Evening dress
From the winter 1938-39 zodiac collection, this dress is a chic example of Schiaparelli's penchant for using unique fabrics to embellish streamlined silhouettes. The fabric used here is a subtly ribbed fancy weave that drapes beautifully and has a textured hand. As Dilys Blum states in "Shocking! The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli," this collection was inspired by Euclid's treatise on geometry "Elements." The cords used to fashionably gather in the bodice are emblematic of that mathematical precision, as it would require exact measurements to accomplish the seemingly simple effect.
Artwork Details
- Title: Evening dress
- Designer: Elsa Schiaparelli (Italian, 1890–1973)
- Date: winter 1938–39
- Culture: French
- Medium: silk
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Millicent Huttleston Rogers, 1951
- Object Number: 2009.300.150
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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