The Wesley Simpson Custom Fabrics, Inc. Swatch Book Archive

Description data TOP

unitid

{"value"=>"22337", "type"=>"local_mss"}

{"value"=>"JSN 08-2", "type"=>"local_call"}

origination

{"value"=>"Simpson, Wesley, -1975", "type"=>"persname"}

unittitle

{"value"=>"The Wesley Simpson Custom Fabrics, Inc. Swatch Book Archive"}

unitdate

{"value"=>"1898-1950", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1898/1950"}

physdesc

{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"512 linear feet (371 boxes)"}]}

arrangement

{"value"=>"Wesley Simpson swatches arranged chronologically with some inconsistencies as many swatches are without date"}

note

{"value"=>"<p>Many gaps in the collection exist</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}

{"value"=>"<p>Wesley Simpson swatches in 1921/1922 & 1937/1938 boxes numbered continuously but issued out of chronological order within these years. Swatches in 1937/1938 boxes do not share Reg. numbering pattern with swatches in individual boxes for 1937. Undated swatches issued in various numbering patterns</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}

acqinfo

{"internal"=>true, "source"=>"Brooklyn Museum", "method"=>"Gift", "value"=>"<p>Gift, Brooklyn Museum</p>"}

scopecontent

{"value"=>"<p>The Wesley and Adele Simpson textile samples are a collection of fabric samples. These samples represent a collection of swatches of fabrics produced by Wesley Simpson Custom Fabrics, Inc. and other companies. Majority of Wesley Simpson swatches are approximately 50x50 cm. and are stored 50 to a box. Sample fabrics of other companies are usually in folded sample displays or small books of samples.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}

bioghist

{"value"=>"<p>Wesley Simpson was a textile executive and designer of fabrics and textiles. Adele Simpson was a designer who played an important part in bringing French couture to postwar America in the form of ready-to-wear, and affordable, classic fashion. They were married and in 1949 Mrs. Simpson formed Adele Simpson, Inc., which Mr. Simpson joined her in developing and later they formed Wesley Simpson, Inc. As a designer of fashionable rayon prints, Mr. Simpson sold his designs to various fashion designers, department stores and pattern companies, most notably Vogue and McCall's. In the early 1940's, Mr. Simpson commissioned several artists to create new designs for his firm. Among them were Salvador Dali, Marcel Vertes, Ludwig Bemelmans and James Reynolds, whose work he promoted in various ads, linking their names with fashion designers who used their designs, such as Adrian, Claire McCardell, Hattie Carnegie, Tina Leser, Herbert Sondheim, and his wife Adele Simpson. He died in 1975 at the age of seventy-two. Mrs. Simpson was born Adele Smithline in New York City in 1904. After completing design studies at Pratt Insititute, she joined her older sister Anna as head designer for Ben Girshel, then an important Seventh Avenue manufacturer. A few years later, she went to work for Mary Lee, another Seventh Avenue manufacturer. Mrs. Simpson's popularity spanned more than three decades, from the late 1940's through the 1970's. Her coming of age as a designer mirrored the development of American sportswear, which was defining itself and growing in importance as the mass-market of technology that followed World War II left its mark on fashion. She died in 1995 at the age of ninety-one.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}

date_start

1898

keydate

1898

date_end

1950

date_inclusive_start

1898

date_inclusive_end

1950

prefercite

{"value"=>"The Wesley Simpson Custom Fabrics, Inc. Swatch Book Archive, General Research Division, The New York Public Library"}

abstract

{"value"=>"Wesley Simpson was a textile executive and designer of fabrics and textiles. Adele Simpson was a designer who played an important part in bringing French couture to postwar America in the form of ready-to-wear, and affordable, classic fashion. They were married and in 1949 Mrs. Simpson formed Adele Simpson, Inc., which Mr. Simpson joined her in developing and later they formed Wesley Simpson, Inc. As a designer of fashionable rayon prints, Mr. Simpson sold his designs to various fashion designers, department stores and pattern companies, most notably Vogue and McCall's. In the early 1940's, Mr. Simpson commissioned several artists to create new designs for his firm. Among them were Salvador Dali, Marcel Vertes, Ludwig Bemelmans and James Reynolds, whose work he promoted in various ads, linking their names with fashion designers who used their designs, such as Adrian, Claire McCardell, Hattie Carnegie, Tina Leser, Herbert Sondheim, and his wife Adele Simpson. He died in 1975 at the age of seventy-two. Mrs. Simpson was born Adele Smithline in New York City in 1904. After completing design studies at Pratt Insititute, she joined her older sister Anna as head designer for Ben Girshel, then an important Seventh Avenue manufacturer. A few years later, she went to work for Mary Lee, another Seventh Avenue manufacturer. Mrs. Simpson's popularity spanned more than three decades, from the late 1940's through the 1970's. Her coming of age as a designer mirrored the development of American sportswear, which was defining itself and growing in importance as the mass-market of technology that followed World War II left its mark on fashion. She died in 1995 at the age of ninety-one. The Wesley and Adele Simpson textile samples are a collection of fabric samples. These samples represent a collection of swatches of fabrics produced by Wesley Simpson Custom Fabrics, Inc. and other companies. Majority of Wesley Simpson swatches are approximately 50x50 cm. and are stored 50 to a box. Sample fabrics of other companies are usually in folded sample displays or small books of samples.", "generated"=>true}

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