and many other
good deeds too numerous to
name.
M r. Hamilton Is an expert In
the fur business starting back In
his father's fur store In Denver
and 50 years of his own shop
puts him way over the level
where today's young think any­
body can operate, how has he
done It?
" I was doing my own thing
long before anyone had Invented
the phrase," he said. There was
a twinkle In his eye as he said
It.
"A fter a ll, even during the
depression there was always
some women who bought furs.”
He has had glowing success year
after year. Despite the high
price of such exquisite custom
furs as his, every woman can
afford some type of fUr at Ham­
ilton. Women who buy are al­
ways happy with their Invest­
ment. Many of faithful clientele
keep his furs for an astonishing
number of years.
But how to describe what re ­
ally matters? Hamilton's furs Is
the perfection of proportion, the
exactly right hang from the
shoulders, the classic beauty of
cut and the unerring choice of
details which are the hallmark
of the true couturier that Ed
Hamilton really 1st
Through 50 years of success,
no matter what trend came and
went, Hamilton has remained
true to his vision. At his level,
fUr fashion becomes a rt, and It
Is that concept which is really
doing your own thing."
in
a
SPECIAL
CLOSEOCT
F a m o u s D e sig n er s
o f th e W o r ld ’s
N e * e s t S ty le s
M IX IC O M P R O M IS E
HEM LENGTH
Fashion League Photo
Mass fashion houses such
as Flutterbye have adopted
a compromise hem length
th a t might be called the
mixi, crossing the kneecap.
Here it appears in a jumper
of brown or red bonded
Orion acrylic, with an easy
A-line torso, low buckled
band and box-pleat panel
fro n t. Blouse added for
photograph.
THE FASHION LEAGUE
IN MASS FASHION IT'S MORE
M IXI THAN MINI OR MIDI
By Florence de Santis
Whenever a definite fashion
change finally occurs, great
confusion results In the A m eri­
can fashion Industry. The rea­
son Is easy enough, however, to
understand.
The American fashion indus­
try Isn't one huge business. It's
divided Into specialties. There
Is the high fashion sector of ex­
pensive clothes, the coat and
suit sector, the sportswear sec­
tor, the Junior sector, etc., etc.
Each sector appeals to a dif­
ferent consumer group, although
there may be a lot of overlap
between the sectors.
By experience, each sector
has learned that new fashion
trends are seen In a different
way by its customers. High
fashion customers are usually
accustomed to following fashion
and are ready to wear the ex­
treme of a new look. Among
these women right now, cover­
in g the knee isn't enough.
They're wearing the midi, not to
speak of the longuette and the
new maxi.
Sportswear is a divided field.
Expensive separates houses fol­
low high fashion, so are midi.
Junior fashion houses find that
youngsters like extremes in
e ith e r
direction, so some of
them are still mini, while oth­
ers have gone midi. The same
Is true of the so-called "Ju­
n io r" dress houses, whose col­
lections range from expensive
to
budget prices. The expensive
tion.
ones
have gone long, while the
...the
hats,
sweeplngly
budget ones are still running a
brimmed, shown even with late-
lot of minis.
day clothes, tailored for pants,
Betwixt and between all these
romantically rippling for the
sectors
of fashion lies the mass
dresses.
...return of glitter to evening fashion sector, which is the big­
dresses, but discreetly, as In gest one of all. Here can be
found such labels as Sue Brett,
traceries accenting print pat­
t e r n s , or narrowly edging Jonathan Logan, Bobbie Brooks
and Flutterbye. When faced with
sleeves, necks, hems.
the
extremes of mini and midi,
...the gentle sportive, In car­
digans over pants, In box-pleated what does the mass fashion sec­
light wool "spectator” dresses, tor do?
It knows its customers are
In costumes like separates of
not only budget customers, they
the Thirties.
don’t follow fashion turns all
that quickly. For one thing, they
can't or won't change over their
entire wardrobes. For another,
Army skirts
maxi issue
TE L AVIV (PSS) - The battle
over the mini and the maxi
looms as a minor army problem
here as female soldiers win
their battle with the government,
but too late.
After several years of red
tape, authorities were finally
persuaded to perm it mini skirt
le n g t h s only to find that the
maxi Is now the length pre­
ferred by Israeli youth. Conse­
quently, the young Israeli girls
change Into a maxi dress on
w e e k e n d s , and back Into their
minis when they return to duty.
«fier iheir
COMPLETE
INVENTORY
JANUARY
SALE PRICES
Look for new elegance
in spring fashion trends...
By Dorothy Spencer
LOOK FOR new elegance In
spring fashion trends...
...in dresses
moving with
pleats, but stitched down over
the hips for a smooth silhouette,
the bodices soft and belted,
necklines often bowed.
...the
return of color, In
prints of soft pink, white and
grey, or of Dutch tile blue and
white, and In tweeds of red, pink
and white.
...the acceptance of pants as
part of wardrobes, sometimes
as suits, at others replacing
dresses for all but late-day
hours.
...the beginning of dressmak­
e r detailing, with here some
gored skirts, there some bias
cuts, always pleats, tucks, bil­
lowy cuffed sleeves.
...the quieter look for eve­
ning, In cool columns of crepe,
In light organzas whose flounces
speak of a modified gypsy look.
...the different lengths, with
each house using Its own ver­
sion of long, some at calf-top,
others m id-calf, a few dropping
to nearly the ankle.
...the waistline emphasis, a l­
ways soft, with belts, Inset mid­
riffs and an occasional blouson
doing the trick without constric­
Ila m ilto
F u rs
F A M IL IA R J U M P E R
LOOK IN MIXI
Fashion League Photo
The gentle familiarity of
the A-line jumper eases the
transition to a lower skirt
length, in this case a com­
promise kneecap drop by
Flutterbye. Bonded Orion
knit in red makes the body,
white knit the sleeves and
collar yoke. White buttons
and top stitching trim the
red.
they are likely to have notions
(right or wrong) of what looks
good on them, and they cling to
those notions.
The result right now, as in
every other fashion changeover
that ever occurred before, is a
compromise. Call it the mixi, a
length longer than the mini but
a good deal shorter than the
m i d i . That's the solution for
Flutterbye, where the length
now Just crosses the kneecap.
The drop enables Flutterbye
stylists to come up with some
o f the new softer silhouettes
while keeping the easy, unbelted
A-line which is always popular
In mass fashion. They do a
Jumper effect in red and white
bonded knit with a row of front
buttons, or a dropped waistline
A-silhouette with a box-pleated
panel front.
Where belting occurs, it's in
the form of an easy sash cross­
ing a dropped waistline. Brace­
let-length sleeves and a jewel
neckline also make the mixi ac-
c e p t a b le to customers In the
mass fashion sector.
Bobbie Brooks does mass
fashion for juniors, so here the
mixi means a mixture of mini
and midi rather than a single
compromise length. In either
case, the look is sportive, with
lots of plaids, sweaters and
young touches like the poncho.
Sue Brett, a junior dress
house, also offers a mix of
lengths, from mini down to the
new maxi. Often, much the same
style, as in peasant dresses, is
offered in both lengths. The
choice, in fact, is very wide, so
reslsters against longer lengths
can have all they want of their
beloved shorts. Styles, to o ,
range from the newest of ethnic
looks to much the same kind of
classic jumper looks seen at
other mass houses.
Undoubtedly, the mixi com­
promise seen at Flutterbye will
be the most widely accepted
length this fall, but the sight of
other hem lengths w ill lead
gradually to a further drop in
next year's mass fashions.
(A Fashion League Feature)
Outlines for PHOTO " E "
M IXI
COMPROMISE
HEM
LENGTH
Fashion League Photo
AS AN E X A M P L E ...
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