Cocktail dress
Gabrielle Chanel is the designer most responsible for establishing the modern way of dressing that encompasses comfort, function and simplicity. Since she successfully introduced the concept of the "little black dress" into fashion vocabulary in the 1920s, she returned to the design when she reopened her atelier in 1954.
In this example, finely-shirred chiffon ruffles, a characteristic of Chanel evening wear in the 1930s, have been paired with wide black satin ribbons to create a contrast between glossy and matte textiles. The tiers of ruffles partially veil the applied ribbons, a subtle detail that indicates the garment's couture workmanship. What might have been a severe garment, with its square neckline at the back, is instead transformed into an example of Chanel's masterful "flou."
In this example, finely-shirred chiffon ruffles, a characteristic of Chanel evening wear in the 1930s, have been paired with wide black satin ribbons to create a contrast between glossy and matte textiles. The tiers of ruffles partially veil the applied ribbons, a subtle detail that indicates the garment's couture workmanship. What might have been a severe garment, with its square neckline at the back, is instead transformed into an example of Chanel's masterful "flou."
Artwork Details
- Title: Cocktail dress
- Design House: House of Chanel (French, founded 1910)
- Designer: Gabrielle Chanel (French, Saumur 1883–1971 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1965
- Culture: French
- Medium: silk
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Jane Holzer, 1977
- Object Number: 2009.300.980a, b
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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Multiple artists/makers
fall/winter 1987–88
Multiple artists/makers
spring/summer 2009–10
Multiple artists/makers
fall/winter 2012–13
House of Chanel
Gabrielle Chanel
1937
House of Chanel
Gabrielle Chanel
1937–38
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