[2] In 1937, the owner of one of the sixteen houses, said that Thurn had been "practically the highest class business establishment of the kind in New York City.

[7] It made children's clothing and accessories from Parisian designs and custom-fitted them to its customers, adding embroidery and other enhancements as requested.

[9] In 1890, the shop moved further uptown to 426 Fifth Avenue and remained there until 1913 when the entire block was torn down to make way for construction of the flagship building of the Lord & Taylor department store.

[12] The firm continued to grow and by 1889 it employed a large staff of trimmers, drapers, finishers, and other specialized workers who were supervised by a forewoman.

[3]: 75 [16] About ten years later, Sidonie hired a Parisian artist named Ernest Hague (or Hagué) to make patterns and design dresses.

About 1912, Thurn hired as designer James B. Blaine, a man who had worked for Parisian houses and who had served as president of the Ladies' Tailors and Dressmakers' Association of America.

[3]: 77  During this period, the business continued to grow as wealthy Americans set new records in their expenditures to purchase Parisian fashions and other imported luxuries.

[3]: 26 [21] In 1902, Thurn began placing want ads for workers skilled in making women's clothing and by 1903 it had established "a special department for young matrons and debutantes".

[22] A year later, an article in Good Housekeeping described how the New York dressmakers would adapt Parisian designs for American women.

"[23] In the early years of the twentieth century, wealthy women and the couturiers they patronized attempted to save money by smuggling Parisian fashions into the Port of New York.

[26][27][28] In 1909, Hague and the owners of other New York fashion houses were arrested and subsequently paid fines for attempting to avoid import duties.

Designed by the American architect Donn Barber, the building featured imported marble and was said to be one of the finest mansions in the city.

The Vanderbilt family had sold its properties along nearby Fifth Avenue and prestigious retail firms, such as the Cartier jewelry store, were taking their place.

[3]: 76 [32] Clothes are such an important factor in the success and enjoyment of the majority of society women that one can readily understand how tremendous a power is the fashionable modiste in any large city... Women from all over the country flock to New York for their clothes, and if fitted out appropriately at any of the leading modistes, must certainly have substantial bank accounts to withstand the shock, for the dressmaker must be paid not only for the gowns she furnishes; the ever-increasing expenses of her magnificently conducted establishment must be considered also.

Profiting by the knowledge she has acquired abroad, she discreetly exhibits a few of her choice creations on living models, much after the Parisian manner.

[3]: 77  By the time of her mother's death in 1919, she had become a successful and respected designer, stylist, maker, and seller of fashionable women's clothing.

A woman can come to us and know that she will find frocks and wraps and costumes for every hour, and all in the same spirit of simple distinction that marks the clothes of our house.

"[16] Hague employed a general manager to oversee operations and gave her personal attention to the satisfaction of her customers' wishes.

[33] In 1926, an article in The Nation by labor organizer Ann Washington Craton described the custom-dress fashion industry in New York.

She listed Thurn as one of the sixteen most exclusive houses in the city, saying, "the patrons and customers are the wealthiest women in America, who wear the most exquisite, the most expensive, and the most beautiful clothes in the world, Paris not excepted.

"[15] With its lease expiring, the Great Depression stubbornly persisting, and Hague having passed the benchmark retirement age of sixty-five.

[3]: 29–30 In 1922, Thurn placed an ad in Arts & Decoration magazine stating that its styles were "absolutely exclusive" enabling its customers to differentiate themselves from all other women.

I begin to picture her while I study the style tendencies of the season, and when I review the early collections of the great Paris houses; ... a skilled designer can do much by subduing, emphasizing and supplementing, to develop new aspects of a woman's charm.

[39] In 1888, Thurn opened a shop for the summer season in Newport, Rhode Island and continued in business there through the first decade of the twentieth century.

[10] In 1913, Thurn made its final move, opening in a mansion at 15 East 52nd Street owned by the man who named and then promoted Ivory Soap as "99 and 44/100 percent pure" (see Images No.

[42] In announcing the lease, a writer for the Real Estate Record and Guide said, "the dwelling, built about eight years ago from plans by Donn Barber, is one of the finest in the city, all of the marble, woodwork, and decorations having been purchased abroad.

"[31] In 1922, a writer described Thurn as a stately establishment having "high-studded marble rooms" for "the exquisitely ordered display of women's and young girls' frocks, cloaks and hats, and of their filmy dessous and negligées as well.

[61] In 1901, Hague married Adolf Windmuller, the son of a prominent New York merchant who chose to have no occupation (his stepson wrote that he was a "ne'er-do-well playboy").

[35] By that time, Sidonie was no longer living in the same building as the store and had a townhouse at 30 West 36th Street where Hague and Adolf joined her.

She reported that she took an exercise class most mornings, and in her free time "rather than ... attending a concert, I visit a picture gallery or a quaint shop filled with old, beautifully designed furniture.