Feldkamp, Phyllis

A member of Bryn Mawr College’s class of 1937, Mrs. Feldkamp studied fashion design for several years. She then spent a number of years working as a writer and journalist in other fields, eventually returning to writing about the world of fashion with great success.

Her career began with a job at the Philadelphia Record in 1942, starting first as a reporter and later moving on to an editorial assistant, writer, movie reviewer and interviewer for feature stories. After two years she went to LIFE magazine where she would continue to work until 1951, serving as a researcher/reporter, special projects reporter, and, eventually, editor of the “Letters to the Editor” section.

Between 1950 and 1951, she assisted her husband Fred Feldkamp in editing two posthumous books by the American humorist Will Cuppy. While living in Brittany, France in 1957, she became a stringer for the Paris office of LIFE magazine, served as picture editor of the UNESCO Courier, and in 1961 became the Paris correspondent for the Philadelphia Bulletin, focusing primarily on fashion but also working on interviews and news stories.

She then became the Fashion and Style Editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin in 1968, a position she would hold until 1982. During this time, she also worked as a fashion correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor covering New York and European fashion openings. In addition, she also wrote freelance articles concerning fashion for a number of publications, notably Horizon and the New York Times Magazine. With her husband she published a book, The Good Life… or What’s Left of It in 1972.

In the 1980’s, she served as a special consultant to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, lectured to students of fashion and design, and contributed stories to several national newspapers and magazines. Between 1986 and 1992 she wrote promotional and publicity material for several department stores (Wanamakers and Altmans), Mrs. Feldkamp is now retired and lives in Ardmore, Pa.

From the guide to the Phyllis Dubsky Feldkamp papers, 1930-1990, (Bryn Mawr College)