Thematic Essays

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By Geographical Region & Time Period

• 
  Countess Castiglione, 1860s
  Pierre-Louis Pierson (French, 1822–1913)
  Albumen silver print from glass negative

  David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1975 (1975.548.116)

• 
  Evening dress, ca. 1887
  Charles Frederick Worth (French, born England, 1825–1895)
  Silk, glass, metallic thread
  

  Gift of Mr. Orme Wilson and Mr. R. Thornton Wilson in memory of their mother, Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor Wilson, 1949 (C.I.49.3.28a,b)

  Evening dress, 1892
  House of Worth (French, 1858–1956)
  Silk, crystal, metallic threads
  

  Gift of Mr. Orme Wilson and Mr. R. Thornton Wilson in memory of their mother, Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor Wilson, 1949 (C.I.49.3.25a,b)

• 
  Coat, ca. 1919
  Paul Poiret (French, 1879–1944)
  Black silk and wool blend with white leather appliqués and white fur trim

  Gift of Mrs. David J. Colton, 1961 (C.I.61.40.4)

• 
  Robe de style, 1924–25
  Jeanne Lanvin (French, 1867–1946)
  Ivory and black silk taffeta trimmed with pink and black silk velvet rosettes
  

  Gift of Mrs. W. R. Grace, 1956 (C.I.56.49.9)

  Robe de style, 1924–25
  Jeanne Lanvin (French, 1867–1946)
  Ivory and black silk taffeta trimmed with pink and black silk velvet rosettes
  

  Gift of Mrs. William B. Given Jr., 1979 (1979.122.1)

• 
  Day suit, ca. 1937
  Jean Patou (French, 1887–1936)
  Black wool gabardine with silk grosgrain inserts

  Gift of Mrs. Stephen M. Kellen, 1978 (1978.165.20a,b)

• 
  Evening gown, 1939
  Madeleine Vionnet (French, 1876–1975)
  Pale pink lamé and black silk lace appliquéd with black silk velvet

  Gift of Mrs. Harrison Williams, 1952 (C.I.52.24.2a,b)

• 
  "Bar" suit and jacket, spring/summer 1947
  Christian Dior (French, 1905–1957); Christian Dior Haute Couture (French, founded 1947)
  Silk shantung
  

  Gift of Mrs. John Chambers Hughes, 1958 (C.I.58.34.30)

  Skirt, executed in 1969 from a 1947 design
  Reproduction of a skirt designed by Christian Dior (French, 1905–1957); reproduction of a skirt designed for Christian Dior Haute Couture (French, founded 1947)
  Wool
  

  Gift of Christian Dior, 1969 (C.I.69.40)

• 
  Ball gown, ca. 1951
  Jacques Fath (French, 1912–1954)
  Black silk velvet with ivory silk satin, white mink, and gold metal trim

  Gift of Mrs. Giorgio Uzielli, 1984 (1984.606.3a,b)

• 
  Evening gown, 1958
  Madame Grès (Alix Barton) (French, 1903–1993)
  White silk jersey

  Gift of Mrs. Leon L. Roos, 1973 (1973.104.2)

• 
  Evening gown, 1963
  Hubert de Givenchy (French, born 1927)
  Coral cotton lace reembroidered with coral-colored beads and coral pieces

  Gift of Mrs. John Hay Whitney, 1974 (1974.184.2)

• 
  "Mondrian" day dress, autumn 1965
  Yves Saint Laurent (French, born Algeria, 1936)
  Wool jersey in color blocks of white, red, blue, black, and yellow

  Gift of Mrs. William Rand, 1969 (C.I.69.23)

• 
  Ensemble, 1967
  Emanuel Ungaro (French, born 1933)
  White elasticized net with allover appliqués of white braid trefoils

  Gift of Mrs. Leonard Holzer, 1970 (1970.89.1a-c)

• 
  Evening gown, ca. 1968
  Hubert de Givenchy (French, born 1927)
  Salmon-colored silk with feathers

  Gift of Mrs. Claus Von Bülow, 1971 (1971.79.4)

• 
  Evening gown, 1987
  Patou by Christian Lacroix (French, born 1951)
  Raspberry silk taffeta

  Gift of Comtesse Thierry de Ganay, 1994 (1994.278)

• 
  Evening dress, fall/winter 1991–92
  Gianni Versace (Italian, 1946–1997)
  Pink quilted silk satin, silk georgette, lace
  

  Gift of Gianni Versace, 1993 (1993.52.1)

  Evening dress, fall/winter 1991–92
  Gianni Versace (Italian, 1946–1997)
  Pale blue quilted silk satin, silk georgette, lace
  

  Gift of Gianni Versace, 1993 (1993.52.2)

For more than a century, couture has been emblematic of the triumph of costume and fashion. It represents the fusion of fashion—the modern entity that combines novelty and synergy with personal and social needs—and costume—the arts of dressmaking, tailoring, and crafts constituent to apparel and accessories. Founded in the crucible of modernism's invention in the middle years of the nineteenth century in Paris, with the expanded patronage cultivated by the House of Worth, but still dependent upon the considerable support of Empress Eugénie, couture has long stood as the modern equilibrium between the garment as exquisite aggregate and the burgeoning notions of fashion as a system.

The persistence of the haute couture is as roundly questioned and doubted and debated as the survival of painting or the supposed death of Broadway. Some may have doubted that the couture would survive its founder, the entrepreneurial Charles Frederick Worth. In the early years of the twentieth century, Paul Poiret took couture into an admittedly dangerous path of change, responding to Orientalist and social sirens, but even more to the beckoning of commerce and the use of the couture as a generating engine for fashion and fragrance broadly disseminated. Ironically, the couture flourished in the postwar period, beginning with the immense popular appeal of Christian Dior's "New Look" in 1947. This supposed fashion novelty was so successful in part because it knew acutely its history and reconvened the finest skills to the couture.

The couture house is customarily composed of two parts, one devoted to dressmaking (flou), the other devoted to tailoring (tailleur) of suits and coats. Skilled workers in each area practice the arts apposite to the area. Embellishments and accessories are added incrementally as applied decoration, often from sources outside the couture house. However, with regard to the unembellished garment, the modern couture house is a completely autonomous workroom of dedicated ateliers. In fact, surprisingly, in view of the elegant locations of most couture houses, the creation of the garments occurs in the maisons particulières of the house, thus under the daily surveillance of the designer as well as in intimate connection with the vendeuses. Depending upon the designer, the design process might begin either with sketches or with a muslin or toile, draped and cut. Fit, both in its tailored form and in its dressmaking variant, is inevitably part of the value of the couture. A designer or trusted fitter will conduct the client through a series of fittings to determine the minute adjustments of the garment to the individual's size and sense of comfort.

The couture's offering of distinction in design and technique remains a compelling force, one even more potent when much other quality has atrophied. It remains a discipline of ultimate imagination, unaccountable to cost, with the paradox of being the fashion most cognizant of its ideal clients. It is, as it began, a dream of quality in an era of industry and its succession. The haute couture persists in providing us with a paragon of the most beautiful clothing that can be envisioned and made in any time.