Carrie Munn

Carrie Munn
A blonde white woman posing in a low-cut black off-the-shoulder gown, behind a table set with dishes and glassware
Carrie Munn, in a 1951 advertisement
Born
Caroline Neunder

January 29, 1898
Buffalo, New York
DiedFebruary 1, 1984 (aged 86)
New York, New York
Other namesCarolyn Nunder (stage name)
SpouseOrson Desaix Munn II

Carrie Munn (January 29, 1898 – February 1, 1984), born Caroline M. Neunder, was an American fashion designer.

Early life

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Caroline M. Neunder was born in Buffalo, New York,[1] the daughter of George F. Neunder and Carolina U. Kreuzer Neunder. Her mother died in 1907.[2] George Griswold Frelinghuysen was her cousin.[3]

Career

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As Caroline Nunder or Carolyn Nunder, she had a brief stage career,[4] appearing as a showgirl[5] in two Broadway productions, Girl o' Mine (1918) and Aphrodite (1919).[6] She also designed costumes for Sonny (1921). She also published a short book, Everyday Problems in Etiquette: Explained in Pictures (1922).[7] She opened a dress shop in New York City in 1920, to help support her sister after their father's death.[8][9]

Munn, a self-taught seamstress with no formal design training, opened another shop on Madison Avenue in 1941;[10][11] she offered American-made couture gowns, dresses, suits, and separates during World War II and afterwards.[12][13][14] She gave parties to show her latest designs to socialites and celebrities,[1][15] including Elizabeth Parke Firestone[16] and Dorothy Kilgallen,[17] and often modeled her own creations at society events.[11][18] Her typical silhouettes featured full skirts and nipped-in waists.[19][20] "Every bodice is moulded close to the figure with a tiny waist. Do not expect limp sheaths or shirtwaist types from this designer," said a newspaper report of Munn's Fall 1952 collection.[21] In 1957, her name was discussed for a possible appointment to an ambassadorship in Luxembourg or Belgium.[22]

Personal life and legacy

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Munn married lawyer and magazine editor Orson Desaix Munn II in 1924; they had a son, Orson Desaix Munn III, born in 1925.[23] Her husband died in 1958,[24] and she died in 1984, in New York City, a few days after her 86th birthday.[1] Museums holding works by Carrie Munn include The Henry Ford[16] and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Carrie Munn, Dress Designer In the 40's and 50's, Is Dead". The New York Times. 1984-02-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  2. ^ "Obituary for Caroline U. Neunder (Aged 35)". Buffalo Courier. 1907-05-26. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Carson Party". The Los Angeles Times. 1960-03-08. p. 30. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ The Green Book Magazine. Story-Press association. December 1918. p. 963.
  5. ^ Bapst, Jacob L.; Tribe, Ivan M. (2019-07-26). Beryl Halley: The Life and Follies of a Ziegfeld Beauty, 1897-1988. McFarland. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-4766-7643-2.
  6. ^ Mantle, Burns (1920). The Best Plays of 1919-1920: And the Year Book of the Drama in America. Small, Maynard. p. 391.
  7. ^ Rooney, Andy (1990-03-05). "Children Should Remember to be Kind to the Servants". The Pantagraph. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-07-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Bronner, Milton (1923-09-22). "American Girls Shaplier, Better Dressed than British or French, Asserts Modiste". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-07-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Grift, Josephine van der (1923-10-31). "Childhood Dreams Make $50,000 a Year for this 24 Year-Old Girl". The Independent-Record. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-07-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Colby, Anita (1957-02-10). "Destiny Hunts Carrie Munn". The Courier-Journal. p. 41. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b McCarthy, Julia (1942-04-05). "What They're Wearing". Daily News. p. 344. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Fiell, Charlotte (2021-12-07). 1940s Fashion Sourcebook: The Definitive Sourcebook. Welbeck Publishing Group. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-80279-164-8.
  13. ^ Lambert, Eleanor (1947-11-20). "Carrie Munn Winter Collection Features 'Important' Dresses". Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Cabot, Cynthia (1953-03-20). "Once Casual Separates Get 'High Fashion' Rating". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Shaw, Eleanor (1951-04-22). "Preparing for MacArthur Visit Busies New Yorkers". The Spokesman-Review. p. 47. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ a b "Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary Dress with Jacket, Worn by Elizabeth Parke Firestone, 1946". The Henry Ford. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  17. ^ Israel, Lee (1980). Kilgallen. Dell. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-440-14565-3.
  18. ^ "Gown of the Year". Life. December 5, 1949. pp. 161–162.
  19. ^ "Carrie Munn Fashions Echo Eighteenth Century". The Charlotte Observer. 1948-03-17. p. 16. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Carrie Munn Stresses Feminine Silhouette". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1950-04-20. p. 23. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Carrie Munn Used Abstract Modern Art to Set Many Themes in Fall Collection". Alabama Tribune. 1952-12-05. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Curtis, Olga (1957-01-12). "Mrs. Orson Munn, N. Y. Dress Designer, Has Hope of Becoming U. S. Ambassador". The Gazette. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Kerr, Adelaide (1942-11-11). "War Works Many Changes in Lives of Society Crowd". The Birmingham News. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Orson Munn, Attorney, at 75". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). 1958-12-23. p. 86. Retrieved 2022-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Carrie Munn". The MFAH Collections. Retrieved 2022-07-26.


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