Madame Grès (French, 1903–1993)
Evening Gown, ca. 1965
Silk; L. at center back 44 in. (111.8 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Mrs. Oscar de la Renta, 1994 (1994.192.12)
Curator Comment
Mme Alix Grès was best known for her classically inspired silk-jersey gowns characterized by fitted bodices covered in fine pleating that released from the waist in a cascade of dramatic fullness. A close study of her designs reveals her process of draping on a form and her preference for working with long, continuous lengths of cloth. A deconstruction of even her most complicated pleated designs reveals the astonishing fact that they are essentially unbroken panels seamed in parallel lengths with barely any cuts or excisions.
On occasion, Grès created dresses of a softer, less structured effect, such as this example with its diagonal stole, an allusion to the ancient Greek himation. It is in these more fluid designs that her technique is clearly discernible. The draped stole is not applied but is integral to the left side of the gown, a spiraling panel that meets itself at the back waist. A second panel forms the right side of the gown. Underpinning both draped panels is an undraped body-revealing sheath of the chiffon-weight silk jersey. The overpanels gathered at the shoulders and the waist, therefore, not only establish a decorative fluidity but also provide, in the density of their folds, an essential modesty.
Harold Koda, curator in charge, The Costume Institute