Prince, Claude McKey, d.1972
The Birmingham News
Wednesday, August 30, 1972
Pg 75
Mrs. Prince rites set; well-known dressmaker
Graveside service for nationally known Alabama dressmaker, Mrs. Claude McKey Prince, 69, who died Friday, will be at 3pm Thursday at Elmwood, Johns-Ridout’s Southside directing.
A native of Braden Springs, she was a Mobile resident 30 years before moving to Birmingham, where she lived at 1524 Shades Crest Road.
Mrs. Prince was known as Mobile’s “Baby Prince” because of the outstanding gowns she designed for the Mardi Gras. The elaborate creations often were valued as high as $4,999, and one of he gowns she made for Queen Joy, who rules over Mardi Gras with King Felix, is now in the Montgomery Library – Museum.
Always working without a pattern, Mrs. Prince simply rolled out the cloth and began cutting freehand after she decided how she wanted the dress to look.
Once she took 11 yards of 100-year-old lace valued at $500 a yard and created a wedding gown for a Mobile bride in such a way that none of the valuable lace was lost.
When creating one of the elaborate Mardi Gras gowns, Mrs. Prince would sketch patterns on the dress for the beading then laboriously hand-sew the sequins, beads and rhinestones that made up the colorful designs on the dresses.
Surviving Mrs. Prince are two sisters, Mrs. Tom Taylor and Mrs. Grace Peterson, both of Mobile.
