Evening dress
Madame Alix Gres' career spanned five decades and throughout them all she excelled in her ability to manipulate fabric and use its innate characteristics to enhance her designs. Best known for her classically inspired form-fitting evening gowns in silk jersey, in the mid-1960s, Grès began experimenting with geometrically cut pattern pieces to create more free-flowing designs. Using the lightweight but slightly stiff quality of silk taffeta, the semicircular layers of fabric give the garment a sense of freedom and movement as they flutter around the fitted underdress. The use of bright colors further enhances the sense of vibrancy.
Artwork Details
- Title: Evening dress
- Designer: Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs) (French, Paris 1903–1993 Var region)
- Date: fall/winter 1972–73
- Culture: French
- Medium: silk
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr., 1988
- Object Number: 2009.300.3386
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)
ca. 1982
Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)
1981–83
Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)
ca. 1980
Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)
1960s
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