Ball gown

Designer Charles James American

Not on view

James designed this dramatic gown a year after his "Four-Leaf Clover" ball gown, an engineering and sculptural masterpiece featuring an undulating four-lobed skirt flounce (2009.300.779). Here, he spiraled an equally sculptural flounce around the body from upper hip to hem, not unlike the spiraling skirt of the brown taffeta cocktail dress also illustrated here (2009.300.213), achieving a structure whose form changes from every vantage point.

Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American

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Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American
Ball gown, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American

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