Within the spirit wherein the mannequin and vogue govt Mary O’Brien lived her life, a scrapbook highlighting her profession was displayed at her wake on Friday and was dubbed “The Mary Present.”
O’Brien, 96, died in her Englewood Cliffs, N.J. house on Nov. 8, after a short sickness, in response to her daughter Jody. The longtime mannequin and Seventh Avenue showroom govt’s funeral was held on Nov. 16 at St. Cecilia Church in Englewood, N.J.
Born Mary Buonarota in Hoboken, the eldest of three siblings in a sturdy first-generation Italian American household, O’Brien carried on her mother and father’ quest for the American dream with confidence and dedication. Her father labored for Ford Motors portray vehicles, and her mom labored in native factories together with ones for Hostess and Lipton Tea. What sparked the fair-haired Mary O’Brien’s “love of consideration” was marching down Washington Avenue in her hometown as a 14-year-old drum majorette carrying a white and gold satin uniform. “She had an viewers for her look. That set her off,” her daughter stated.
Throughout her modeling profession, O’Brien routinely appeared in ads, in showrooms and on TV reveals sometimes like NBC’s “Immediately” present and “The Tonight Present Starring Johnny Carson.” Style was a distinct sport within the Fifties, when her job required modeling in a vogue present on the Waldorf Astoria Lodge for an viewers of 1,000 individuals. There have been additionally journeys to Cuba, the Bahamas and different far-off locales. Distinguished designers like Adolfo thanked her in typewritten notes that have been signed off with “Love.” She earned such reward typically working 14 to 16 hours a day with designers and routinely stood for hours on finish whereas the collections have been being developed 4 instances a 12 months. For retail reveals and couture reveals, she earned $40 an hour in 1964. The willowy mannequin saved at it after marrying and having two youngsters. “You get used to the eye and glamour after which sooner or later it isn’t there. Most of the ladies appears misplaced after they depart the enterprise,” O’Brien stated in a 1963 interview with The Document.
On the age of 48, she switched tracks to the gross sales facet of the style business, touring all through the U.S. for designer trunk reveals and to fashion-focused cities like Paris, London, Milan and Tokyo. She additionally periodically judged magnificence pageants. A pure connector who knew what was flattering and what would promote, O’Brien simply edged into gross sales.
Dressmaker Kasper at Lincoln Middle with mannequin Mary O’Brien carrying a glance from his fall 1972 assortment.
Photograph by Pierre Schermann
Alongside the best way, she crossed paths with the comic Groucho Marx, John F. Kennedy and surrealist Salvador Dali and assisted with fittings for former first daughter Lynda Chook Johnson Robb and the late first woman Rosalynn Carter. Regardless of not being “the brainiest lady on the earth, when it got here to clothes, what appears good and tips on how to persuade individuals, she was a pure. She would simply put individuals comfy. She was only a pure salesperson,” her daughter stated.
O’Brien additionally didn’t again down. She would inform Kasper, “who was a troublesome man as most designers are, ‘This isn’t going to work. It isn’t going to promote.’ He would say, ‘You don’t know what you’re speaking about, Mary.’ However she was proper,” Jody O’Brien stated. “She went on to work for a lot of totally different homes.”
Her modeling profession stemmed from somebody telling O’Brien that “she had the look,” her daughter stated. After graduating from highschool, she enrolled within the Barbizon Faculty of Modeling in New York Metropolis for a stint. O’Brien was later found whereas modeling at Bergdorf Goodman — strolling all through the Fifth Avenue retailer’s departments in numerous kinds — as was the norm then. The blond-haired mannequin then signed a contract with the Model Company and was generally known as “the Ice Queen” on the runway, on account of her cool demeanor, glossy fashion and platinum coif. She didn’t need to smile for the cameras, on account of a niche in her enamel, though that signature turned trendy when Lauren Hutton arrived on the scene, Jody O’Brien stated.
Working with an array of designers together with Adolfo, Invoice Blass, Yves Saint Laurent, Adele Simpson, Kasper and George Samen amongst others, O’Brien beloved the promoting facet of her job. “She would actually work it — opening a coat or twirling in a costume. She took her time,” her daughter stated.
Designer Stan Herman stated Tuesday that O’Brien “represented that period fantastically and jogs my memory of each mannequin of her time. She was an amazing showroom mannequin.”
Like Adolfo, Samen additionally turned a detailed buddy who as soon as stated that her deliberately drawn-out poses throughout an awards ceremony at The Metropolitan Museum of Artwork was unforgettable and had moved him to tears. Her look was not one thing that she ever took cavalierly. Regardless of being rail-thin, O’Brien would pull on two girdles and a corset, and get utterly dressed up, full with heels, gloves and a hat, simply to board the bus to commute into Manhattan’s Port Authority from New Jersey after which take the quick stroll to 530 Seventh Avenue, the place many big-name designers have been based mostly. “Then she would spend the remainder of the day half-naked, as a result of she was largely a match mannequin. These days fashions go in sneakers. In these days, you went in full regalia,” Jody O’Brien stated.
Even later in life, when she adopted extra minimal make-up than she had worn in her modeling days, she maintained her fashion and black-and-white wardrobe. Nonetheless, maintaining her blondeness was one other matter when O’Brien outlived her hair colorist and stylist. Earlier than she handed away, “her solely instruction was, ‘Make me look good,” her daughter stated with fun.
Staying slim with a 23-inch waist was no straightforward feat. Her daughter stated, “It was powerful. She was the one skinny one in our Italian household and my father. He was a clotheshorse too. The remainder of us have been sometimes stocky together with me and my brother. How did she keep so skinny? She would strive to not eat and in addition modeling was loads of arduous work and required standing all day.”
She additionally collaborated with among the aforementioned designers, in addition to Ben Zuckerman and Hannah Troy. Her ties with Adolfo have been so tight that she as soon as joined him for an look on the sport present “What’s My Line?” The designer marked her retirement in 1976 by operating a full-page advert that includes O’Brien in WWD. Together with her platinum hair, Roman nostril and slender physique, O’Brien belied her age of 48. Whereas Maye Musk, Carmen Delle’Orrefice and different white-haired fashions are having fun with prolonged careers, that was not the norm within the mid-Nineteen Seventies.
Early on in her profession she met her finest buddy and fellow mannequin Rosalind Ames Warren they usually remained lifelong mates. One job that didn’t work out was in Geoffrey Beene’s retailer. “She was an amazing saleswoman, however she couldn’t grasp the money register. It didn’t final lengthy,” her daughter stated with fun.
Identified for her heat, magnificence and relatability, O’Brien married her husband Richard in 1948, after setting her sights on him as a teen. “She stated he would stroll round together with his arms in his again pockets with vivid blue eyes and thick brown hair. She came upon who his household was. She knew when he could be strolling down the road and she or he would scramble to the opposite facet of the road to go him. They have been very fortunately married throughout,” Jody O’Brien stated.
One level of differentiation was when the ex-Marine steered relocating to Seattle or Texas in order that he may proceed his engineering profession. “My mom stated, ‘No approach — my profession is beginning now.’ So he took an amazing job at a financial institution, Producers Hanover, and stayed there for many of his life,” Jody O’Brien stated.
Predeceased by her husband, two brothers Frank and Morris and son Jeffrey, O’Brien is survived by her daughter.