Nettie Rosenstein

1890 (age 90)

Salzburg, Austria

Her parents soon opened a dry-goods shop on Lenox Avenue at 118th Street, where Nettie learned about and developed a passion for fabrics. She was soon making doll's clothes and by age eleven had begun to make clothes for herself. She worked standing up at her mother's sewing machine because she was too short to reach the foot pedal while sitting. In 1913 she was still sewing only for herself and perhaps a few family friends. Rosenstein's sister Pauline had a millinery shop and sent her clients to Nettie for dresses, and by 1917 Nettie had begun a dressmaking business in her own home. Supposedly this business generated such a flow of traffic in and out of her Harlem brownstone that a local policeman came to the house to investigate what could generate such traffic. By 1921 she was employing fifty seamstresses and moved her business out of the brownstone, opening Nettie Rosenstein, Inc. , in a shop on East Fifty-sixth Street. She had ceased to make dresses to order and began making ready-to-wear garments, thus creating one of the first prototypes of the modern high-fashion retail specialty store. Rosenstein never had any formal design training; in fact, she never even learned to sketch. While working in her parents' store she designed her clothing by simply draping fabric on herself, then proceeded to cut and sew the fabric. She continued this unorthodox approach after she opened her own business, hiring models on which she would drape bolts of fine fabrics, developing each pattern directly on the model. After opening the Fifty-sixth Street shop, one of her customers brought in a buyer from I. Magnin, who immediately recognized the quality of the designs and fabrics and the potential market for ready-to-wear high fashion dresses. Soon other leading stores--Neiman-Marcus, Bonwit Teller, Nan Duskin--were carrying Nettie Rosenstein dresses. Priced as high as $500, they were among the most expensive off-the-rack clothes in America. Despite her success, Rosenstein retired from business in 1927, but she went back to work in 1930, first as a designer for Corbeau et Cie. In 1931 she opened her own wholesale business on Forty-seventh Street, focusing almost exclusively on evening dresses. She had two partners in this venture, her sister-in-law Eva Rosencrans and Charles Gumprecht, a capable businessman who played a major role in making fashionable ready-made women's clothing a major industry. It was his responsibility to organize the comparatively large volume manufacture of Rosenstein designs. The business reached an unprecedented volume, surpassing $1 million in sales in 1937. Rosenstein regularly visited Europe, seeking inspiration for new evening dress designs. By the 1930's, Vionnet and Chanel were both designing simple black dresses, to highlight the gold jewelry favored by their wealthy clients. Rosenstein pared down the style, later stating that "It's what you leave off a dress that makes it smart. " According to designer Bill Blass, Rosenstein "practically invented the little black dress for Americans. " In 1942, Rosenstein moved her business to 550 Seventh Avenue, in the heart of New York City's garment district, and expanded her line of clothing, adding daytime dresses. Rosenstein also decided to expand into new product lines, creating the Nettie Rosenstein Accessories Company to make costume jewelry and handbags. In the same year she created Nettie Rosenstein Perfumes, Inc. Each of these businesses succeeded and brought her added recognition. Rosenstein attracted high-visibility clients, such as Dinah Shore, Hildegarde, and Norma Shearer, and Mamie Eisenhower asked Rosenstein to design her gowns for the presidential inaugural balls in 1953 and 1957. Rosenstein was considered the "great classicist" of American fashion design, and one example of her "little black dress, " as well as both inaugural gowns, is in the permanent costume collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. In 1961, Rosenstein retired from active management of her dress business but continued for several more years to oversee the accessories and perfume business. She died in New York City.

Nettie Rosenstein

Edit Profile

designer

Background

Nettie Rosenstein was born in Salzburg, Austria, to Sarah Hoffman and Joseph Rosencrans, a dry goods merchant. In 1899 the Rosencrans family moved to America, settling in New York City.

Career

Her parents soon opened a dry-goods shop on Lenox Avenue at 118th Street, where Nettie learned about and developed a passion for fabrics. She was soon making doll's clothes and by age eleven had begun to make clothes for herself. She worked standing up at her mother's sewing machine because she was too short to reach the foot pedal while sitting. In 1913 she was still sewing only for herself and perhaps a few family friends.

Rosenstein's sister Pauline had a millinery shop and sent her clients to Nettie for dresses, and by 1917 Nettie had begun a dressmaking business in her own home. Supposedly this business generated such a flow of traffic in and out of her Harlem brownstone that a local policeman came to the house to investigate what could generate such traffic. By 1921 she was employing fifty seamstresses and moved her business out of the brownstone, opening Nettie Rosenstein, Inc. , in a shop on East Fifty-sixth Street.

She had ceased to make dresses to order and began making ready-to-wear garments, thus creating one of the first prototypes of the modern high-fashion retail specialty store. Rosenstein never had any formal design training; in fact, she never even learned to sketch. While working in her parents' store she designed her clothing by simply draping fabric on herself, then proceeded to cut and sew the fabric. She continued this unorthodox approach after she opened her own business, hiring models on which she would drape bolts of fine fabrics, developing each pattern directly on the model.

After opening the Fifty-sixth Street shop, one of her customers brought in a buyer from I. Magnin, who immediately recognized the quality of the designs and fabrics and the potential market for ready-to-wear high fashion dresses. Soon other leading stores--Neiman-Marcus, Bonwit Teller, Nan Duskin--were carrying Nettie Rosenstein dresses. Priced as high as $500, they were among the most expensive off-the-rack clothes in America. Despite her success, Rosenstein retired from business in 1927, but she went back to work in 1930, first as a designer for Corbeau et Cie.

In 1931 she opened her own wholesale business on Forty-seventh Street, focusing almost exclusively on evening dresses. She had two partners in this venture, her sister-in-law Eva Rosencrans and Charles Gumprecht, a capable businessman who played a major role in making fashionable ready-made women's clothing a major industry. It was his responsibility to organize the comparatively large volume manufacture of Rosenstein designs. The business reached an unprecedented volume, surpassing $1 million in sales in 1937. Rosenstein regularly visited Europe, seeking inspiration for new evening dress designs. By the 1930's, Vionnet and Chanel were both designing simple black dresses, to highlight the gold jewelry favored by their wealthy clients. Rosenstein pared down the style, later stating that "It's what you leave off a dress that makes it smart. "

According to designer Bill Blass, Rosenstein "practically invented the little black dress for Americans. " In 1942, Rosenstein moved her business to 550 Seventh Avenue, in the heart of New York City's garment district, and expanded her line of clothing, adding daytime dresses. Rosenstein also decided to expand into new product lines, creating the Nettie Rosenstein Accessories Company to make costume jewelry and handbags. In the same year she created Nettie Rosenstein Perfumes, Inc. Each of these businesses succeeded and brought her added recognition.

Rosenstein attracted high-visibility clients, such as Dinah Shore, Hildegarde, and Norma Shearer, and Mamie Eisenhower asked Rosenstein to design her gowns for the presidential inaugural balls in 1953 and 1957. Rosenstein was considered the "great classicist" of American fashion design, and one example of her "little black dress, " as well as both inaugural gowns, is in the permanent costume collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. In 1961, Rosenstein retired from active management of her dress business but continued for several more years to oversee the accessories and perfume business. She died in New York City.

Achievements

Rosenstein was the founder of the Nettie Rosenstein, Inc. She created endless variations on the same basic theme and established the "little black dress" as the dominant evening fashion for more than two decades and well into the 1950's. In 1938 she received the Lord and Taylor Achievement Award and the Neiman-Marcus Achievement Award. In 1946 her line of the day time dresses won the Fashion Trades Award for Best Design. She received the prestigious Coty Award in 1947 for consistent good design and a second Coty in 1960 for accessories. Rosenstein was one of the few designers, Anne Klein was another, to earn two Cotys.

Connections

On October 12, 1913 Nettie married Saul Rosenstein. The couple had two children.

Father:: Joseph Rosencrans
Mother:: Sarah Hoffman
Spouse:: Saul Rosenstein
Sister:: Pauline Rosencrans
Sister-in-law:: Eva Rosencrans

Main Photo