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| For presentation at the annual national symposium of the Costume
Society of America in 2009, I researched a prominent, but little-studied,
San Francisco modiste who worked between the 1880s and 1916,
titled Madame J. Baer and her Gowns: A Study in San Francisco
High Society. |
| Mrs. Hermine Taubles Baer (1854-1928) was a Jewish dressmaker
who catered to the upper echelons of San Francisco’s high
society both before and after the great Earthquake of 1906.
An immigrant, she was born in Prague and moved to San Francisco
in the 1870s with her German husband Joseph Baer (an importer).
She trained for her career at Ransohoff’s, the famous
San Francisco department store, before starting her own label.
Based on extant garments, patent and other primary source research,
as well as interviews with surviving family members, this paper
aims to present a biography and critical assessment of Madame
J. Baer, with an eye to her inspirations, design aesthetic and
clientelle. Over the course of her career she often traveled
abroad to view and design based on Parisian trends and her status
as an immigrant allowed her to present a unique perspective
to San Francisco fashionable society. |
| This is a little-studied time period in terms of San Francisco’s
fashion history, and no one has previously undertaken research
of this particular designer. I hope to further research this
topic with a view to publication. |
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| Caption: Mme.J. Baer, maker |
| American, 1854 - 1928 |
| Woman’s evening dress, 1910 |
| Chiffon, satin, rhinestones and beads |
| Gift of Jane Scribner |
| Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco |
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Madame Baer and her Gowns: A Study in San
Francisco High Society.
35th Annual National Symposium of the Costume Society of America
in Tempe, AZ, May 2009. |
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