Bullitt, Dorothy

This label originated from a shop founded in 1916 by Dorothy Bullitt, daughter of a wealthy fruit-and-vegetable wholesaler. The store was best known for dressing generations of debutantes. A local girl, Grace Kelly (who went on to become world-famous), was a model for the store at its country-club fashion shows.

The first shop opened in Bay Head, N.J., where Bullitt sold sweaters that she and her twin sister knitted. A few years later, Bullitt opened a store in Chestnut Hill, Pa., and was among the original tenants at Suburban Square in Ardmore, Pa., in 1928. For a short time in the 1920s, Bullitt also had a City Center (Philadelphia) store. The store grew in the 1920s with the advent of ready-to-wear, manufactured clothing.

Mary Bullitt said that when the shop was at its height, in the 1950s and 1960s, she and a staff of buyers traveled to New York as frequently as twice a week with special requests from regular shoppers.

The store also had a millinery department for many years, which closed when the bouffant hairdo, popularized by former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, came into vogue and women abandoned hats. The business closed in 1990.

Written by catwalkcreative

from a 1960s silk dress suit

Courtesy of catwalkcreative