"Bonded"
Since the 1930s dresses constructed with an unbroken spiraling of cloth have come to be associated with antique traditions. In this example, a whimsical manifestation of that strategy is carried to the extreme. Surprisingly, Cat Chow's garment has some precedent: in his 1929-30 "Taxi" dress Charles James conceived of a one-seam garment that could unzip in a spiral around the body, though unlike Cat Chow's design, his garment could not be completely unzipped. Later, in the 1930s, Elsa Schiaparelli inserted large plastic zippers as a decorative, as well as functional, device in her garments. Chow weds the classicizing strategy of a spiral construction with Schiap's interest in the decorative possibilities of the functional closure.
Artwork Details
- Title: "Bonded"
- Designer: Cat Chow (American, born 1973)
- Date: 2000
- Culture: American
- Medium: cotton, metal
- Credit Line: Anonymous Gift, 2003
- Object Number: 2003.352.1
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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