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SEAMS GREAT! This simple
yet elegant dress is sure
to become a staple of your
wardrobe. Shapely seaming
perfectly wraps the body and
is highlighted with tone-ontone
topstitching. Kay Unger,
V1183, Misses’ 6-20.
www.voguepatterns.com Hair and Makeup: JOSEPH BOGGESS
Introducing
Kay Unger
248
New York

y Daryl Brower
Every closet needs at least one
perfect dress and chances are you’ll find that dress in
designer Kay Unger’s collections. Made with a modern
sense of style and color, not to mention a meticulous
eye for flattering detail, Unger’s clothing is beautiful,
feminine, easy to wear, and virtually ageless in appeal.
“I’ve dressed thirteen year olds and I’ve dressed sixty and
seventy year-olds,” says Unger, who is herself a stunning
and stylish 65. “It’s not age, it’s a state of mind.” That
mindset is one of chic confidence and effortless elegance,
something Unger picked up at a very young age. “My
mother had the most beautiful clothes,” she says. “No
matter where she was going she looked perfectly pulled
together and perfectly comfortable in her own skin. And I
wanted to be just like that.”
Unger, who got her first sewing machine at the age of
eight, taught herself to sew and admits her methods and
materials were a bit unorthodox. “When my parents went
to sleep I’d take the bedspreads and bath towels and sew
them into skirts and strapless dresses” she recalls. “Then
I gave them out at the holidays as gifts.” Despite her early
ingenuity, Unger had no plans to be a fashion designer.
“I thought you had to be a genius to be a designer,” she
says. “And I certainly wasn’t a genius.” She did include the
profession on her childhood list of “things I want to be
when I grow up,” but it ranked after figure skater and mom.
(Her reasoning for the latter was that, “moms get to wear
beautiful clothes.”) By the time college
rolled around she had decided to
become an artist (“I thought it
would be easier than being a
fashion designer,” she laughs.) and
enrolled in the painting program at
Washington University. While there
she took a few design classes
and decided that the fashion
department was where she really ly
wanted to be. “Painting became
my hobby and I got serious about
design,” she says. In 1965 she
transferred to Parsons, where as
she puts it, “I learned the right
way to sew.”
Always one for ladylike
refinement, she showed up for
her first few weeks of classes
at Parson’s in a pillbox hat
and gloves—“I didn’t quite fit
in,” she laughs. Her personal
style lightened up a bit, but
her work focused on elegant pieces with lots of curves
and vintage detail. At critiques she was usually the only
student with a portfolio of dress designs and she found
herself fascinated by patternmaking and the skill that
went into crafting pieces of paper into templates for
dimensional designs. “I learned so much about fit and
flattery, and I learn more every single day,” she says.
Unger doesn’t design for the runway, but for the real
world, saying she has a duty to make women of every
shape and size feel gorgeous and good about themselves.
“I have two kids, I’ve lived a lot of different sizes,” she
says. “So I understand what women want and need. And
I fully believe that whether you’re short, tall, thin or fuller
figured, you can find clothes that fit and make you feel
great about yourself.” To that end her clothes are curvy
and loaded with detail: elegant trims, ruffled and wrapped
touches, embroidered elements, all designed to shape,
sculpt and flatter. “You put on one of our dresses and you
instantly have a waist and look taller and leaner,” she
explains. “We don’t hide the form, we enhance it—no
matter what its shape or size.”
Fashion week was in full swing when we visited Unger’s
showroom, but Unger explains
that she skips the tents in
Bryant Park, preferring instead
to sink money into the clothes.
“There’s an enormous cost
to putting on a show,” she
explains. “I’d rather invest in
developing our line and keeping
our price points affordable for
our customers.” To keep the
ideas flowing (and the dresses
coming), Unger’s studio is run
as a team effort, with designers,
patternmakers and sewers each
responsible for a specific segment
of the business, be it smart suits
or elegant evening wear. “I like to
say it
takes a village,” Unger says. “I
have
a team of amazing designers.
I couldn’t give my customers the
incredible product I do all by myself.”
Like Unger, the designers on each
(continued on page 52)
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Kay Unger (above) gives us a tour
of her workrooms to show us how
these incredible fashions come
to life. Starting with sketches and
swatches, each design is nely
crafted by a team of artists following
the philosophy that the nal garment
should be attering above all else.
250

www.voguepatterns.com Hair and Makeup: JOSEPH BOGGESS
Kay Unger’s best-selling
dress is now available to
home sewers. It’s an
extremely versatile design
with a lot of potential.
Change the color, add a
trim, make a contrast
color, the possibilities are
endless. Kay Unger,
V1182, Misses’ 8-22.
3

(continued from page 49)
“ I love that [the patterns] are
giving women the freedom
to create for themselves
and express who they are.”
team have art backgrounds and the majority began their stint with the
company as interns. Unger is visibly proud of her team and is quick
to credit their talents. “One of the things I truly love about my job is
mentoring [the designers] and watching them grow,” she says. “I’m
constantly amazed by what they can produce.”
Following Unger around her workroom, the camaraderie and
creativity is palpable. Everywhere you look there’s something in progress:
sketches being drawn up, fabrics being dip dyed (in Rit dyes no less) and
samples being pinned, draped and shaped. “Everyone who works for me
is an artist,” Unger says proudly, pointing out the details on each design.
In addition to the clothes, she and her staff, many of them painters
like their boss, create the colorfully feminine prints that have become
Kay Unger’s signature. Unger estimates that she and her team have
designed more than a thousand different fabric prints, each one
carefully catalogued in the black binders that are shelved floor to ceiling
along one wall of the workroom. “It lets us control the colors and the
patterns, so the pieces are unique to us,” she explains. Another wall
houses an astonishing collection of trims and buttons, all serving as
either an inspiration or adornment to the clothes being created.
As she points out the different details on each piece in progress,
it’s clear that Unger herself has a real sense of clothing construction.
She’s quick to point out the little “ details on each piece in progress,
noting the techniques and fabrics a home sewer could use to achieve
the same results. She’s excited about her new line for Vogue Patterns
and points out that special care was taken to select styles that could
easily be replicated by the average sewing enthusiast—not that Unger
expects home sewers to make carbon copies of her clothes (although
that’s okay too). “I love that [the patterns] are giving women the
freedom to create for themselves and express who they are,” she says.
“It lets a woman speak—she feels great about what’s she’s wearing and
how she looks wearing it.” For Unger, creating clothing isn’t about
dictating a certain look; it’s about connecting with customers and
giving them what they want. “We’re not the biggest company, but
we make beautiful things,” says Unger. “We make clothes that make
people happy.” And really, what more can you ask for?
KAY’S TIPS FOR DRESSING YOUR BEST
Don’t be afraid of fit. “Trying to hide extra weight with loose
clothing only makes you look larger,” explains Unger. Opt for
sculpted pieces that give you shape instead.
Look leaner. Trim your tummy by choosing a dress style that
puts the waistline one inch above your natural waist. “It instantly
creates a shapely waist, even if you don’t have one,” says Unger,
noting that she uses this trick on almost all her designs.
Shirt the issue. Every closet should be outfitted with at least one
great shirtdress. “It’s a year ’round basic and the fitted waist and
full skirt create flattering proportions,” explains Unger.
Go sleeveless. “A bare arm is ten times better than a sleeve that
hits at the wrong spot,” says Unger. “If you’re self-conscious, you
can always slip on a shawl.”
Clever draping and ruching can disguise a thick midsection
or draw attention elsewhere. “We call it using folds to cover your
folds,” laughs Unger.
Aim high. Slipping on a pair of heels is an instant figure fix and a
confidence booster. “You don’t have to wear them all day but keep
a pair in your car or at your desk so you can slip them on when
you need to impress.”
252

The perfect dress for any
occasion and any body.
Following Unger’s tips
(see opposite page), this
dress features attering
ruching that “uses folds
to cover your folds.” Kay
Unger, V1182, Misses’ 8-22.
www.voguepatterns.com Hair and Makeup: JOSEPH BOGGESS
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