"Tulip"
Designer Charles James American
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.
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