Mrs. Sargent once owned a string of East Bay shops offering a midprice line of women's wear using the brand name Miss Alameda, adapted from her maiden name.
Vintage Irene Sargent | Calderon dress
$ 225.00
This product is currently sold out.
Vintage "Irene Sargent" Calderon" dress. zips up the back. hooks at upper closure. for upper back peek a boo. balloon silhouette arms. semi sheer fabric. no stretch excellent condition. lace detail throughout. front bow. brighter color underneath to create a beautiful color jux. original tags attach on the inner sleeve.
shoulders 15/16
bust 36
waist 30
hips 42
shoulder to waist seam 13
total length 53
arm length 23
BIO : SOURCE SF GATE
When she consolidated her shops into one centrally situated store in downtown Oakland, it soon gained a reputation as one of the most expensive and elegant boutiques in the Bay Area.
Mrs. Sargent gradually developed a coterie of loyal customers from San Francisco to Los Angeles -- and, after a favorable article on her appeared in Women's Wear Daily, as far as New York and Europe.
Her posh downtown Oakland dress salon gained a reputation for providing luxury, comfort, style and service. Shoppers there could select from 10 individually decorated fitting rooms. Each offered a telephone, a bank of three-way mirrors, chairs for the shopper and a companion, custom-designed clothing racks and artworks from her own private collection.
For shoppers' companions, she provided a cozy retreat: a plush den replete with a bar, fireplace and television. She even kept on a full-time cook to cater to her customers' culinary whims.
Irene Alameda was born in Fremont -- then called Centerville -- in 1908. She was the youngest of six children.
After a short stint as a cashier at the Fox Theatre in Oakland, she landed a job in a low-end ladies' and men's store. For the next seven years, she worked 14-hour days at the store, earning only $95 a month -- but learning the business in the process.
In 1936, at the age of 28, she borrowed against everything she owned and raised about $1,000, with which she bought her own first shop. In 1941, she married her second husband -- "my best friend," Charles Sargent, who worked with her ever since.
When Mrs. Sargent opened her shop, she could not afford the $250 cost of a sign over the window, and the $150 rent sometimes went unpaid. But by 1950 she owned a chain of five shops, which she ultimately consolidated into one store at 2035 Franklin St.
There she gained a clientele of local customers and out-of-town buyers while building a nationwide reputation, which in 1960 took her to the Soviet Union as a representative of the U.S. fashion industry.
