Demorest publications, 1867-1882, 1867-1882

Mme. Demorest was a publisher of fashion periodicals. She began her career as the owner of a millinery shop in Saratoga Springs, NY, at the age of 18. At 34 she married William Jennings Demorest, a dry-goods purveyor, and the couple founded their fashion business with a shop on Broadway in 1860, "Madame Demorest's Emporium of Fashions." The couple expanded to publishing in the same decade, with titles such as Mme. Demorest's Mirror of Fashions, Demorest's Young America, and Demorest's Illustrated Monthly. In addition to fashion plates advertising the fashions of figures such as Empress Eugenie, the magazines were the first to feature paper dressmaking patterns for at-home use, an innovation of Mme. Demorest. The Demorests were champions of women's rights, featuring the writing of Louisa May Alcott and Julia Ward Howe in their publications. Jennie June, a.k.a. Jane Cunningham Croly, was a longtime editor of Demorest's Illustrated Monthly, and went on to found the Sorosis (later the New York Newswomen's Club) with the help of Mme. Demorest.

William Jennings Demorest was the publisher of Demorest's Illustrated Monthly, a fashion periodical. In addition to its fashion illustrations, the publication is noteworthy for its introduction of paper dressmaking patterns, Mme. Demorest's invention. The couple received numerous awards for their fashion and technology patents. Outside of publishing and fashion ventures, Demorest was active in politics as a member and later leader of the Prohibition Party in New York. Towards the end of his life he organized the Demorest Medal Contests, a series of public speaking competitions designed to promote the cause of temperance.

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