Vintage Co-ordinates by Bobbie Brooks

Bobbie Brooks - almost everyone remembers that name. The company started as Ritmore Sportswear in 1939 in Cleveland, OH. Maurice Saltzman and Max Reiter took a $3000.00 investment and built a women's apparel business worth several million dollars over the next 15 years. In 1953, Salzman bought out Reiter's share in the business for $1 million and changed the name to Bobbie Brooks.

Bobbie Brooks produced co-ordinating stylish garments for the teen and junior market, and expanded into women's wear later. In 1959, the company became the first women's garment manufacturer to be listed on the NYSE. By the 1960's, Bobbie Brooks was one of the top 5 clothing manufacturers in the US with 15 factories producing 18,000,000 garments a year.

Here is an example of the genious of the Bobbie Brooks company. From 1955, 7 basic garments with enough style and panache to take a gal anywhere she wants to go. Mix and match them to your heart's content, add a couple of extra tops in colors, and you've got a wardrobe to last all summer. There are more ways to mix these pieces than I can count, but my favorite would be to wear the white blouse with the capri pants and the 3/4 sleeve jacket worn open over the blouse.

The sleeveless white blouse sold for $4.00 (about $33.00 in today's dollar).
The swing skirt sold for $6.00 (about $49.00 in today's dollar).
The hat sold for $2.00 (about $16.00 in today's dollar).
The 3/4 sleeve jacket sold for $6.00 (about $49.00 in today's dollar).
The walking shorts sold for $5.00 (about $41.00 in today's dollar).

The short shorts sold for $4.00 (about $33.00 in today's dollar).
The cuffed capri pants sold for $6.00 (about $49.00 in today's dollar).

How would you mix these pieces to make a favorite outfit?