Object: Bag
Designer:
Elsa Schiaparelli
(1890 - 1973)
Date: c. 1938
Medium: Velvet and silk net
Country: France
Credit Line: Museum purchase
Object number: P87.19.1
DescriptionBouquet of pansies bag, drawstring pouch covered with violet, yellow and white velvet pansy flowers with green stems joined at bottom point and forming top tuft handle
Label Text:Elsa Schiaparelli is best known for her humorous and often surrealistic style, which can be seen in this evening bag from the late 1930s. Famous as the designer responsible for the "shoe hat" and buttons shaped like lamb chops, Schiaparelli also created a handbag in the form of a Victorian nosegay, evoking her love of Victoriana. The poesy bag is fashioned of violets and pansies, flowers closely associated with the sentimental culture of the Victorian period. The trompe l'oiel effect of the poesy bag is emphasized by the loosely stitched flowers - when the bag moves, the flowers tremble like an actual bouquet.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- Fashion & Textile History Gallery First Rotation
- Minimalism / Maximalism: Fashion Extremes
- Fashion, Italian Style
- The Couture Accessory