Hippo - November 19 - 25, 2009
By Heidi Masek
hmasek@hippopress.com

Before the struggle for equal work opportunities for women took off, Johanna Tatle Reiss was leading
Grand Circle Travel in New York, serving as CEO from about the late 1950s to early 1970s. Reiss
dressed to denote her power with a wardrobe from top design houses including Pucci, Oscar de la
Renta, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent. “She didn’t want to look like a man. She wanted to look like a
women. She wanted to walk into a room and have everyone know she was the CEO and not the
secretary,” said Arnie Arnesen, Reiss’ neice.

When Reiss was 90 years old, Arnesen became her guardian and, in the process of moving her from
France back to the U.S., found a collection of clothing from someone who knew how to have fun and
also have a commanding presence in a boardroom, Arnesen said.

It was Nashua arts patron Meri Goyette who suggested using the vintage couture from the 1950s, ’60s
and ’70s for a fashion show to benefit the fledgling Nashua Sculpture Symposium. The fashion show
“isn’t a celebration of  my aunt.


























This is celebration of all those women who did the heavy lifting before any of us.... They really had to
sacrifice because none of society was prepared to embrace them,” Arnesen said. Reiss’ best friend
was Muriel Siebert, the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. They “not only
broke through the glass ceiling ... but managed to dominate in their fields,” Arnesen said.

Reiss retired to Cannes at 55. She’d been married several times and had no children. She was married
to work. She was always more successful than her husbands, which was part of the reason her
marriages didn’t work out, Arnesen said. It was hard for a man to be married to a powerful women at
the time, Arnesen said. Arnesen was the first woman on a major party ticket to run for governor in New
Hampshire and is known for hosting talk radio and her other involvement in media and politics. Reiss
was a role model to Arnesen, yet, “I didn’t know my aunt at all because she was so successful and so
in another world,” Arnesen said. Once a year, Reiss’ limousine would pull up at Arnesen’s
grandparents’ home in Hicksville, Long Island; Arnesen remembers seeing the chauffeur leaning
against the limo smoking cigarettes during Reiss’ four hour visits. Reiss was penniless by the time
Arnesen became her guardian. From the clothing that will be seen in this fashion show, one can only
imagine what had actually been in Reiss’ collection, Arnesen said; many of Reiss’ belongings,
including jewelry, were pilfered, Arnesen said.

“Fashions of the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies” is Saturday, Nov. 21, at 2 p.m. at Palm Square, 57 Palm
St. in Nashua. Tickets cost $20 and $25, and a 1 p.m. lunch costs $10.

Locals, many involved in the arts, will model selected clothing that represents daytime, semi-formal and
evening wear. Helen Barndollar of Eliza’s consignment in Manchester gave perspective on some of the
designers. Pucci’s specialty is colorful abstract designs; celebrities have been wearing vintage Pucci of
late, Barndollar said. Courreges is very avantgarde and known for those white boots of the 1960s.
Adolfo, Ungaro, St. John and Rodier are other high-end designers in the show, Barndollar said. These
days, an Yves Saint Laurent gown can cost $30,000 — one can take months to make, she said. Eliza’s
occasionally sells highend designer items, but those clothes go quickly. And no, they don’t make
things like they used to, Barndollar said. No contemporary garments are as well-made as what you’ll
see in this show.

To reserve a ticket, call 882-1613.
Mid-century couture Vintage fashion show in Nashua Benefits Art
Model Jenny Page shown here wearing one of the outfits from Johanna
Tatle Reiss' collection of vintage fashion to be presented
                                                                      
       Photo courtesy of Dan Splaine/TEST of TIME PHOTO