Nancy Talbot, co-founder of Talbot's retail clothing chain, has passed away at age 89
Sad news from Boulder, Colorado this week, where Nancy Talbot has passed away after a long fight with Alzheimer's disease.
Nancy and her husband, Rudolf Talbot inherited his father's small Hingham, Massachusetts clothing store in 1947. They renamed it "The Talbot's" and stocked it with brightly colored women's clothing that was influenced by Nancy's style. In their second year of business, they distributed 3,000 fliers to potential customers whose names they got from the mailing list of the New Yorker. It was the pre-cursor to the wildly successful catalogue that came to be.
By 1950, they had outgrown the little shop they had inherited and moved two blocks away to an old white house. They painted the front door red, which became a hallmark of Talbot's stores. In 1973, the chain was sold to General Mills for $6 million and Nancy stayed with the company as Vice President until 1983. Sadly, in 1987, her husband Rudolf passed away.
Nancy often attributed the success of Talbots to mere luck. Weather you loved or hated the fashion, she did have the right idea. In a 1980 internal memo she said "We look for clothes that are timeless because they are ladylike, simple but not contrived, gimmicky or extreme, smart but not faddy, fashionable but not funky -- chic and understated, the hallmarks of good taste."
Mrs. Talbot is survived by her two daughters, Polly Talbot-Donald of Colorado and Jane A. Winter of Missouri as well six grand children and six great-grandchildren.
Nancy and her husband, Rudolf Talbot inherited his father's small Hingham, Massachusetts clothing store in 1947. They renamed it "The Talbot's" and stocked it with brightly colored women's clothing that was influenced by Nancy's style. In their second year of business, they distributed 3,000 fliers to potential customers whose names they got from the mailing list of the New Yorker. It was the pre-cursor to the wildly successful catalogue that came to be.
By 1950, they had outgrown the little shop they had inherited and moved two blocks away to an old white house. They painted the front door red, which became a hallmark of Talbot's stores. In 1973, the chain was sold to General Mills for $6 million and Nancy stayed with the company as Vice President until 1983. Sadly, in 1987, her husband Rudolf passed away.
Nancy often attributed the success of Talbots to mere luck. Weather you loved or hated the fashion, she did have the right idea. In a 1980 internal memo she said "We look for clothes that are timeless because they are ladylike, simple but not contrived, gimmicky or extreme, smart but not faddy, fashionable but not funky -- chic and understated, the hallmarks of good taste."
Mrs. Talbot is survived by her two daughters, Polly Talbot-Donald of Colorado and Jane A. Winter of Missouri as well six grand children and six great-grandchildren.
Labels: farewell, other designers
posted by FMC at
9:43 PM
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