Object: Evening dress
Designer:
Grès
(French)
Date: 1955
Medium: Pale pink matte silk jersey
Country: France
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. E.L. Cournand
Object number: 77.187.1
DescriptionGoddess evening dress in pale pink silk jersey; strapless bodice molded with tucks and stitched to boned longline net foundation / corset, tucks release along CF closure - ruffle effect created; dropped waist - curved hipline, long skirt cartridge pleated at seam
Label Text:The unique feature of this gown is the horizontal pleating of the bodice, a slight variation that allowed Madame Grès to create a narrow, vertical ruffle from the fabric edges. Large amounts of fabric are contained within the tightest and deepest possible fluting, or deep pleating, without creating bulk. The use of corseting was a dramatic development in Grès's classically-inspired gowns, for it shows that she not only followed fashion trends, but also that she abandoned, in part, her pre-war practice of draping fabric on an un-girdled female form. Corsets gave her the structure on which to perfect her fluting technique as well as to construct strapless prototypes.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- Madame Grès