Cay Artley

The Cay Artley Apparel Company emerged in the late 1930s from the women’s dress company Goldstein and Levin of Johnstown PA. The Cay Artley building was at 232 Levergood Street in Johnstown and at least by 1969 was headed by Meyer Goldsmith, of the former Goldstein and Levin.

Early ads for “Cáy (or sometimes Ćay) Artley Sport Frocks” touted their budget-minded value (“for women with more taste than money”) for a breakfast-to-dinner frock that was easy-care rayon crepe, had a flattering fit because of features such as pleats that were partially sewn in place, and “superb tailoring” features such as pinked side seams, taped shoulder seams, finely finished hems, extra reinforcing at points of strain, and self-covered shoulder pads.

It appears that the dearth of French fashions during the war years influenced the early Cay Artley to add a French spin to their name, with the wandering accent, and, in 1948, to advertise that their Paris prints were “designed by a leading French designer and exclusive with Cay Artley.”

The plant closed in late 1975, but a 1997 Patricia McLaughlin article for the Kansas City Star, about vintage clothing dealer Joe Poltorak, noted that “He looks for old things that are iconic – styles that evoke a vanished era and the innocence and optimism and bittersweet certainties that vanished with it. Dresses with labels such as ‘Hollywood Girl’ and ‘Charmcraft’ and ‘Cay Artley Sport Frocks.’”

Written by lkranieri

from a late-1940/ early-1950s dress

Courtesy of linn

from a 1950s dress

Courtesy of bijouvintage