Suit

Designer Oscar de la Renta American, born Dominican Republic

ca. 1991

Not on view

Mrs. Kempner's closets yielded a seemingly endless array of tailored suits. Many of the designs incorporated sartorial variations on iconic menswear elements: the spencer, the "Eisenhower" or blouson jacket, the double-breasted "gangster" suit, and the formal blazer. While acknowledging the virtues of traditional menswear, Mrs. Kempner was also an advocate of innovations of cut and detailing in her tailoring. The virtuosity of Balmain's jacket lapel incorporated into a seam to create a trompe l'oeil waistcoat or Saint Laurent's nautical ensemble that supplants a naval uniform's white duck with feminine cotton piqué suggests her interest in witty and novel details.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Suit
Design House: House of Balmain (French, founded 1945)
Designer: Oscar de la Renta (American (born Dominican Republic), Santo Domingo 1932–2014 Kent, Connecticut)
Date: ca. 1991
Culture: French
Medium: a) wool, silk, plastic; b,c) wool, silk
Credit Line: Gift of Thomas L. Kempner, 2006
Object Number: 2006.420.67a–c
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

More Artwork

Suit, House of Balmain French, Wool, French — Suit
Design House House of Balmain
Designer Pierre Balmain
1956

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

Suit, Mainbocher French and American, wool, silk, plastic (cellulose nitrate), American — Suit
Design House Mainbocher
Designer Mainbocher
1948

Evening dress, House of Balmain French, silk, French — Evening dress
Design House House of Balmain
Designer Pierre Balmain
fall/winter 1957–58

Violin or Viola Bow, Brazilwood, other materials, French — Violin or Viola Bow
French
late 19th or early 20th century

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.