When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion

In When Women Ran Fifth Avenue, American journalist Julie Satow offers a history of the golden age of American department stores through the lives of three ground-breaking female executives in the mid-20th century. In the 1930s, Hortense Odlum became the first president of a major department store when her husband charged her with revitalizing New York City’s Bonwit Teller. Around the same time, Dorothy Shaver rose through the ranks of Lord & Taylor to become the highest-paid female executive of her day. Later, as the post-war economy boomed, Geraldine Stutz took ownership of Henri Bendel, making her the first female owner of a major department store. Satow weaves these histories with stories of other female retailers to highlight the heavy influence of women in fashion history. Major themes in the book include Changing Roles of Women in 20th Century America, The Benefits of Women in Leadership, and The Mutual Influence of Fashion and Technology.

This summary is based on the 2024 Doubleday eBook edition, and follows Satow’s authorial practice of referring to the principle figures by their first names.

Summary

Since their inception, department stores have been dominated by women.