Medium: Black lace, white taffeta, sequins and rhinestones

Date: c. 1909

Country: France

Credit: Museum purchase

The sisters Callot - Marie Gerber, Marthe Bertrand, Régina Tennyson-Chantrell, and Joséphine Crimont - often used delicate materials in their very feminine creations. They were especially renowned for their exquisite lacework, such as the black, imbricated leaf pattern overlaid on pale taffeta seen here. This dress, finely embellished with black and silver sequins and rhinestones, represents the magnificence of fashions in La Belle Époque. In the early twentieth century, for those who could afford it, Callot couture was luxury of the highest order.

Object Number: P90.2.3