Gunne Sax is a retired clothing label owned by Jessica McClintock, Inc., which specialized in formal and

semi-formal Semi-formal wear or half dress is a grouping of Western dress code, dress codes indicating the sort of clothes worn to events with a level of formality between informal wear and formal wear. In the modern era, the typical interpretation for men ...

wear Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology. Wear in m ...

for young women. Eleanor Bailey and Carol Miller co-founded the label in San Francisco in 1967, before partnering with

Jessica McClintock Jessica Gagnon McClintock (June 19, 1930 – February 16, 2021) was founder, President and CEO of Jessica McClintock, Inc., an American retail company based in San Francisco, California. She was a designer of formalwear for women. In 2013, after ...

in 1969 for a $5,000 investment. The name "Gunne Sax" was associated with the label's roots in prairie, Victorian, and Edwardian-styled designs which drew on many elements popular in late-19th and early-20th-century

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

such as

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

gingham Gingham, also called Vichy check, is a medium-weight balanced plain-woven fabric typically with striped, check or plaid duotone patterns, in bright colour and in white made from dyed cotton or cotton-blend yarns. It is made of carded, medium or ...

, and

calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...

. The enterprise was named after the "

gunny sack A burlap sack or gunny sack, also known as a gunny shoe, hessian sack or tow sack, is an inexpensive bag, traditionally made of fibres which are also known as "tow," such as hessian fabric (burlap) formed from jute, hemp or other natural fibre ...

" (hessian/burlap bag) or

trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...

used on some of the earlier dresses. Gunne Sax also manufactured

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

- and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

-inspired designs, with empire waistlines and center plackets, and used other historical costume elements such as

corset A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or with a more lasting effe ...

-like laced

bodice A bodice () is an article of clothing traditionally for women and girls, covering the torso from the neck to the waist. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the ...

s and puffed

sleeves A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to '' slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, ac ...

that tightened below the elbow, a style popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s known as "leg o'mutton." Collectors consider clothing with the original "black label," used only in 1969, the most valuable. A "hearts label" was used for a short time following, until, during the 1970s and early 1980s, a larger label with

scrollwork The scroll in art is an element of ornament and graphic design featuring spirals and rolling incomplete circle motifs, some of which resemble the edge-on view of a book or document in scroll form, though many types are plant-scrolls, which l ...

was put into use. From the 1980s onward, Gunne Sax dresses tended to follow modern prom dress sensibilities, such as tight, strapless bodices and full

skirt A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards. At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are fi ...

s, favoring fabrics like

satin A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave ...

taffeta Taffeta (archaically spelled taffety or taffata) is a crisp, smooth, plain woven fabric made from silk, cuprammonium rayons, acetate, and polyester. The word is Persian (تافته) in origin and means "twisted woven". As clothing, it is used in ...

, and

tulle Tulle (; ) is a commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the department of Corrèze, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Tulle is also the episcopal see of the Roman Catho ...

. In 1999

was the number one seller paired with matte

brocade Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian ''broccato'' meaning "embos ...

corsets, with an addition of skirts made in

dotted swiss Dotted Swiss (foaled 1956 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Hollywood Gold Cup in 1960. He was bred and raced by C. V. Whitney, a member of New York City's prominent Vanderbilt family. His dam was S ...

. Gunne Sax also had a children/young girls' line referred to as Jeunes Filles.

References

{{Reflist

External links

"Design empire began with Gunne Sax"
SFGate, Carolyne Zinko, February 13, 2011 Clothing brands