
Peggy Hamilton in an RKO publicity photo by Bachrach, 1931.
Besotted with fashion from a young age, Peggy Hamilton turned her passion into a career in 1920s Los Angeles, becoming Hollywood’s first fashion influencer. The first to promote Hollywood and Southern California as style leaders, Hamilton informed others how to look and feel their best, even promoting facial work and surgery, all while befriending movie stars and meeting royalty.
Born December 31, 1888 in Denver, Colorado as Mae Bedloe Armstrong, the young girl quickly fell in love with fashion before her family moved to Los Angeles. At the age of six, she took some of her mother’s handkerchiefs and made a dress for her younger sister, and later employed some of her father’s evening shirts to make doll clothes. Once in Southern California, the family took an active part in society and their community. Young May sang at church and Salvation Army recitals, learning how to ingratiate herself with others and work a crowd. By the time she was a teen, she assisted her mother in hosting tea for their society friends, with her photo even published in the Los Angeles Times. Continue reading







A feminist ahead of her time, author May Whitney Emerson advocated equal opportunities and rights for women in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Brash, fearless, and determined, she blazed a trail through the arts and journalism as she traveled the world. Sometimes embroidering her own life story to make it as colorful and exciting as any novel, Emerson advanced the strength and determination of women in her writing, and in 1916, formed the American Woman Film Company to make films by and about women.




