Going Places with Bobbie Brooks go-togethers
Arrive in style via spice-colored brushed wools… the soft purr of sweaters traveling atop sleek skirts… to mix and match for your very own day-time, date-time, play-time Wardrobe Magic.
We all enjoyed the green and blue last week, so I had to feature another ad, although softer, of that combination. The reference to “spice-colored” in the ad copy is a bit confusing, as I associate spice with warm golds and browns.
Of course, what Bobbie Brooks dubbed “go-togethers” we would call separates. By 1960 many companies were producing coordinating lines of separates that a woman could mix and match.
We Baby Boomers remember when Bobbie Brooks was big stuff. Their target consumer was the teen and college student, and they took a very scientific approach to merchandising. They came up with an organized plan of choosing which garments to manufacture. This plan utilized a consumer board made up of 600 junior-sized teens and young women, their targeted consumers. So in effect, the clothes were those chosen by the potential wearers.
Note the offer of a free booklet, “Wardrobe Magic.” I have a copy and I wrote about it and the company a few years ago, so check it out to learn more about this one great American brand.
The Vintage Traveler 
Now that is my kind of “brisk Fall weather” outfit!
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I had two of these separates outfits, My favorite was powder blue, it was called then. My great grandmother “helped” me by washing the sweater in the machine and it ended up fitting my Tiny Tears Doll!
Darker colors like Spice weren’t available in the stores here.
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I do remember Bobbie Brooks. Did they have a plant in Milwaukee? Or maybe it was Junior House I am thinking of. You could go there and purchase left over …short ends of fabric that I guess were overrides from the seasons styles. In those days (1950’s) fabric shops did not carry the wonderful variety they have now. But when I married and moved to Gaston County where many many cotton mills were…I was able to find lots of the same fabrics that were used in retail garments (like trench coat fabric and often the same prints that I saw in retail garments.)
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I don’t know where they manufactured, but they were a big company so I guess they had several different facilities. Growing up here in textile country, I know exactly what you mean about buying the leftover fabrics from a manufacturer. Plus we had the benefit of all the weaving and knitting plants where we would buy the trials and the seconds. I never shopped in a real fabric store until after I was married and the mills started closing.
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Mine as well.
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I had two of these separates outfits, My favorite was powder blue, it was called then. My great grandmother “helped” me by washing the sweater in the machine and it ended up fitting my Tiny Tears Doll!
Darker colors like Spice weren’t available in the stores here.
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Sorry about the helpful granny!
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I do remember Bobbie Brooks. Did they have a plant in Milwaukee? Or maybe it was Junior House I am thinking of. You could go there and purchase left over …short ends of fabric that I guess were overrides from the seasons styles. In those days (1950’s) fabric shops did not carry the wonderful variety they have now. But when I married and moved to Gaston County where many many cotton mills were…I was able to find lots of the same fabrics that were used in retail garments (like trench coat fabric and often the same prints that I saw in retail garments.)
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I love Bobbie Brooks advertising campaigns, they’re so clever and cute. Especially the separates like this one. I think we should refer to them as “go togethers”!
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Yes, much nicer than “separates.”
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I don’t know the name ‘Bobbie Brooks’ but I do love their advertising campaign. The background colour makes the clothes really stand out. And don’t those sweaters look so snugly and warm? Nice detailing on the tartan pencil skirt too. Splendid!
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It is a terrific look. BB must not have expanded into the UK.
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I’ll take that cowl neck slipover and plaid skirt, please. (The green of the sweaters could be sage or basil, I guess…but what spice is blue?) I love this illustration–the colors are great!
Your link to the Wardrobe Magic post didn’t work, fyi, but I found it easily by typing “wardrobe magic” into the search bar. And I’m glad I did–it’s one of the better charts with collar/sleeve styles I’ve seen on the internet! Bookmarked, and thank you, Lizzie! It will be invaluable when I’m stumped for a term.
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Thanks for the heads up; I fixed the link. I really ought to do a better scan of those charts as they are excellent.
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Another great brand from my youth! I remember an outfit I had from Villager that was in this same sort of heathered teal. Must have been the color of the year back in the early 1960s.
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Wasn’t that a great color? I can remember heathers being popular even later, possibly around 1955-66. I loved them.
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I don’t remember Bobbie Brooks but know of them from my collection of vintage Seventeen magazines. I love the copy, “soft purr of sweaters traveling atop sleek skirts.” I’ve noticed that garment descriptions were much more imaginative in my vintage magazines than they are today. I wonder if magazines realized that no one was reading anymore and decided that clever copy wasn’t worth the effort.
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Half the fun of vintage ad is the interesting copy. Today it seems to be all about the visual.
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