Cocktail dress
Brand
Traina-Norell
(American, 1941 - 1960)
Retailer
Neiman Marcus
(American, founded 1907)
1956-1957
Silk taffeta
Gift of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs
Object number87.146.4
Although Norman Norell most often created clothes that were sleek and trim, he did love full-skirted dirndl shapes as well. This style dominated mid-20th-century fashion, especially after the debut of Christian Dior’s ground-breaking “New Look” collection in 1947. But Norell eschewed Dior’s tightly corseted and rigidly crinolated constructions. Instead, the volume of his carefully cut and channel-stitched skirts were buoyed with lightweight materials, such as tulle, edged with whiffs of horsehair bands.
DescriptionNavy blue silk faille cocktail dress, halter bodice with pointed midriff panel, and pussycat bow, calf-length flared circle skirt with crinolineCollections
Exhibitions