Dress
Brand
Alexander McQueen
(English, founded 1992)
Designer
Alexander McQueen
(1969 - 2010)
Spring 2010
Silk engineered print and horse hair
Museum purchase
Object number2012.36.2
Alexander McQueen’s reptile pattern on this dress from the "Plato’s Atlantis" collection is engineered to follow the silhouette of the dress. Snakes are feared for their sly, venomous nature, but they also possess positive associations of strength and rejuvenation. The beauty of snakeskin–either real or fabricated—has long made it an alluring material for fashion.
Descriptionshort dress in an engineered sea reptile (python, snake) print in shades of yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, and ivory, digitally printed on sheer silk organza-like fabric with a supplemental satin-like weave structure at upper dress ending at lower skirt; fitted bodice; wide V neckline, lower at back; short puffy sleeves with deep side pleats at lower sleeve, two-piece sleeve - internal sleeve cap extends from bodice, upper sleeve semi-attached at front and back bodice, loose at cap; full draped flounce skirt with up and down pleat-like swags, horse hair at skirt hem; boned corset foundation garment with attached slip in silk and polyamide blendCollections
Exhibitions