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The Jane Tucker Radley Story
The back story of our SNC 75th Anniversary Celebration Fashion Show Emcee
By Nan Taylor, SNC Historian
When Jane was ten years old, she told her parents she wanted to be in the fashion business in New York City. By the time she was a senior in high school, her heart was still set on New York, but her parents were less than enthusiastic and insisted she go to college first. Jane figured she could get to New York quicker if she attended a two-year school, so she enrolled in a women’s college in Bristol, Virginia. After her degree, her parents insisted she attend a fashion school in New York. Jane enrolled in Tobe-Coburn School for Fashion Careers in Manhattan, a prestigious fashion school that incorporated on-the-job training as part of the program. Jane went to school for one quarter, then worked for one quarter, completing the program in one year. Unfortunately, Jane’s father died soon after her two-year college graduation and knowing she was on her way to New York, he was supportive but cautioned her, “You’ll meet a lot of people very different than you.” And did she ever. As part of her school-work experience, she worked at Bonwit Teller, a luxury department store on 57th and 5th Avenue, next to Tiffany. Amongst many things, she learned she did not like working in retail (nights and weekends), as it interfered with her social life. Afterall, it was the 1970s, and it was New York City… In the second quarter, she found a 9 to 5 job in the fashion office at Federated Department Stores. Federated was a large national company with 220 department stores in 26 states that included Bloomingdales, Rich’s, Bullocks, and Burdines. It was headquartered in the Garment District, which had been known as the country’s center for fashion manufacturing and design since the early 20th century. When Jane graduated from Tobe-Coburn, Federated offered her a full-time job. She had finally arrived and there was NO WAY she was going back to Ohio. Jane’s first job was in the designer dress department. Her boss, who was also head of the bridal department, was totally disinterested in designer so Jane was on her own. She became familiar with the designers so that when the buyers came to New York on buying trips, Jane would know what to show them. She got to know everyone in the fashion industry, not only the designers, but also the factories, the button and fabric people, and the shipping men. Within a year, changes occurred within her department, and she became dissatisfied with her job. One day in a showroom, Jane was approached by an independent specialty store consultant, who knew of Jane’s skills and asked her, “Are you happy with your job?” Jane said “No,"and the consultant said “Ok – you’re hired!” In two weeks, Jane went to work as the consultant’s personal assistant and began what she called her “doctorate degree in fashion.” The consultant, who was considered the best in the industry, was also the equivalent to Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. Jane would get a call each morning at 6 a.m. with instructions for the day. She had to keep a notepad by her bed to remember it all. For the first three months, she was so busy working with clients that she never set foot in the office. |
Jane Tucker Radley is a country girl. She was born and raised on a farm in Hillsboro, Ohio, a rural agricultural town located 50 miles east of Cincinnati. Her father was a local businessman in the lumber and livestock industries, and she grew up learning how to “drive a tractor and pull a calf!”
Jane’s next career move was to Montaldo’s as their couture buyer. Nationally known for its high quality and personal service, Montaldo’s was established in 1919 by sisters Lillian and Nelle Montaldo in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1924, they moved their headquarters to New York and established thirteen luxury specialty shops throughout the country. Jane’s job was to travel to the stores and assess their fashion needs, which included working with the store staff and meeting with customers. She bought couture fashions from designers such as Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, Halston, and her future mother-in-law, Pauline Trigere, a French-born American couturiere. After six months, Jane began traveling to Europe. She went to Paris, Milan, London and Florence, where she bought the fashion collections from Yves St. Laurent, Valentino, Karl Lagerfeld, Versace and Armani. At 24 years old, her life was a dream come true. When Jane started, Lillian Montaldo was 95 years old and came to the office every day. Lillian would ask her, “Now, tell me what was sold today” and Jane would recap the day by telling her, “We sold an Oscar de la Renta in Denver and a Bill Blass in Columbus, Ohio…etc.” Then Lillian would ask, “Who was the customer that bought it?” If Jane did not recall, Lillian would respond by saying, “Oh - you must always know the customer who bought it, dear.” During this time, Jane had her daughter, Jennifer, and found it increasingly difficult to ask for time off and wanted a more flexible schedule. After ten years at Montaldo’s, she decided to go into business for herself. She had the experience and connections, and so in 1983 she established Jane Tucker Fashion Consulting. She quickly built up her clientele of small couture stores all over of the country including in Boston, Detroit, San Antonio, Kansas City, Palm Beach, Palm Springs and Healdsburg, California. The more Jane traveled, the more she recognized that certain parts of the country had specific body types and fashion tastes, which helped her on her buying trips. She noticed that mid-western women had bigger hips and preferred conservative styles, western women had broad shoulders and preferred casual wear, and southern women had bigger bosoms and wanted “drinking and praying dresses!” Jane would take her American clients to Europe on buying trips, and while there, she began to connect with European buyers who wanted to buy American designers. Her European clients were in London, Geneva and Bern Switzerland, Hong Kong, Beirut, but NOT France or Italy, as they wanted nothing to do with American designers! Jane didn’t have an assistant, as her clients wanted her taste and fashion expertise, so she made herself available to them around the clock. She collaborated with some of the greatest fashion designers of the 1980s-1990s, including Nolan Miller (who did the Dynasty costumes), James Galanos (who worked with Nancy Reagan) Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors and Donna Karan. She loved meeting Bob Mackie, who worked with many of the greatest stars of the era including Carol Burnett, Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, Dolly Parton and Bernadette Peters. One of Jane’s greatest thrills was when Bob designed a dress for her to wear to the 1984 Met Gala. It was total Hollywood, and she wore it again to President Reagan’s inauguration that same year. Jane remembers Bob as “a dear, sweet man, like the boy next door.” |
One of their biggest clients was Martha Inc., who was the premiere specialty store in the country for luxury fashion. Her salons were in New York - on Park Avenue and Trump Tower, Palm Beach, and Bal Harbor Florida. They managed high profile clients including Doris Duke, Brooke Astor, and Gloria Vanderbilt. Jane worked there three years until her boss found out she was engaged to someone in theAfter divorcing her first husband in 1988, Jane finally married the love of her life, Jean-Pierre Radley, in 2002. She’d met him 30 years earlier when she first arrived in New York. Born in France, Jean-Pierre’s family came to America in the late 1930s to escape Europe’s political turmoil. His father was a Russian immigrant and a tailor, and his mother, Pauline Trigere, was a designer who launched her first line of dresses in America in 1942. Pauline was considered an elegant and chic symbol of the American fashion industry for 50 years and her clients included Grace Kelly, Jackie Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis and Eveyln Lauder. She was one of the first designers to create comfortable and stylish jumpsuits, which became a wardrobe staple for American women in the 1960s. Pauline cut and draped fabric on live models and was especially known for her coats and evening gowns. She received many awards for her fashions including three Coty American Fashion Awards, (the equivalent to an Oscar), a lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1992, and the French Legion of Honor in 2001. Jean-Pierre was brilliant. He attended MIT at fifteen years old and got into the computer industry at the very beginning when a computer was the size of an entire room. However, he was coerced by his strong-willed mother to be president of her fashion business, Pauline Trigere, Inc. and held that position for 25 years. He frequently saw Jane in the showroom when she bought Pauline’s collection for her stores.
Looking back on her fashion career, Jane believes that the 1970s, 80s and 90s was the “crème de la crème time to be in the fashion business.” It was an era when people dressed to go out, whether it was to the philharmonic, the ballet, the theater or to a restaurant. It was the golden age for American designers and department stores, and the ideal era for women to excel in the fashion field. Thankfully, this determined country girl listened to her heart and achieved her dream. |
After they married in 2002, Jane moved into Jean-Pierre’s large apartment on Central Park West. They lived there until Jane came home one day and Jean-Pierre announced that he’d sold their apartment, and she was to “find us some place to live.” The fashion industry was changing, retail boutiques were closing, and designers were passing, so Jane decided they’d move out of New York to the southeast coast, near the ocean, and where there was NO SNOW. She visited several cities, picked Savannah, bought a house, and they moved in 2015. Jean-Pierre’s only question about the new move was, “Is there wall space for my art?” After two years, his health declined, and he sadly passed away in 2017.