Carolee Friedman started Carolee in 1972 after training as an architect. The story goes she set up her business on her kitchen table in Connecticut. Interestingly, she created her jewellery not just to buy and wear but also to collect. In the early 1970s collecting costume jewellery was not seen as mainstream. Today, of course, with concern for the environment, wearing vintage costume jewellery is fashionable. In 1989 Carolee opened her first store in Bloomingdales, New York. In 1995 she launched a collection with Ralph Lauren. In 1996 in an inspired publicity stunt, Carolee purchased at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Sotheby’s Auction, the three strand imitation pearls worn by the first lady. She paid $85,000 for the pearls and then proceeded to take them ‘on tour’. Initially down Lexington Avenue and then on to Beverley Hills, London and Tokyo. Carolee launched the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis collection which included versions of the pearl necklace at a cost of $110 to $225. Carolee was the first costume jewellery company to go online and in the first day made half a million dollars. In 2001 Brooks Brothers Group, one of America’s oldest luxury fashion companies established in 1818, acquired the company. Following the global pandemic and a decline in online sales Brooks Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2020.
Interestingly, a three strand of pearls was also the preferred option for the late Queen Elizabeth II, a gift from her father King George VI. But in her case, they were real and not costume!
The design of this brooch is referencing the 1935 poster for the French liner Normandie designed by A.M. Cassandre (1901 – 1968). Cassandre was the pseudonym of Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron (1901 – 1968) who was born in Ukraine to French parents and moved to France as a teenager and studied art in Paris. He worked as a commercial poster artist, and typeface designer. At the beginning of WWII he joined the French Army and served until the fall of France in 1940. After the war, he worked with several French fashion houses. He designed scarfs for Hermès and in 1961 designed the famous Yves Saint Laurent logo.
In 1969 the QE2 was launched by Queen Elizabeth II, seen by many as the last of the true transatlantic liners. She carried numerous famous and infamous passengers in her 40 years of service – including the Emperor of Japan, Lady Thatcher, Mick Jagger, Gracie Fields and Burt Lancaster to name just a few.
At the end of her time as a transatlantic liner and cruise ship we sailed on the QE2. Though she was a little faded she was a magnificent sleek ship and could outrun most ships on the high seas. At one point our captain made an announcement ‘On our port is a French navy cruiser, we will be passing her shortly’. There was an involuntary cheer from the passengers.
My stepmother, who celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this year sailed to New York on the old Queen Mary. To this day she still recalls the glamour of the experience, as a young newly qualified nurse embarking on a new phase of her life.
With the arrival of modern air travel it is possible to cross the Atlantic in a few hours. But this does not replace the thrill of sailing into New York passed the statue of Liberty. An experience never to be forgotten.
