Belt

Designer Attributed to Elsa Schiaparelli Italian

ca. 1938

Not on view

Schiaparelli often used her accessories, particularly belts, as avenues of expression for her Surrealist ideals. Buckles, clasps, decorations and belts themselves were made of unusual materials, such as plastic and plaster, and in quirky shapes that could elicit a viewer’s double-take. To pair such an off-beat accessory with a couture garment was just the kind of humorous irony Schiaparelli enjoyed incorporating into her work.

Using bright colors and festive tassel decoration, this belt is an example of Schiaparelli's whimsical design aesthetic. The folkloric-inspired aura of the belt is carried out in the scrollwork buckle and the braid decoration, reminiscent of Tyrolean belts.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Title: Belt
Designer: Attributed to Elsa Schiaparelli (Italian, 1890–1973)
Date: ca. 1938
Culture: French
Medium: leather, cotton, silk, metal
Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 1955
Object Number: 2009.300.3532
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

More Artwork

By Elsa Schiaparelli

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Belt, Elsa Schiaparelli Italian, leather, silk, metal, French — Belt
Designer Attributed to Elsa Schiaparelli
ca. 1938

Suit, Elsa Schiaparelli Italian, wool, plastic (cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate), French — Suit
Designer Elsa Schiaparelli
summer 1937

Saint Peter's Seen From the Pincio, Rome, Henri-Joseph Harpignies French, Pen and black ink, brush, gray and blue-gray washes — Saint Peter's Seen From the Pincio, Rome
Henri-Joseph Harpignies
1856

Man, Lorenzo Mosca, Polychromed terracotta head and wooden limbs; body of wire wrapped in tow; cotton and silk garments with silver thread-wrapped buttons; leather belt with gold buckle, Italian, Naples — Man
Lorenzo Mosca
second half 18th century

Jacket, Elsa Schiaparelli Italian, silk, plastic (cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate), wood composite, French — Jacket
Designer Elsa Schiaparelli
winter 1934

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