Volume 4: Women's wear, 1942 - 1945

Volume 4 covers the designer's bi-annual collections from the fall of 1942 through the spring of 1945. During this time, he created his "changeabout basic dress," "glamour belts," and bejeweled cardigans. The press continuously reiterated Mainbocher's belief that a woman need only a simple black dress sans ornament and various accessories to make that one dress do the work of a dozen. The volume includes a Harper's Bazaar article from November 1941 about Mrs. John C. Wilson (Natalie Paley), "the 9-to-5 muse at Mainbocher," as well as a copy of the May 1944 cover that features a Mainbocher white straw hat with two white roses on the brim worn with his silk patterned dress and jacket. There is also press surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and one black and white photographic print depicting the couple at a wartime dance in New Jersey, possibly a benefit for the WAVES.

Loose items in folders include a typed list of the contents in the scrapbook, press lists, a loose page from Harper's Bazaar November 1943 and an invitation card that credits Mainbocher as dressing singer Libby Holman for her "Early American Blues" concert (press clippings in this scrapbook depict Holman's outfit for the event).