Sally Milgrim

At her husband's business, Milgrim began displaying her own dress designs to appeal to the female consumers.^[1] By 1922, her dress designs were sold across twenty-nine states^[3] and she was recruited to design clothes for Broadway productions.^[1] Milgrim eventually opened her own store on 57th Street near Fifth Avenue in 1927.^[4] Due to her popularity, Milgrim was forced to move into a larger space on Fifty-Seventh Street to sell her designs. Her building was designed by architect L. H. Friedland and the interior by the Paris Studio of New York.^[3]

In 1933, Milgrim was asked to design a dress for Eleanor Roosevelt to wear to her husband's first inaugural ball.^[5] The light blue dress^[5] would later go on display at the Smithsonian Institution.^[6] Milgrim also designed dresses for Marilyn Miller, Ethel Merman, Pearl White, Louise Brooks^[7] and Mary Pickford.^[4] In March 1936, Milgrim was honored by the New York League of Business and Professional Women for her achievements.^[8]

In 1941, Milgrim unveiled a new collection called "Arabesque," as it was inspired by their modest fashion. The clothes in this collection emphasized women's "tent-pole Silhouette," which means she combined many styles into one.^[9] She also created a "ready to wear" clothing line labelled "Salymil."^[10] Vogue described this label as "fresh young clothes."^[11]

Milgrim retired from the fashion industry in 1960, and eventually died on June 16, 1994.^[4] A collection of her hats is in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[12]