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No Accounting for Taste

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  • When you forget to take your airpods out 🙉 I found this dress at the bottom of a box in a garage at an estate sale and I couldn’t really tell what it was at first, but I knew that it was cool that it still had its original belt. I love dresses that fall straight from the shoulder and let the wearer belt as they wish, it’s such a smart way to adapt to a wide range of sizes. Plus a peek of a Disneyland Pendleton swing coat 🌿🍂🌱🍁🍃 // #ootd #vintagestyle
  • “Brunette wears brilliant green over sheer plaid wool,” reads the headline. Dress and jacket by Traina-Norell modeled by Ruth Ford; Kodachrome by Louise Dahl-Wolfe for Harper’s Bazaar, March 1943 // #1940sfashion #wwiifashion #trainanorell #louisedahlwolfe
  • “Marjorie Montgomery made seven or eight dresses for herself to wear on a ranch vacation. When she returned, a friend who had a shop begged her to make a collection. Result—a store buyer saw the dresses and staggered Miss Montgomery with an order for ten dozen. She set up shop—has expanded and expanded, and now makes her wonderful clothes under the name, simply, of Marjorie’s Things.” Photo by Martin Muky Munkacsi for Harper’s Bazaar, May 1941. She made her wonderful clothes under the name “Marjorie’s Things” from 1940-1946 because a deal with manufacturer W.J. Schminke, who was hired as president of the Marjorie Montgomery company in 1936 (and was responsible for a massive expansion and a new factory and headquarters at the corner of Santa Monica at Highland in Hollywood) turned sour. Marjorie left and Schminke retained legal use of her name. She regained the rights to her name on January 1, 1946 and gradually phased out Marjorie’s Things over the course of that year. // #fashionhistory #marjoriemontgomery
  • Marjorie Montgomery ensemble photographed by Karen Radkai in Eames house, 1954 // #vintagecalifornia #eames #1950sfashion #marjoriemontgomery #karenradkai
  • A bright weekend ahead! I finally got around to posting this #ootd from like, Wednesday? featuring a late 40s/early 50s gold corduroy jacket by Marjorie Montgomery, a velvet floral belt I got at an estate sale ages ago, market skirt by @revellecollection. See previous post for more info about Marjorie 🌼 // #vintagestyle
  • Contrary to Wikipedia, Marjorie Montgomery the designer was born Marjorie Johnson in Indiana in 1896. Her family moved to Southern California around 1915, where her father worked in men’s clothing. In 1917 she married into a wealthy family with land in California, Colorado and Arizona and became Mrs. Willis Saxe Montgomery Jr., hosting parties and being a mother to their son, born in 1920. And she may have gone on being a society wife, but her husband died in 1923, and around 1926 she started Marjorie Montgomery Inc., manufacturing cotton wash dresses. The venture proved successful, and with her second husband, a widower with three children, she grew the business through the 1930s and became one of the Affiliated Fashionists, a group of women designers from California who created innovative sportswear into the 1960s. In 1946, she became the first woman to be named to the executive board of the Associated Apparel Manufacturers, as its Vice President. The business flourished through the 1950s and 60s and eventually closed its doors in the early 70s; Marjorie died in 1986. // #fashionhistory #marjoriemontgomery
  • Details 🌹🌾 // #vintagelabel #marjoriemontgomery
  • “There’s nothing like corduroy… the way it has pattern and plainness at the same time… the way it hides an iron strength behind a velvet touch, looks like a million and sells for infinitely less. This fine-ribbed suit has a short jacket with snug cuffs, a skirt with beautifully placed pleats. In Juilliard corduroy, about $40. Ceil Chapman, at Lord & Taylor.” Kodachrome by Louise Dahl-Wolfe for Harper’s Bazaar, October 1946 // #1940sfashion #1946ismyfavoriteyearforfashion #ceilchapman
  • Two of my favorite winter fabrics this week: velveteen and corduroy. “Peggy Knudsen, of My Sister Eileen, in glamour-gold velveteen slacks, crepe blouse.” Ladies Home Journal, October 1942 // #1940sfashion

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My name is Jessica, and I love old things. I wear, collect, research and sometimes sell vintage clothing. This is some documentation along the way.

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No Accounting For Taste is a personal blog of Jessica Parker. All words and original photographs are copyright Jessica Parker, 2007-2018