Evening dress
Brand
Balmain
(French, founded 1945)
Designer
Pierre Balmain
(1914 - 1982)
Fall 1951
Light blue taffeta, mauve velvet, and silver metal
Gift of Mrs. Fernand Leval
Object number84.125.3
Balmain revealed in his autobiography a fascination for the "intriguing play of materials against the feminine form." Here, he has used lush materials in soft colors to emphasize the hyper-feminine ideal of the 1950s. The waistline is created by an intricate boned taffeta corset, laced up the back. A full velvet skirt with pleating and a yoke adds volume to the hip, further emphasizing the crucial wasp waist. The seductive strapless gown, with delicate silver ball buttons open at front to reveal the underskirt, is slightly reminiscent of an 18th-century gown and stomacher.
DescriptionCorset evening dress; blue taffeta boned bodice with pointed and laced back, grey / green velvet full skirt with waist yoke and blue taffeta underskirt panel; silver ball buttonsExhibitions