Frederick's of Hollywood Blog

If you follow us on Instagram, and really you should, you’ll have seen the iconic imagery we post from our vintage catalogs–the hand drawn women stylishly dressed and always incredibly sexy. It turns out the woman behind those images is just as fascinating!

Dorothy Kahn helped create the famous Frederick’s Girl, was a noted illustrator, veteran and so much more! Born in Toronto in the ‘20s, she excelled at art from a young age—in fact her paintings of King George the VI and Queen Elizabeth were chosen for Canada’s commemorative stamps.

Hired by the government after school, she illustrated educational books before the war–a job she left to join the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service!

After the war she resumed work as an illustrator, then became a couturier—designing and customizing furs, evening wear and yes, lingerie! Dorothy left Canada for California in the ‘50s and launched her next career.

She became the top artist at Frederick’s from 1958-1973, and created the look and style of the “Frederick’s Girl” for our catalog—a look that remains incredibly popular with our customer today.

Her iconic imagery and amazing life form the foundation of what it means to be a Frederick’s Girl: confident, fearless and incredible. You can find more of her vintage pin-up illustrations on kahnart.com.

Born today in 1932, Elizabeth Taylor remains one of the most legendary stars of the silver screen. She was renowned for her beauty, iconic films and incredible charitable acts–even her tempestuous love affair with Richard Burton (and all eight marriages) couldn’t dampen the fervor.

We here at Frederick’s of Hollywood are a part of the crowd that adore her (and her legendary style). She loved to flaunt diamonds, dazzle in sequins and her costumes were some of the most intricate and beautiful we’ve ever seen. You can imagine our excitement when we found her hoop skirt from the 1957 film Raintree County in our archives!

Part of the nomination for an Academy Award, the hoop skirt is a piece of history and some of the most iconic stills were shot while she was wearing it–and we couldn’t be more thrilled to share a piece of the legacy with you. The violet-eyed Oscar-winning actress was, and is still an inspiration to us all! Happy birthday, Elizabeth Taylor.