MR says: Did you know an LDS woman designed swimsuits for Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth? Find out where you can see her stunning designs in person.
And for more about Rose Marie Yancey Reid and other Mormons who shaped the fashion world, click here.
In the middle of the Great Depression Rose Marie Yancey Reid was asked by her husband Jack, a swimming instructor and athletic manager, to design a more functional swimsuit.
He was so happy with the lace-up suit she created that he took a duplicate suit to the Hudson Bay Department Store. Impressed, Hudson Bay requested a lady’s suit design and ended up ordering nearly 200.
With that 1936 order, Reid’s first business, Reid’s Holiday Togs, Ltd., was born. From that day until the mid-1960s the name Rose Marie Reid was synonymous with beautiful, functional, and innovative women’s swimwear. Her swimsuits were advertised widely in fashion magazines and were sold in department stores in Canada, the United States,and Europe.
The BYU’s L. Tom Perry Special Collections in the Harold B. Lee Library has just opened an exhibition on the life and work of Reid. Rose Marie Reid: Glamour By Design will feature Reid’s letters, photographs, promotional materials, and of course significant examples of her swimwear.
Lead image from BYU News.