A quick post to share a Friday morning triumph. Well, a small one. All week I’d been thinking of a dress I saw online somewhere a while ago, but had not noted where, or any info on it. Just another pitfall of the web – “oh, that’s neat”, and move on. Weeks later, think of it and try in vain to find it again… Did I see it in one of my many reference books? Was it a Schiaparelli? It certainly reminded me of her playful takes on formal wear… Finally, I decided to troll through the archives of OMGthatdress! – one of my favourite places to scroll through lovely and interesting collected photos of existing historical and vintage garments. I started by searching the 1950s tag based on the shape of the dress and found it a few pages in. It turns out that it was this dress by Cristobal Balenciaga. These photos are of an existing dress in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Evening Dress – Cristobal Balenciaga (1951)
From this photo, it appears to be made of black velvet with silk ruffles on the lining. The skirt has also been cut shorter in the front to reveal a sort of reverse petticoat affair. I love a design with unexpected twist. Usually this kind of layered ruffling would be hidden under an overskirt, or placed on the outside of the skirt. By reversing the usual placement, and in a striking contrast colour, the sleek black dress gets a fun kick. Who says the 1950s were all pastels and sock hops? I would love to create a skirt or dress with a nod to this piece.
Evening Dress – Cristobal Balenciaga, (1951) detail
The tricky part is always deconstructing the design with only reference photos. Velvet alone would not support the layers of ruffles. It looks like some sort of support has been added to the bottom hem of the skirt to make it hold it’s shape. I suspect that the entire skirt must be interfaced with a stiffening material, and the ruffles are attached to a lining that is tacked to the overskirt. Not only a feat of design, but also engineering. Perhaps I should start with a small scale project…
Hope you have been inspired too!
Love Heather
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