Blog post by Amanda Dubin ’18 

Fashion icon, designer and businesswoman, Ollie McNamara, grew up in Auburn, New York and graduated from Cornell University’s College of Home Economics (now, the College of Human Ecology) in 1950. After majoring in Clothing and Textiles at Cornell, McNamara moved to New York to start a career in the fashion industry.  The speed at which she accomplished her goals is equally as impressive as her accomplishments themselves.

Ollie McNamara

Ollie jumpstarted her career working for Bonwit-Teller department stores and soon after joined the Saks Fifth Avenue team as a buyer. In fact, Ollie is the youngest buyer in the store’s history. While at Saks, her department noticed a gap in the market for couture aesthetics without the high price tags. The solution to this problem was simple: develop a line of sophisticated, yet affordable, high-quality looks. Ollie collaborated with various designers to select styles that conveyed what women wanted for the store’s new line, Safina. Ollie encouraged her vendors to develop smaller sizes for their petite clientele. Ollie became the face of Safina and traveled the world representing the line. She began appearing in major fashion publications and manikins were even made to replicate her petite form and stature. This personalized collection gave Saks an exclusive edge. Safina catered to chic young women while keeping a secretary’s budget in mind. The line also offered designs for plus sized women since, as Ollie explained, “you don’t have to be a model’s size to look good in fashion.”

Ollie McNamara in a pleated Mary McFadden gown. This dress is now part of the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection

After her time working for Saks, Ollie relocated to Arizona and opened specialty store, Capriccio, in the early 1980s.  Capriccio would eventually have locations in Phoenix, Scottsdale and later, La Jolla, California. Ollie wanted to provide the women of warm, sunny climates fashionable options at a time when European and American designers were primarily working with heavy woolen fabrics. Capriccio offered chic styles for the masses ranging from juniors with smaller budgets to designer labels for the wealthier elite. In order to promote beautiful clothing and craftsmanship rather than designer brands, McNamara created her own line of simple classics known as the “Ollie Collection.” Through this line she designed and produced stunning garments at reasonable prices. What made the store unique, according to McNamara, was that “Capricio specialize[d] in the unique and different and that helps make the classics more exciting and dynamic.”

In order to chronicle and reflect upon her life’s work and role as a fashion icon, McNamara released her memoir “Fashion Diva” in 2008. The memoir documents McNamara’s journey through the fashion world as well as the lessons learned along the way. Ollie’s journey is remarkable: a young woman from rural upstate New York who left her mark on the fashion industry. She truly believed that “a well dressed woman was a woman empowered to achieve her dreams with confidence.”

Two months before McNamara passed away on November 12, 2012, she donated 34 pieces from her personal collection to the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection. These garments are from McNamara’s personal wardrobe and many were acquired from her boutique, Capriccio. Her donation is used as a resource for students to learn about Ollie’s legacy, aesthetic and design sensibility in the very place where she first learned about fashion design. In 2013, the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection curated an exhibit to showcase McNamara’s collection in the Human Ecology Building.

Ollie McNamara exhibit at the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection

Amanda Dubin is a research assistant at the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection and a fashion management major. She loves fashion as a means of expression and communication.