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Adele Clair/Chevalier?

Foofoogal

Banned
Messages
4,884
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Vintage Land
Hello, I posted this in the hat section and a guy told me to post this here. Wow, what a forum. I have been online every day since 2002 and cannot believe I missed this place till now........:eusa_doh:
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Hello,
I am a newbie. I found this forum by putting Chevalier in a search engine. I am trying to find out more info about a hat designer named Adele Clair. I have some of her hats and really love them.
She was out of New York and had some connection with the Chevalier Company but I am not sure what.
All I can seem to find on the net is an actress by the same name who starred in many shows including The Beverly Hillbillies.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Sandy
 

ITG

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,483
Location
Dallas/Fort Worth (TEXAS)
With Chevalier, we have a member here who goes by Marc Chevalier. That may have been why our forum came up in your search. I've not heard of that hat designer specifically but maybe if some our ladies have, I'm hoping they will pipe in.
 

Foofoogal

Banned
Messages
4,884
Location
Vintage Land
Ok, I didn't post it but if you go to my blog you may just recognize that hat. I will not spam.
www.sandysfancypants.blogspot.com

I have 2 of her hats and neither of them have the Chevalier logo but I do see others by her that do. I guess the name of the member Mark is why I found it under a search engine.
Is there any way possible that she married and became Adele Simpson?

Here is a completed one on ebay with both marks. Item No. 150001095321

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ADELE-CLAIRE-CHEVALIER-CASHMERE-BOWLER-HAT-WBOX_W0QQitemZ150001095321
 

Foofoogal

Banned
Messages
4,884
Location
Vintage Land
It is driving me nuts trying to find out about this woman. :eusa_doh: How in the world does someone make tons of hats from about the 20s from the style of my hat to the early 1960s I think and nothing is online about her?
I have collected stuff for eons and hold beautiful objects in my hands all the time but the quality of her hatmaking takes my breath away.
Whoever she was she knew what she was doing.
Does anyone know what ADJ. M.S.N. stand for?
Is this a guild for hat designers or a society?
 

Marc Chevalier

Gone Home
Messages
18,192
Location
Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California
Lauren Henline said:
Oh wow. You don't happen to have any photos or anything of her hats, do you Marc?

My grandmother, Aimee Blanchard, didn't sign her hats, she didn't put labels on them, she didn't photograph them, she didn't hoard sketches of them, and she didn't keep any of them! Her clients were wealthy society women who didn't want anyone to know where their hats came from. The adulation (and envy) were to be aimed at the wearer alone.

By the time that women stopped wearing hats, my grandmother was pooped out from spending decades designing and making them. She would have been happy enough never to see another hat in her life.

.
 

Foofoogal

Banned
Messages
4,884
Location
Vintage Land
Maurice Chevalier was a famous actor and always wore hats and was known for it. Maybe he sponsored this artist or something.
If you do a search for this name Adele Claire you will find another actress who starred in lots of movies including doing Beverly Hillbillies.
How can no info about Chevalier Hat Company or Adele Claire exist. Very strange. The hats state New York.
 

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