Adams (Peggy Hamilton) Papers

Description

Peggy Hamilton Adams was a costume and fashion designer, editor of the Los Angeles Times rotogravure fashion page (1921-34) and a host for local radio programs (1929-33) that dealt with fashion concerns of the modern woman. The nitrate negative images in this collection document Hamilton’s career as a fashion editor, socialite and official hostess for Los Angeles County (1931-1932). Most of the images show her modeling high fashion clothing for her Los Angeles Times fotogravure feature “Fashions” from about 1927 to through 1933. Many of the photographs are by film studio photographers and feature clothing by film industry costume designers. As such, these images document the shift from Parisian dominance in fashion to the growing influence of costumes in movies on the fashion industry in both haute couture and ready-to-wear. Photographs by Ernest Bachrach (50) and Eugene Richee (50) comprise twenty percent of the collection. Hamilton models designs by Adrian, Max Reé, Travis Banton, Wanda Kofler, Earl Luck, and Dolly Tree and there are twelve design drawings by Robert Kalloch. Digitization and publication online of these images was made possible through funding from the Arcadia Foundation., Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds.