Object: Ballgown
Designer:
Charles James
(1906 - 1978)
Date: 1953
Medium: Pink silk taffeta, silk satin, and boning
Country: USA
Credit Line: Museum purchase
Object number: P77.1.7
DescriptionThe Four Leaf Clover Ballgown in shocking pink silk taffeta and pale pink silk satin; fitted, boned bodice with diagonal seams and darts; wide, floor-length skirt shaped with four cloverleaf lobes over layers of stiffened understructure; draped polonaise swag
Label Text:The Museum at FIT has one of the world's finest collections of dresses by Charles James, the great couturier whose explorations of shape arguably raised fashion to the status of art. Many of his greatest creations, like the Four Leaf Clover Ballgown, utilize an elaborate infrastructure to create the appearance of dynamic, fluid form. In shocking pink silk taffeta and pale pink silk satin, this ballgown features a fitted, boned bodice and a draped "polonaise" swag. The wide, floor-length skirt is shaped with four "cloverleaf" lobes over a stiffened understructure composed of millinery wire, interfacing, and boning.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- 50 Years of Fashion, 1947 - 1997
- Form Follows Fashion