A few weeks ago I got an email from Janey at Atomic Redhead, asking if I’d like to have an early 1970s White Stag tennis dress. That was a simple “yes” as you probably guessed already. And I was really sold after seeing the embroidered stag on the pocket.
White Stag was one of those big sportswear companies that sort of lost its way in the late 1970s. The cotton canvas togs of the past didn’t appeal in a polyester world, so they went polyester. By then the Hirsch family, founders of the company, had sold it to the giant corporation, Warnaco, which was interested in profits, not the heritage of White Stag. They continued making ski and other sports clothing, but they were not able to compete in the increasingly more technical business of active sports clothing. Eventually the company concentrated on making casual separates. Today the label is owned by Walmart.
In the early to mid 1970s, Americans were really loving their red, white and blue. Funny how the celebration of an historical event (the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence) helped shaped people’s color choices. And I have the perfect red and blue tennis panties to go along with this sweet little dress.
Janey, many thanks for such a super gift!
The Vintage Traveler 
Love it and such a thoughtful gift from Janey. 🙂
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She is a kind and thoughtful friend!
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Love this! I still have two Stag ski sweaters in mint condition. (maybe because I never was a skier 🙂
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That’s funny! Collectors love people who bought clothing but then did not give it much wear.
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I know but I like them to much to part with them : ) Did you wear the tennis dress?
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No, it’s much too small for me! I wear a few of my vintage pieces, but mainly I just collect.
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Would love to see more? Kathryn
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Yay! I love that you are so incredibly knowledgeable on labels! You are such a wealth of vintage fashion information!
So glad it has a good home too!
xoxo
-Janey
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Well, you chose its new home very well, my dear!
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What a sweet dress. Good point about the popularity of red, white and blue. I remember when that color combination was big, as well as stars and stripes patterns.
How nice that this dress has found an appreciative home.
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Yes, in order to be fashionable, you had to at least look patriotic!
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Nothing at all to do with tennis. But I was checking the weather report (!) on weather.com and ran across a link to this fantastic collection of 359 vintage images of people in swimsuits, mostly on the beach and mostly from the 1910s. Of course I immediately thought of you!
http://www.weather.com/travel/rare-vintage-beach-photos-20130501
I love how real most of them are. It’s interesting how revealing some of the thin wool jersey suits are – no wonder the new suits were considered shocking! It’s not the brevity, it’s the wet-T-shirt aspect.
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Oops! Wrote that wrong. It’s starting with the 1910s, with a large number of images from that decade, and progressing up through the ’70s. There are a few misdated images and the captions are not very helpful, but the pictures speak for themselves.
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Incredible images! Thanks for posting the link. But you are right; what I’d give to rewrite those captions!
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Clothes of my youth! I am so impressed with your knowledge of business history–it gives such depth to the story.
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Lynn, that’s a great compliment. Actually, I just read a lot!
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