Wedding ensemble

American fashion designer Elizabeth Hawes created understated, elegant, and witty garments for women of means. Hawes believed that form follows function and paramount in her design sensibilities was the desire to make clothes that were stylish, easy to move in, and—by incorporating quality, breathable fabrics—comfortable to wear. She greatly admired the work of the early 20th century French couturière Madeleine Vionnet. Hawes design methodology drew upon Vionnet’s approach to draping and creatively piecing fabrics together on the body, often utilizing complex mitering techniques and textural juxtapositions that counterbalanced the otherwise relative restraint of her designs.

This wedding dress epitomizes the classic elegance of Hawes’ formalwear. Miss Blanchett Ferry Hooker wore the ensemble for her marriage to Mr. John D. Rockefeller III, in November 1932. The highly visible society event drew crowds, with over 2,500 guests in attendance, and hundreds of observers that spanned multiple city blocks outside the Riverside Church in Manhattan. The bridesmaids wore a variation of Blanchett’s wedding dress in fuchsia, and her sister Helen Huntington Hooker (who served as best maid), wore a deep purple version with matching short veil, also designed by Hawes.