Marjorie Merriweather Post was a premier client of fashion designer Oldric Royce from the 1940s until her death in 1973.

Royce, a Prague native, fled the Nazis in 1939 and quickly established a custom fashion house in New York City. His relationship with Marjorie was one of both business and friendship. Ten dresses displayed in the Post bedroom suite from September 12 until January 2018 mark the publication of Oldřich Rosenbaum / Oldric Royce: A Life in Fashion from Prague to New York, coauthored by Howard Vincent Kurtz.

Event Timeline
12:45-1:30 p.m.:  Lecture
1:30 p.m.:  Book Signing. Oldřich Rosenbaum / Oldric Royce: A Life in Fashion from Prague to New York is available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

About the Speaker

Howard Vincent Kurtz is Hillwood’s associate curator of costumes and textiles. He has curated three exhibitions presenting the Post family costumes: Invitation to the Ball: Fancy Dress Costumes of the 1920s, Wedding Belles: Three Generations of Post Family Dress, and Ingenue to Icon: 70 Years of Fashion from the Collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post (which includes a companion publication with the same title). In 2016, he coauthored a publication for the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, Oldřich Rosenbaum / Oldric Royce: A Life in Fashion from Prague to New York. In addition to his work at Hillwood, Howard is the professor of theater and head of the design and technical theater program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He also serves on the board of directors and is the endowment board of trustees chair for the Costume Society of America.