"Tulip"

Designer Charles James American
1949
Not on view
The challenge of this design, as James noted, was to achieve an elegant effect despite the difficulty of mounting a voluminous flounce of stiff faille on a narrow sheath of supple black satin. An organza underlining supporting the satin and an interior horsehair roll causing the fountain-like upward lift of the tulip flounce contributed to its artistic resolution. James made this one-of-a kind dress for the prominent Washington, D.C., hostess Mrs. Sidney Kent Legare. He noted that only a woman of great distinction could carry the “contrasting moods of sobriety and suggestiveness” of the dress.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Tulip"
  • Designer: Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978)
  • Date: 1949
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: silk, horsehair
  • Credit Line: Gift of Elizabeth de Cuevas, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.552
  • Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

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