Brockmann Seeks Home for 55 Thousand Dresses, Celebrates 56-Year Marriage
- Julia Flaherty
- Dec 14, 2014
- 4 min read
Paul Brockmann is the proud owner of 55,000 Dresses, a title he has earned over the course of a beautiful life with his wife, Margot Brockmann.
Paul met Margot in 1956. He said they fell in love during a dance.
Dancing Through Life Together
"I started collecting in 1956 when I met my wife on the dance floor," Paul said. "When I went to a dance, I always looked for the girls who had the prettiest dresses and knew how to dance. I met her there, and we danced all night and fell in love."
Paul said that from that point forward, he started collecting.
"In Germany, I worked in the seaport, and we imported a lot of nice clothes from the United States," Paul said. "If there were some bales that were broken, we could grab whatever we wanted and take it home."
Paul collected ten dresses from these bales over about three to four months. In order to marry Margot, however, Paul was advised by his father-in-law to leave Germany.
"That's how I got here," Paul said.
Margot: Paul's Forever Muse
Paul credited dresses from the '50s as being the prettiest.
"Whenever I saw a nice dres,s I had to have it, because I could picture Margot in it," he said.
Paul compared this experience to a designer envisioning a model in their designs. He said he never gave his wife the chance to sa,y "I don't have anything to wear."
"Nobody knew about it, that I had the dresses, except my wife," Paul said.
Sometime ago, when their daughter came to visit, that changed. She walked into their garage and noticed all the dresses.
"She asked, 'Dad, what's this?' and I told her, and she said, 'Da,d are you crazy?'" Paul said.
Though he intended to pass them on to her, she rejected the idea, and Paul looked elsewhere. He decided to put them on the market.
Seeking a Home for 55 Thousand Dresses
"We went to a vintage show in Santa Monica, California, and we met a lady there," Paul said. "She took a look at what we had and said, 'I'll help you sell them.'"
Paul estimated that he actually owns between 55,000 and 60,000 dresses. Today, Paul is looking for a collector to buy him out.
"I've got to the point where I need to get rid of them," Paul said. "Some of them have never been worn, and some of them my wife will never wear. Of course, she is keeping some for herself in her closet. Those will not be for sale."
With the money he hopes to earn from a collector, Paul plans to retire and spend the rest of his life with his wife. They have been married for 56 years.
"I would like not have to work any longer," Paul said. "Then I can fully retire and enjoy life for as much as I got left, including my wife's."
Paul also hopes to inspire and help children get off the street and onto better paths.
A Mission Beyond 55,000 Dresses
"What I'm really looking for is, if I sell the collection, I go on my own life story," Paul said. "I would like to help some kids who have not had support from their parents. There are too many kids out there today that don't know what to do or where to go."
Paul said kids getting into the wrong crowds has become a problem he is increasingly aware of.
"They join gangs and lose their identities in life," Paul said. "What I would like to try and do is to maybe help some kids to get back on the right track, because that's the way I grew up. My parents were divorced, and I didn't have anyone who supported me in any way until I met my wife and my father-in-law. They are the ones that got me going in my life, and that's what I really think I can do for kids that don't know where to go."
1 Home for a Priceless Collection
Paul is charmed by the idea of keeping his collection in one place.
"I went down the street one day, and I saw a nice dress hanging there," Paul said. "This experience is what made me look at the collection the way I look at it today."
"I went down the street one day, and I saw this nice dress hanging there on the garage sale wall, and I told the lady I wanted to buy it, and she looked at me kind of funny. She said, 'You want to buy a dress?'" Paul said.
Paul explained to the woman that he and Margot did ballroom dancing. The woman was encouraged by his response. She lit up with excitement.
"She said, 'Oh my gosh, come on in,' and she showed me two more," Paul said.
The woman gave Paul the two dresses.
"'Why would you do that?' I said. She said 'My husband and I used to do ballroom dancing and he passed away and I know that these dresses were never going to see a dance floor ever again, so I know that if I gave them to you they would come back to life,'" Paul said.
Paul Brockmann is actively looking for a collector to purchase his collection. For more information about Paul and his collection, visit 55thousanddresses.com.
