| Peggy Hamilton | |
| Birthname: | Mae Bedloe Armstrong |
| Birth Place: | Colorado, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Fashion designer, costume designer, fashion editor, radio personality |
| Spouse: | 6 or 7 |
Peggy Hamilton (born Mae Bedloe Armstrong; 1894February 26, 1984) was an American fashion and costume designer who designed many dresses for Hollywood silent actresses in the 1920s and 1930s. She was also the editor of a fashion column in The Los Angeles Times and a fashion commentator on the radio. She was "one of the first boosters of Los Angeles-made fashions."
Hamilton was born Mae Bedlow Armstrong in 1894 in Colorado.[1] [2] She grew up as a member of high society in Los Angeles from the age of 10.[2] She studied fashion in New York and Buenos Aires.[2]
Hamilton began her career as a designer in New York City in the 1910s, only to move to Los Angeles to work for the Triangle Film Corporation shortly after.[2] She designed many dresses for Hollywood silent actresses in the 1920s and 1930s,[3] including Gloria Swanson, Myrna Loy, Norma Shearer, Dolores del Río, Joan Crawford, Betty Davis, and Greta Garbo.[1] She designed a dress whose pattern matched the ceiling of the ballroom inside the Biltmore Hotel painted by muralist John B. Smeraldi for its dedication in 1923.[3] [4]
Hamilton was the editor of the fashion column in The Los Angeles Times from 1921 to 1934.[5] She was also a radio commentator on fashion from 1929 to 1933.[5] She was the hostess of the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles,[6] and she became "one of the first boosters of Los Angeles-made fashions."[3]
Hamilton was married six or seven times, including John Quincy Adams IV, a descendant of President John Quincy Adams.[2] She resided in Hollywood, where she died of cancer on February 26, 1984, at age 90.[3] [6]