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Sketches

Design House Boué Soeurs French

1914–22

Not on view

This selection of sketches was produced for the couture house Boué Souers. The Parisian establishment was founded at the turn of the twentieth century by the sisters Sylvie Boué de Montegut and the Baroness Jeanne d’Etreillis. Less than four years apart in age, they were steadfast collaborators who lived and worked together throughout their lives. Sylvie led the creative direction of the house, and Jeanne oversaw sales, catering to a glamorous international clientele. The designers became especially known for their rococo sensibility, introducing an abundance of romantic, youthful dresses and feminine lingerie. Theirs was among the earliest couture salons to create its own fragrance, with "Quand les Fleurs Revênt" (When Flowers Dream) in 1922. The business was at its height during the late teens and twenties, when the nostalgic robe de style-type gowns were at their fashionable apex.

Intricate lace and diaphanous textiles were among the specialties of the house of Boué Soeurs, particularly for the design of its popular summer lingerie dresses. When they were unable to locate existing materials that pleased them, the sisters worked together with mills to manufacture to their requirements. In a 1922 article published in Art & Decoration, d’Etreillis goes into detail recounting some of their greatest achievements, including organdy that she describes as “a marvel of exquisite beauty and refinement” and linen, “which in its texture and transparency was a miracle.” The finely spun powder-pink swatches that accompany some of the drawings in the collection attest to this interest in airy romantic textiles that could easily provide a voluminous substrate to support the delicate embroidery and passementerie that typified their gowns. The use of metallic lamé, ornate spangles, and exquisite embroidery was typical of Boué Soeurs designs, but the finishing touch of a ribbon rose became the unofficial insignia for the house.

Like many of their contemporaries, the Boué sisters frequently drew inspiration from the past, looking back to the rise of luxury manufacturing in France under the reign of Louis XIV and Louis XV. While the exaggerated skirt and fitted bodice of the early twentieth-century robe de style loosely evoked the pannier-style silhouette found throughout eighteenth-century court dress, the house made this reference explicit in the names assigned to its designs. One style, titled “Gavotte,” refers to a popular dance from the period, and “Pompadour” is a clear homage to Mme. de Pompadour, the famed and fashionable mistress of Louis XV.

Following the financial losses and devastation of World War I, international sales became more important than ever to French artisans and manufacturers. Boué Soeurs anticipated this, establishing stores in the United States—becoming among the first couture houses to do so—in New York City and Palm Beach, as well as in London and Bucharest. Despite the global reach of the house’s empire, all design and production originated in France, with workrooms and a shipping center located on the rue Paradis in Paris and what has been described as a “vast network of the cottage industry” spread throughout the mountainous eastern Vosges region. These artisans specialized in embroidery work, lace making, and crafting the silken synthetic blooms that were a leitmotif throughout Boué designs.