When was fredericks of hollywood founded

Using a soft tape-measure, measure tightly around your body directly below your bust, resting the tape on the lower band of your bra. Make sure the tape is snug and straight, in front and back. Add 5 to this measurement to obtain your band size.

While braless or wearing a non-padded bra, use a measuring tape to measure around your torso directly under your bust, where a bra band would sit. The tape should be level and very snug. Round to the nearest whole number. If the number is even, add four inches. Americans and Europeans — both men and women — believe that a C cup is the ideal bust size, according to an international survey undertaken by the medical teleconsultation website Zava.

More generally, men and women prefer bigger cup sizes, namely C, D, and DD. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Research Paper.

Ben Davis April 17, Is Frederick of Hollywood still in business? When was Fredericks of Hollywood founded? Is Fredericks of Hollywood trashy? Is Fredericks of Hollywood safe? Unbeknownst to the board of directors, in fact, Mellinger was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease during this time. In , Forbes magazine's Ellen Paris speculated that Frederick's dip into the red meant that sex must be "going out of style.

In May , after a short period of leadership under interim managers, Frederick's board of directors hired former Carter Hawley Hale home furnishings division chief George Townson to take the reins at Frederick's as chairman and CEO. Townson brought two decades of experience in mail-order retailing, although none of it was in apparel, let alone lingerie.

It did not take Townson long to pinpoint Frederick's problems. He later enumerated the shortcomings to Direct Marketing 's Mollie Neal: "Outdated business assumptions, deteriorating conditions of our stores, ineffective management, inadequate merchandising and financial reporting systems, a dwindling core customer base, more sophisticated competition, archaic structures and antiquated policies.

Store renovations shunned the traditional garish purples and hot pinks for more subtle lavenders and mauves, while softer lighting and new carpeting in the stores made for a more romantic, less burlesque atmosphere. Not only did the company redecorate--including covering over the outrageous lavender facade with gray paint--but it also celebrated its heritage with the opening of the world's first Lingerie Museum, featuring some of Frederick's earliest designs as well as undergarments of the stars.

The vast majority 80 percent of Frederick's nearly stores had been redecorated by Levy to assess the company's product line and target audience. A new merchandising scheme emerged from his observations. Frederick's pared what had become an excessively broad and in the eyes of many Americans lewd line, dropping such items as explicit videos and bawdy games.

Frederick's stores also stopped carrying certain lines of apparel and accessories, including wigs, sportswear, and swimwear although these last two categories continued to be offered in mail-order catalogs.

At the same time, the company expanded its loungewear and men's undergarment lines. The revamp--or, as many company observers punned, "de-vamp"--of Frederick's of Hollywood catalogs also focused on bringing the publication out of the fringes and into the mainstream. Even into the s, the catalogs had featured explicit black-and-white photos interspersed with exaggerated and cartoonish line drawings. The new catalogs featured heavier paper, a new logo and motto "An Intimate Experience" , and tasteful color photographs of models wearing Frederick's lingerie.

Although catalog sales slid by about 5 percent with the first new issue, they quickly began to recover, with sales and profits gaining by double-digit percentages in the latter years of the decade. Frederick's move away from mail-order's "red-light district" enabled it to buy mailing lists from catalogers who would have previously been embarrassed to be associated with the lingerie merchant.

As a result, catalog circulation more than tripled from 7. Behind the scenes, CEO Townson purged the executive ranks, bringing in 18 new managers within his first two years at the top. He also invested in new computer hardware, including cash registers and data processing equipment and software. Frederick's retail rebirth clearly followed the lead of upstart competitor Victoria's Secret, a subsidiary of The Limited Inc.

By , Victoria's Secret had more than triple the annual sales volume with about the same number of stores. But while Frederick's had shed much of its most explicit merchandise and imagery, the company still managed to maintain its "naughty" cachet. Townson reflected on this factor in a interview with Marianne Wilson of Chain Store Age Executive magazine, noting, "Generally speaking, Victoria's Secret is more mainstream and romantic.

Frederick's is fun and sexy. Townson blamed Frederick's difficulties on rising postage and paper costs, a generally soft retail environment, the severe recession in California where the company had a heavy concentration of stores , and increasing competition. Indeed, Townson's letter to shareholders noted that "department stores, mass merchandisers and specialty stores have significantly expanded their intimate apparel lines.

In the company made its first international foray, circulating a holiday catalog in Canada. In , the year the company celebrated its 50th anniversary, Frederick's rolled out a new store prototype.

The new design was slightly more sophisticated than previous formats, aimed to be more customer friendly, and was nearly twice as large as the existing average outlet, square feet versus 1, The company also introduced a new cosmetics line, but it did not perform well and was soon abandoned.

In June the Mellinger family put its This laid the groundwork for the board's approval in June of an offer from investment bank Knightsbridge Capital Corp. A brief takeover battle ensued, when Veritas Capital Inc. A shareholder-led lawsuit to block the takeover was dismissed by a Delaware Court of Chancery. Townson left the company following the takeover, and in December Frederick's of Hollywood hired its first female CEO. Terry W. Patterson came onboard having most recently served as head of Strauss Discount Auto.

Knightsbridge executives felt someone outside the industry was needed to provide a fresh perspective.