Olga: Compassionate Design Part I
Vintage lingerie inventory acquisition, if you ask any shop owner, is a hit and miss thing. Sometimes you have to take what you can get, and while you may favor one design or designer over others, this may have as much to do with supply, as with preference. Yet, in the long run, a shop reflects the taste and style of the individual who runs it, and occasionally, we just don't get what another shop owner sees in a designer. Recently, Theresas, of IntimateRetreat, put this question before our group, "I understand the draw for the older nightgowns.. (but) what is the draw for ...(an Olga nightgown)?"
That question brought forth a collective gasp from our other shop owners, if a group can collectively gasp over the internet, and it caused me to pause. We take Olga very seriously here at VLSST and I took some time to mull it over, before giving it a serious answer. So, here's my answer to her question: Olga is the every women's lingerie gown.
If we are contemplating Olga's classic design, the one with the ruched fabric under the breast and at the waist, and the lace tummy panel...the ones that customers just eat up...it cannot be denied that they are really quite simple in design. (See photos above and below) "But, they are ornate!", I can hear some of you saying. Okay, they may be ornate, in the sense that lace can be ornate (and Olga dearly loved lace, although, not in abandon), but they are the every women's lingerie gown because, you see, Olga is first and foremost about balance between the body and the gown.
Some lingerie gowns are almost more beautiful off the body on a hanger, and require a certain body type to pull them off. Not so with an Olga gown. They look fine on a hanger, but they come alive on the body, merging the gown with the woman. The simplicity is in the fact that the gown takes a back seat to the woman. Olga's designs are all about how the woman looks in the gown...not how the gown looks on the woman, and this is a critical distinction, and at the heart of vintage Olga gowns and the secret to their popularity. What is the secret? The secret that's no secret? Here it is: Practically every woman looks good in an Olga gown. To put it another way is; Practically every woman's body looks good in an Olga gown. And if you don't believe it, then try one on for yourself and see.
While other lingerie designs were inspired by movie stars and sexy glamour, Olga's designs have a more humble and practical origin. One of her first nightgowns, the Sleeping Pretty line design, she herself tested during a hospital stay. Her gown designs came about through a mix of excellent design and solid engineering, if I can use the word engineering in the context of lingerie. But there is an engineering element involved here...structures were lifted, supported and contained, by fabric no less! These structures are a woman's breast, stomach and the odd bump and bulge. If you are a person with a minimum of the odd bump and bulge, you won't be so impressed with an Olga gown, but if you are like the legions of woman out there, the every woman, who might appreciate some discreet camouflage, then Olga is YOUR woman. No one does it better.
Whenever I read about or see a woman who experiences the fit of an Olga gown for the first time, I have to smile. They are supremely surprised at how great they look. Suddenly, they come alive. They feel attractive. Confident. And this isn't an age thing, either. I've seen it in 20-somethings and 50-somethings. We're essentially "naked" when we wear lingerie, at our most vulnerable. We want to look our best. I think Olga understood this first hand. And when her husband encouraged her to use the personal slogan, "Behind Every Olga There really is an Olga", it was because it was true. What she was saying was, there is a woman behind every gown. A real woman who worries about the same things you do. Who has many of the same bumps and bulges. Who wants to feel attractive and confident and at her best. Olga must have felt these things herself, and she made it her mission to create lingerie that made the every woman feel beautiful. That's a tall order, and I think she darn near did it. But contrary to popular lore, she didn't do it alone.
It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and so it happened to Olga. Once the lingerie industry understood what she had done, it was copied and imitated by other designers, who went on to manufacture less expensive versions of the original. These "impostors" are still out there, some of solid quality and some of lesser quality. They can be a less costly alternative to an authentic Olga nightgown, but there is another price to be paid. They come at the expense of making the design seem common place. and not very innovative. But don't be fooled, before Olga, there were no designs like her gowns, and her innovative use of fabrics set the standard for the industry.
Otylia Bertram was born on June 15, 1916 in Krakow, Poland, which was then Austria-Hungary. She and her soon to be husband, Jan Erteszek, fled Poland in 1939 just ahead of the Nazi army. Jan was a criminal lawyer. Otylia worked in a lingerie factory. What happened to her parents, I wonder? I was unable to find information about her family she left behind. One can only imagine.
There seems to be two pivotal points in the Olga lingerie story. The first when Otylia, on a trolley car in LA, notices a woman rolling up her stocking, in an effort to keep them up. I love this, because this gives you the picture of what Olga the designer did triumphantly through her career, and that was meld compassion with practicality. She felt sympathy for this woman who was trying to keep up her appearance in a time of war rationing (that didn't end until some time after the war..), when all lingerie making material went toward the war effort (see "Bras and the War Effort") and she thought there must be a way to help this woman feel attractive and accomplish the job of keeping up her stockings. Jan encouraged her to create that product and once she did, he acted as salesman to the local department stores. It was the start of a collaborative relationship that spanned decades.
....to be continued in Part II
Hope you are enjoying my musings on Olga. There's more to follow next time!
XO
Kathy
That question brought forth a collective gasp from our other shop owners, if a group can collectively gasp over the internet, and it caused me to pause. We take Olga very seriously here at VLSST and I took some time to mull it over, before giving it a serious answer. So, here's my answer to her question: Olga is the every women's lingerie gown.
 |
| Vintage Olga Style #94270 &92270 Offered by ViolaVintageLingerie |
If we are contemplating Olga's classic design, the one with the ruched fabric under the breast and at the waist, and the lace tummy panel...the ones that customers just eat up...it cannot be denied that they are really quite simple in design. (See photos above and below) "But, they are ornate!", I can hear some of you saying. Okay, they may be ornate, in the sense that lace can be ornate (and Olga dearly loved lace, although, not in abandon), but they are the every women's lingerie gown because, you see, Olga is first and foremost about balance between the body and the gown.
 |
| Vintage 70's Olga Nightgown Style #92750 Offered by TheFrenchBoudoir |
bGBPYsE+oWcw~~60_57.JPG) |
| Some structural engineering by Olga |
While other lingerie designs were inspired by movie stars and sexy glamour, Olga's designs have a more humble and practical origin. One of her first nightgowns, the Sleeping Pretty line design, she herself tested during a hospital stay. Her gown designs came about through a mix of excellent design and solid engineering, if I can use the word engineering in the context of lingerie. But there is an engineering element involved here...structures were lifted, supported and contained, by fabric no less! These structures are a woman's breast, stomach and the odd bump and bulge. If you are a person with a minimum of the odd bump and bulge, you won't be so impressed with an Olga gown, but if you are like the legions of woman out there, the every woman, who might appreciate some discreet camouflage, then Olga is YOUR woman. No one does it better.
 |
| Vintage 70's Olga Peignoir Style #9212 Offered by DesertGraceBoutique |
Whenever I read about or see a woman who experiences the fit of an Olga gown for the first time, I have to smile. They are supremely surprised at how great they look. Suddenly, they come alive. They feel attractive. Confident. And this isn't an age thing, either. I've seen it in 20-somethings and 50-somethings. We're essentially "naked" when we wear lingerie, at our most vulnerable. We want to look our best. I think Olga understood this first hand. And when her husband encouraged her to use the personal slogan, "Behind Every Olga There really is an Olga", it was because it was true. What she was saying was, there is a woman behind every gown. A real woman who worries about the same things you do. Who has many of the same bumps and bulges. Who wants to feel attractive and confident and at her best. Olga must have felt these things herself, and she made it her mission to create lingerie that made the every woman feel beautiful. That's a tall order, and I think she darn near did it. But contrary to popular lore, she didn't do it alone.
 |
| Vintage Olga Impostor! Offered by Medicinew1 |
There seems to be two pivotal points in the Olga lingerie story. The first when Otylia, on a trolley car in LA, notices a woman rolling up her stocking, in an effort to keep them up. I love this, because this gives you the picture of what Olga the designer did triumphantly through her career, and that was meld compassion with practicality. She felt sympathy for this woman who was trying to keep up her appearance in a time of war rationing (that didn't end until some time after the war..), when all lingerie making material went toward the war effort (see "Bras and the War Effort") and she thought there must be a way to help this woman feel attractive and accomplish the job of keeping up her stockings. Jan encouraged her to create that product and once she did, he acted as salesman to the local department stores. It was the start of a collaborative relationship that spanned decades.
....to be continued in Part II
Hope you are enjoying my musings on Olga. There's more to follow next time!
XO
Kathy
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You are capturing the magic that is behind Olga gowns. They truly do look good on every one, or make everyone look good! I agree--when we sell one to a first time buyer, it is so much fun to wait for their reaction. Many people save up to purchase that first Olga gown as well. We love coming across new styles (well, new to us), and some of the "imposters" are also quite sought-after (some Undercover Wear, for example). Thanks for another wonderful and informative post!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Valerie! I'm thinking of adding some of the comments made in description by shop sellers to the post. They add some interest perspectives. You sell quite a few Olga's and I consider your shop one of the Olga experts! Expect to see some of your shop's wares in the 2nd half of the post...
DeleteId like to order 2! How?
ReplyDelete