Ernestine Fantl Carter papers
Scope and Contents
From 1946 to 1949, Carter was Fashion Editor of Harper's Bazaar and from 1952 to 1954 contributed to The Observer. But the decisive step for her career and for fashion was her joining The Sunday Times in 1955. Over the next 17 years she made herself not only the acknowledged leader among women's fashion writers but also created a reputation for British fashion at a time when it was considered a desert.
In the immediate postwar years, Carter's task had been to make fashion copy acceptable, and she crusaded for the Dior New Look. With the coming of the 1960s she was quick to recognize that haute couture was not all, and was among the first to identify and promote the talents of British designers in her influential columns in The Sunday Times and through the Sunday Times International Fashion Awards, created in 1963. From being a fashion backwater London found itself a city with the eyes of the world on it and Ernestine Carter lent her authority to the rising reputations of designers such as Mary Quant, Jean Muir, Gina Frattini, and John Bates.
She was a former member of the Council of the Royal College of Art; of the National Council for Diploma in Art and Design and of the Selection Panel for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award for Design.
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Wellesley Class of 1927 alumna Ernestine Fantl Carter dating from 1903 to 1984. Includes articles written for The Sunday Times and other publications about fashion, book drafts for novels detailing fashion history, clippings, correspondence, notes, and photographs related to Carter's career as a fashion writer and editor for The Sunday Times as well as her work as a museum curator for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Dates
- Creation: 1903-1984
Language of Materials
Materials are primarily written and printed in English. Some additional French materials included.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. To make an appointment to view materials, please contact the Archives staff by email at archives@wellesley.edu or by phone at (781) 283-3745.
Conditions Governing Use
The Wellesley College Archives welcomes researchers to use materials in the public domain, to make fair use of copyrighted materials as defined by copyright law, and to request permission to use works whose copyright is held by Wellesley College. All materials from the Archives, regardless of copyright status, should be attributed to the Wellesley College Archives, Library and Technology Services, Wellesley College when cited, quoted, or reproduced.
Biographical / Historical
Ernestine Carter was a museum curator, fashion writer, and associate editor for The Sunday Times. Ernestine Marie Fantl was born in October 1906 in Savannah, Georgia. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1927, where she studied art and design. From 1932 to 1937, she worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City as an assistant curator and then the curator of architecture and industrial art.
In 1936, she married John Wayneflete Carter and the couple relocated to London, England. During World War II, Carter was employed by the British Ministry of Information and the United States Office of War Information. Later, one of her tasks was to help plan the fashion section of an exhibition entitled "Britain Can Make It" that was on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
After the war, she went on to establish a successful fashion journalism career. From 1946 to 1949 she was Fashion Editor of Harper's Bazaar and from 1952 to 1954 contributed to The Observer. She was the Women's Editor for The Sunday Times from 1955 to 1968, then became the Associate Editor from 1968 to 1972. She lent her authority to the rising reputations of designers such as Mary Quant, Jean Muir, Gina Frattini and John Bates.
Carter was granted several awards including the Ordinary Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 1964 and the Harper's Bazaar Medallion of Recognition in 1966. She was a member of the Council of the Royal College of Art and served on the National Council for Diploma in Art and Design as well as the selection panel for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award for Elegant Design.
After her retirement from The Sunday Times in 1972, Carter went on to write several books on fashion history. She died on August 1, 1983 at her home in London.
Extent
32.9 Linear Feet (In 12 legal-sized Hollinger boxes, 7 full lid oversized boxes, 4 newspaper boxes, 3 letter-sized Hollinger boxes, 3 record cartons, 2 flat oversized boxes, 1 object box)
Abstract
This collection comprises the personal and professional papers of Ernestine Fantl Carter; museum curator, fashion writer, and associate editor for The Sunday Times from 1903 to 1984. The collection includes articles, book drafts, clippings, correspondence, notes, and photographs.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in the following series and subseries:
I. Articles
II. Books
A. Administrative
B. Drafts
C. Research
III. Museum of Modern Art
IV. Personal files
V. Societies
A. Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts Manufactures and Commerce
B. The Costume Society
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials were given to the archives by Ernestine Carter, Wellesley College class of 1927. She offered her papers to the archives in 1976 and arranged to have them sent over after her death (which occurred in 1983). The transfer was made via Helen Kelley of the Treasurer's Office and Emiko (Koko) Nishino, then-director of planned giving. The materials were sent to the archives in 1985 and arrived in wooden crates.
Source
- Carter, Ernestine (Person)
- Title
- Ernestine Fantl Carter papers, 1903-1984: A Guide
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Jillian DeSousa in 2021, reprocessed by Abigail Wilson in 2024
- Date
- September-November 2021, updated March 2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Wellesley College Archives Repository