#23. Exploring the Fashion Legacy of Pauline Trigère at the Museum of the City of New York

May 18, 2018 Archives of Museum of City of New York on Pauline Trigère items

After reviewing the Museum of City of New York’s (MCNY) website of their costume department, I made an appointment with the then museum curator, Phyllis Magidson. I also invited Pauline Trigère’s former assistant and FIT professor, Jimmy Newcomer, for a joint interview to visit the MCNY costume archive to see the Trigère garments. The interview took place on May 18, 2018 and it was a treasure trove of discoveries. Many of the garments and items that we saw were not yet digitized on the MCNY website. We were able to examine them up close and in great detail. One of the discoveries was a metal amorphous shaped necklace. This item was the first time I saw a Trigere metal bib in her signature red color. This necklace placed me on the path to eventual discovery of the Trigère accessory collections, a category that I did not know existed in the beginning of my research.

I was especially ecstatic when I found the complete set of 1960's campaign ads from illustrator Merle Bassett. I had only knew one of the sketch from FIT’s vertical files. It was during interviewing Mr. Merle Bassett, he had described how there were a total of four illustrations in this advertising campaign, you can read previous interview [here]. And here before me were all four sketches. The missing three he had described during our phone interview a year before lay before me. The joy of seeing the full editorials in front of my eyes was one of the early highlights during this journey. The vertical files also housed additional photographs of Pauline Trigère portraits and some personal photographs from her country house. Later due to COVID, all museum search were stopped and because of the reduced staff at the MCNY, I have yet able to make another appointment for my follow-up visit. Rest-assured I will be continue reaching out to the museum to complete my research.