I’m Tammy Andrews, one of four sisters. But I have a mind of my own.
In spite of the ad copy and the photographic evidence, there was no Tammy Andrews, and no other sisters. The “sisters” were actually the divisions of the Stacy Ames Company. Tammy Andrews was the juniors division, Stacy Ames was for young misses, Nan Leslie was for sophisticated misses, and Kelly Arden was for junior petites. Stacy Ames was the first label, and dates from 1958. The other three all came out within the next five years.
I chose this ad today because there is a story about it that shows just how valuable period fashion magazines are in helping us learn more about companies and labels. A while back Mod Betty emailed me about a 1960s dress of hers. The label was “Kelly Arden – One of the Four Sisters.” The label looked almost like a small private label, and my first thought was that maybe it was a “house” label for a dress shop. I put the name of the label on my list of things to search as a google search had produced nothing.
A few days later, while looking for something else, I came across the ad above. The “four sisters” fairly jumped off the page, and a quick scan of the ad copy proved that I’d found the answer to Mod Betty’s question. From there the search became a bit easier because of the additional search terms.
Mod Betty then found a reference that somehow connected Stacy Ames with the Bobbie Brooks company. Sure enough, Maurice Saltzman, the owner of Bobbie Brooks, bought Stacy Ames and Kelly Arden in 1962. At some point the other two labels were acquired and placed in the Stacy Ames company which operated separately from Bobbie Brooks.
And here is Mod Betty, showing why she has that name, with her mod Kelly Arden dresses.
Isn’t that flower detail great?
My thanks to Mod Betty for sharing her photos and for inspiring this post. Photos courtesy and copyright of Beth Lennon.
Thanks for doing some sleuthing for me, Lizzie! And if I could get my hands on that fab Tammy Andrews dress, I’d be a happy Mod Betty 🙂
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You are so welcome. It was actually your discovery of the Bobbie Brooks connection that made it all fall into place.
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Love the orange dress!
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I love seeing how mysteries get solved! I’ve never heard of any of the ‘four sisters’ labels. I’ll look out for them when I’m browsing my vintage magazines. What magazine is the ad from?
I love both of Mod Betty’s dresses, and how she’s styled them with the brightly colored tights.
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It is from Seventeen. I found other ads on the internet featuring the four labels, but none that called them the Four Sisters.
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Ah, good work, Lizzie! And what fantastic dresses. I love the blue and white one especially. And I love the pink tights with the orange dress. You look fantastic, ModBetty!
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Love those dresses MB!
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What a wonderful story of serendipity! It’s so fun when research just opens up like that.
I love the colors of the dress in the ad and both of Mod Betty’s dresses! That flower detail -I need to try to make one! You just can’t beat the beautiful simplicity of ’60s decorative details!
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My mom and I shared a bright yellow dress like the orange one back in the late 60’s. It was a nubby polyester fabric that didn’t really work for either one of us. I think it must have been a Sears or JCP knockoff that she bought and we both wore. Been a long time since I was that size, and mom has managed to keep her weight down better than I have. Yellow was never our color, for sure! Mom was a medium brown hair with dark skin and I was a bright blonde with fair/tanned skin. It was especially horrible under flourescent lights, UGH!
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