Clare Potter
Encyclopedia
Clare Potter was a fashion designer who was born in Jersey City, New Jersey
in 1903. In the 1930s she was one of the first American fashion designers to be promoted as an individual design talent. She has been credited as one of the inventors of American sportswear
. Based in Manhattan
, she continued designing through the 1940s and 1950s. Her clothes were renowned for being elegant, but easy-to-wear and relaxed, and for their distinctive use of colour. She founded a ready-to-wear fashion company in Manhattan named Timbertop in 1948, and in the 1960s she also established a wholesale
company to manufacture fashions. Potter was one of the seventeen women gathered together by Edna Woolman Chase
, editor-in-chief of Vogue
to form the Fashion Group International, Inc., in 1928.
and began her studies at the Pratt Institute of Design
in fine arts. After seeing clothes that Potter designed and made for herself, the director of the Pratt Institute recommended that she study costume design
.
Before her graduation she left Pratt to work for Edward L. Mayer, a wholesale
dress manufacturer in Manhattan, where she spent three years developing her skills and designing mid-market sportswear.
, Potter returned to Manhattan in 1930 and gained employment with the ready to wear firm of Charles W. Nudelman Inc. on Seventh Avenue, a manufacturer who specialized in affordable, good-quality ready-to-wear fashion.
Unusually, at a time when designers for large companies were not acknowledged by name, Clare Potter was promoted as a named designer by Dorothy Shaver, then vice-president of Lord & Taylor
department store which was headquartered on Fifth Avenue, who would become its first woman president. Potter was one of the first American designers to achieve such name recognition.
In 1936, Potter was featured alongside Elizabeth Hawes
and Muriel King
in the second Lord & Taylor "American Look" promotion which championed home-grown American design talent. She was awarded the first Lord & Taylor Design Award in 1938 for distinguished designing in the field of sportswear for women.
Potter was a keen sportswoman who particularly enjoyed horseback riding. She designed for women like herself, saying in 1948:
During the 1940s, well-known Potter designs included the two-piece bathing suit consisting of separate small top and bloomers, a sweater designed for evening wear, and a sidesaddle
-draped skirt. Examples of these designs were featured in the 1998-1999 exhibition Designing Women: American Style 1940-1960 at the Wadsworth Atheneum
in Hartford, Connecticut
. Her use of colour was distinctive, with one 1940s evening outfit consisting of a pink blouse, green belt, and pale blue skirt. Other designs were made up in one single, unique shade, such as the blue wool dress worn by Eleanor Roosevelt
to meet George VI
and his queen consort, Elizabeth
in London, October 23, 1942. Roosevelt had been a fellow founder with Potter and others, of an association of women interested in advancing elegant and fashionable clothing for women, the Fashion Group International, FGI. In 1946, Potter was awarded a Coty Award
for her casual clothes and her distinctive use of colour.
In 1948, Potter launched a ready-to-wear company called Timbertop, with a former magazine editor, Martha Stout. The company shared its name with the turkey farm in West Nyack
where Potter and her husband, architect J. Sanford Potter, lived. They had married about 1930.
.
In the late 1950s the Potters moved into a Japanese-style house on Lake Nebo in Fort Ann, New York
that was designed and built by J. Sanford. In addition to their professional work, they bred Dalmatian dogs
, grew camellias, and enjoyed riding and hunting
. They kept their horses in Virginia
, where the local hunt clubs enjoyed a long season.
J. Sanford Potter died in 1994 and, at the age of 95, Clare Potter died in 1999 at their home in Fort Ann. They left no surviving family.
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
in 1903. In the 1930s she was one of the first American fashion designers to be promoted as an individual design talent. She has been credited as one of the inventors of American sportswear
Sportswear (fashion)
Sportswear has been called America's main contribution to the history of fashion design. The term became popular in the 1920s to describe relaxed, casual wear typically worn for spectator sports...
. Based in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, she continued designing through the 1940s and 1950s. Her clothes were renowned for being elegant, but easy-to-wear and relaxed, and for their distinctive use of colour. She founded a ready-to-wear fashion company in Manhattan named Timbertop in 1948, and in the 1960s she also established a wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
company to manufacture fashions. Potter was one of the seventeen women gathered together by Edna Woolman Chase
Edna Woolman Chase
Edna Woolman Chase was editor in chief of Vogue magazine from 1914-1952. During her years at Vogue, Chase made many contributions to the magazine. She saw Vogue through prosperous times and hard times of war and losing colleagues. Chase was born and raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, but moved to...
, editor-in-chief of Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
to form the Fashion Group International, Inc., in 1928.
Early life and education
Born Clare Meyer in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, she studied at the Art Students League of New YorkArt Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
and began her studies at the Pratt Institute of Design
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
in fine arts. After seeing clothes that Potter designed and made for herself, the director of the Pratt Institute recommended that she study costume design
Costume design
Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
.
Before her graduation she left Pratt to work for Edward L. Mayer, a wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
dress manufacturer in Manhattan, where she spent three years developing her skills and designing mid-market sportswear.
Career
Following a six-month hiatus in MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Potter returned to Manhattan in 1930 and gained employment with the ready to wear firm of Charles W. Nudelman Inc. on Seventh Avenue, a manufacturer who specialized in affordable, good-quality ready-to-wear fashion.
Unusually, at a time when designers for large companies were not acknowledged by name, Clare Potter was promoted as a named designer by Dorothy Shaver, then vice-president of Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...
department store which was headquartered on Fifth Avenue, who would become its first woman president. Potter was one of the first American designers to achieve such name recognition.
In 1936, Potter was featured alongside Elizabeth Hawes
Elizabeth Hawes
Elizabeth Hawes was an American clothing designer, outspoken critic of the fashion industry, and champion of ready to wear and people's right to have the clothes they desired, rather than the clothes dictated to be fashionable...
and Muriel King
Muriel King
Muriel King was an American fashion designer based in New York. She was one of the first American fashion designers along with Elizabeth Hawes and Clare Potter to achieve name recognition. She also designed costumes for several major films in the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:Muriel King was born 27...
in the second Lord & Taylor "American Look" promotion which championed home-grown American design talent. She was awarded the first Lord & Taylor Design Award in 1938 for distinguished designing in the field of sportswear for women.
Potter was a keen sportswoman who particularly enjoyed horseback riding. She designed for women like herself, saying in 1948:
-
- "Large numbers of American women want clothes that are refined. I aim to give them in a medium-priced, ready-to-wear costume what they would find in custom-made styles."
Sidesaddle
Sidesaddle riding is a form of Equestrianism that uses a type of saddle which allows a rider to sit aside rather than astride a horse, mule or pony. Sitting aside dates back to antiquity and developed in European countries in the Middle Ages as a way for women in skirts to ride a horse in a modest...
-draped skirt. Examples of these designs were featured in the 1998-1999 exhibition Designing Women: American Style 1940-1960 at the Wadsworth Atheneum
Wadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the United States, with significant holdings of French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as extensive holdings in early American furniture and...
in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
. Her use of colour was distinctive, with one 1940s evening outfit consisting of a pink blouse, green belt, and pale blue skirt. Other designs were made up in one single, unique shade, such as the blue wool dress worn by Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
to meet George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and his queen consort, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
in London, October 23, 1942. Roosevelt had been a fellow founder with Potter and others, of an association of women interested in advancing elegant and fashionable clothing for women, the Fashion Group International, FGI. In 1946, Potter was awarded a Coty Award
Coty Award
The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards were first announced in January 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company Coty, Inc. to promote and celebrate American fashion, and encourage design during the Second World War. The first awards were presented in January 1943, with Norman Norell winning...
for her casual clothes and her distinctive use of colour.
In 1948, Potter launched a ready-to-wear company called Timbertop, with a former magazine editor, Martha Stout. The company shared its name with the turkey farm in West Nyack
West Nyack, New York
West Nyack is a hamlet in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Central Nyack; east of Nanuet; south of Valley Cottage and west of Upper Nyack. It is approximately 18 miles north of New York City...
where Potter and her husband, architect J. Sanford Potter, lived. They had married about 1930.
Later life
By the mid-1950s Clare Potter worked independently from a barn on her farm. Her business became a husband-and-wife concern, with J. Sanford Potter assisting by drafting her clothing patternsPattern (sewing)
In sewing and fashion design, a pattern is an original garment from which other garments of a similar style are copied, or the paper or cardboard templates from which the parts of a garment are traced onto fabric before cutting out and assembling .Patternmaking, pattern making or pattern cutting is...
.
In the late 1950s the Potters moved into a Japanese-style house on Lake Nebo in Fort Ann, New York
Fort Ann (town), New York
Fort Ann is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 6,417 at the 2000 census...
that was designed and built by J. Sanford. In addition to their professional work, they bred Dalmatian dogs
Dalmatian (dog)
The Dalmatian is a breed of dog whose roots are often said to trace back to Dalmatia, a region of Croatia where the first illustrations of the dog have been found. The Dalmatian is noted for its unique black- or brown-spotted coat and was mainly used as a carriage dog in its early days...
, grew camellias, and enjoyed riding and hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
. They kept their horses in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where the local hunt clubs enjoyed a long season.
J. Sanford Potter died in 1994 and, at the age of 95, Clare Potter died in 1999 at their home in Fort Ann. They left no surviving family.