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Glamour and Innovation: Ann Lowe

Dressmaker, seamstress, couturier, and, according to the Saturday Evening Post, “Society’s best kept secret,” Ann Lowe became the lead seamstress for a dress shop in Tampa, Florida, saving enough money to open three dress shops in New York City. She specialized in eveningwear, debutante gowns, and day dresses for the social elite. This exhibit was curated by Maegan Jenkins, the inaugural Digital Exhibits Intern and MA/MS dual degree student in Costume Studies and Library and Information Sciences at New York University.

Ann Lowe

(December 14, 1898 – February 25, 1981)

Dressmaker, seamstress, couturier, and, according to the Saturday Evening Post, “Society’s best kept secret,” Ann Lowe was born in Clayton, Alabama, in 1898. Lowe learned dressmaking from her mother, Jane, and grandmother, Georgia, as they were both seamstresses and created garments for many wealthy families in Alabama. As a child, Lowe sewed leftover fabric scraps from her mother’s work into flowers, a motif that remained in her dress designs well into adulthood. After earning her diploma from New York’s S.T. Taylor Design School (the school was segregated at the time and Lowe was separated from her peers), Lowe became the lead seamstress for a dress shop in Tampa, Florida, saving enough money to open three dress shops in New York City. Lowe specialized in eveningwear, debutante gowns, and day dresses for the social elite. News of Lowe’s exceptional work and intricate designs reached the Bouvier family, and it was not long before a young Jacqueline Bouvier visited Lowe’s dressmaking shop to order her wedding dress and the dresses for her bridesmaids for her wedding to Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Gallery

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    Jacqueline Kennedy’s Wedding Gown, 1953

    Jacqueline Kennedy wearing her wedding dress designed by Ann Lowe. The gown was made with ivory-colored silk taffeta and featured an elegant portrait neckline. The bodice was embellished with interwoven bands of tucking, and her skirt was embellished with tiny wax flowers. Though this dress received lots of praise in the press at the time, Mrs. Kennedy refrained from acknowledging Lowe as the designer and she wasn’t credited for the dress until the mid-1960s.

    Toni Frissell, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

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    Sen. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier

    Newlyweds Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy at their wedding reception at Hammersmith Farm in Newport, Rhode Island.

    Toni Frissell, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

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    Teal Blue Dress, 1950s

    This teal blue silk brocade dress and matching cropped jacket were designed by Lowe in the 1950s for a member of high society. This dress features a V neckline, a fitted bodice, and a small train in the back. This structured silhouette and complex tailoring of this ensemble are evidence of Lowe’s outstanding artistry.

    Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Estate of Florance Rumbough Trevor

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    Cream Silk Dress, 1958

    This dress is made from cream silk faille and features embroidered floral applique embellishments throughout. The bodice has cap sleeves and a scoop neck front and back. An excellent example of Lowe’s gift for dress construction, the dress features boning sewn at regular intervals throughout to provide structure and support. Pannier-like structures underneath the petticoat provide fullness to the skirt.

    Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane

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    Sleeveless Black Cocktail Dress, 1960s

    Like many of Lowe’s other creations, this dress demonstrates her love for floral decorations. The bodice is made from black chiffon and the neckline is trimmed with green vines and pink roses made of satin. The green cummerbund of the bodice overlays a tightly pleated, full chiffon skirt. The dress has a zipper closure in the back that starts at the top of the bodice and ends below the waist.

    Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane

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    Ann Lowe Portrait

    Ann Lowe adjusting the bodice on a dress she designed, worn by Alice Baker. Though Lowe had been designing dresses for 35 years at this point, this would be Lowe’s first show. December 10, 1962.

    Bettmann Archive/Getty Images 

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