Dinner dress
A series of wrapping pattern pieces is incorporated in both the bodice and skirt of this dinner dress. While the bodice discloses the complications of its cut, the greater innovation is in James’s novel construction of the skirt. It was conceived as a figure-eight spiral, beginning at the right front side it wraps around the left leg, passing between the legs, then wrapping over the right leg to cross to the left side back. As with many of James’s constructions, the skirt is only comprehensible when the garment is taken apart.
Artwork Details
- Title: Dinner dress
- Designer: Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978)
- Date: 1939
- Culture: American
- Medium: silk, synthetic
- Credit Line: Purchase, Costume Institute Benefit Fund, Friends of The Costume Institute Gifts, and Acquisitions Fund, 2013
- Object Number: 2013.406
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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