Evening dress
c. 1954
Silk taffeta
Gift of Virginia Pope
Object number75.149.1
The dominant discourse on pink in the postwar decades emphasized its connection with an essentialist idea of femininity, where biology was destiny. In her important book, "As Long As It’s Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste", Penny Sparke describes how and why pink became so popular after World War II, when it represented “the emphasis on distinctive gendering that underpinned 1950s society.”
DescriptionPink silk taffeta evening dress trimmed with dark pink taffeta; low square neck; shoulder twist at back shoulder continuing down side back to draped sash; pyramidal shaped panel with point at center front neck continues to hem; large dark pink three looped bow placed at center front neck; three tucks on either side at waist of panel gives dome shape to skirt; sash of dark pink taffeta is gathered at panel side on either side at raised front waist line draping to center back where it is shirred together falling to hem and caught up in pouf at center back hem; hem of dress and pouf dip at center back and roll under; boned bodice lined in cream taffeta; skirt lined in cream silk organza; dome shape of skirt achieved with two net petticoats with flounced hemsExhibitions