It is no secret that Carrie prom dresses designer, Ralph Lauren, delivers high-quality clothing for a price. From the start of his career, Ralph Lauren has brought new ideas to the fashion industry. His ingenuity leads to chic styles on which one can find dazzling details and bold colors. This popularity translated into innovation with each collection with spectacular lighter fabrics and patterns after the great success of his 1990’s Polo line. However, what makes Carrie’s prom dress so special?
Carrie is an American chain of discount stores that features all things inexpensive at an affordable price point. They started out in 1947 focusing on vintage items as opposed to ready-to-wear items like Ralph Lauren does today.
1. The popularity of the dress:
The Carrie store first opened its doors in Los Angeles in 1947. It wasn’t until 1952 that Carrie expanded to New York City, then to other locations. In Chicago, the store was located on South State Street and Grand Avenue. Although Carrie used to have multiple stores, their newest location on Halsted Street closed its doors for good in 2015.
As a result of their decor and architecture keeping true to their roots, Carrie is well known for having some of the oldest, most unique buildings in all of Chicago. The iconic building at 3133 North Halsted that hosts the original store has been nominated as being one of America’s 10 most endangered historic landmarks by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
2. The store’s business model
As mentioned before, Carrie’s vintage items are more affordable than Ralph Lauren’s ready-to-wear items. The clothing featured in Carrie stores includes apparel, housewares and furniture. Although the prices are a fraction of the cost of Ralph Lauren merchandise, one does not have to sacrifice style for affordability. In fact, the quality of their clothing is top-notch and on par with what you’d find at a designer boutique in your neighborhood.
Carrie offers its customers great quality at an affordable price as well as gives back to the Chicago community by partnering with local charities such as The Giving Back Fund, Enrico Fermi High School and Substance Abuse Alternatives through Education (S.A.F.E.).
3. The designer:
Designing for the masses was Ralph Lauren’s goal from the start of his design career. His designs exuded American style and a casual lifestyle that engaged both men and women from different social classes. Lauren was able to do this by creating casual luxury clothing that is also accessible to every individual on all budgets. Such an inclusive design is what allows for immense popularity amongst women everywhere.
This design is what allowed Carrie to have their own variation of Ralph Lauren’s polo dress, a staple in any woman’s wardrobe today, which features a relaxed fit with wide, notched collars and large patch pockets down each side.
4. The music
Like Carrie, Ralph Lauren is also known for his popularity amongst musicians. His designs are often used in the making of music videos and on stage. One example is “Paso por Arriba”, a song by Colombian singer Shakira which features a black and white video that includes two dancers wearing Ralph Lauren clothing.
The video was released in 1999 as part of Shakira’s fifth studio album, ¿Dónde están los ladrones? (1998). It features her dancing alongside two male backup dancers wearing traditional Colombian clothes and hats. The dancers are also wearing a Ralph Lauren polo-shirt as seen in the simplistic yet elegant opening shot that takes place in front of an old cement factory.
This production showcases the diversity of Ralph Lauren’s designs and their ability to be portrayed in different settings with different people.
5. The founder:
Born Ralph Lifshitz in 1942, he changed his name to Lauren after being drafted into the US Army. He went on to study business at Baruch College. After college, he worked as a salesman for Brooks Brothers and eventually found his way into designing t-shirts for JCPenney and creating patterns for Pierre Cardin. This led to him becoming a designer for the iconic house of ties, which is known worldwide today as Bigelow-Sanford.
6. The fabric:
Carrie’s dresses are made from a lightweight cotton fabric that is meant for the hot summer weather. The polo dress has become so popular that one of the most common online searches to find the dress is “Polo Ralph Lauren Dress”.
Carrie’s dresses have been worn by numerous celebrities, including Mary-Kate Olsen, Vanessa Hudgens and Kendall Jenner.
7. The success:
From its very beginning in 1947, Carrie was successful . Today, it still retains its unique charm and personality that have helped it maintain a place in Chicago history as well as fashion history as well up until today’s modern styling with an upscale twist on classic vintage clothing.
8. The colors:
The colors in this Ralph Lauren dress are superb for summer wear. It’s a perfect fit for the weather in Chicago with its light material and bright colors.
Ralph Lauren is well-known for their polo shirts that feature iconic colors, prints and a monogram. Their polo shirts are often found with the company logo or a subtle print on the chest while the back features a large open collar with two large patch pockets down each side of it, giving it its namesake of polo shirts.
Polo Ralph Lauren’s iconic clothes have been worn by numerous celebrities over the years, including Justin Timberlake who wore it in his role as Sean Parker in The Social Network (2010).
