Object: Dress
Designer:
Mainbocher
(1890 - 1976)
Date: 1943
Medium: Silk crepe
Country: USA
Credit Line: Gift of Edith D'Errecalde-Hadamard
Object number: 75.119.6
DescriptionTwo-piece dress in black silk crepe with contrast coral pink borders and bows, and light green piping; short sleeve fitted cutaway bodice with round neck, CF trim; long straight skirt with hem border
Label Text:This Mainbocher ensemble was originally designed for Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. Simpson was an American divorcée who married King Edward VIII, leading to his abdication. Chicago-born designer Main Rousseau Bocher—known professionally as Mainbocher—was deemed “the first American couturier.” He designed Simpson’s wedding dress in 1937, and she continued to wear his designs. Other Mainbocher clients often requested copies of the fashions that Simpson favored. During World War II, Mainbocher was forced to relocate his atelier from Paris to New York, where this dress was produced.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- China Chic: East Meets West
- Eleanor Lambert: Empress of Seventh Avenue
- Seventh Avenue: Fashion Walk of Fame
- American Beauty