Evening dress, full length, tiered black lace, with muff, Madeleine Vionnet, France, 1935.

A full length evening dress with its skirt and sleeves formed of thin, cascading tiers of black lace. The cream bodice features eleven clear plastic buttons with diamanté centres. The neckline is rounded and the sleeves are set deeply into the back of the bodice.

Purchased with support from the Director's Circle

Lady Foley purchased a number of dresses designed by Madeleine Vionnet between 1929 and 1938. This dress is one of four acquired by the Museum in 2009. They form part of a larger group of nine dresses stopped at export and secured for the nation. The other dresses are held in the collections of The Bowes Museum and The Fashion Museum, Bath.

Lady Foley was born Minoru Greenstone, the daughter of mine owner Harry Greenstone of Johannesburg, South Africa. She married the seventh Baron Foley (1895-1927), a former flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force who became Baron in 1918. Lord Foley died in 1927.

Minoru Foley’s marriage introduced her to British society. During the early to mid-1920s, the couple is listed in the Times Social Register as attending events of the London season and travelling to Paris on several occasions. Lord and Lady Foley’s son was born in 1923. Photographs of the couple taken by Bassano Ltd are held in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Lady Foley was among the women of privilege who could afford the finest quality textiles, meticulously crafted designs and highly personal attention offered by couture houses such as Vionnet’s.

The nine dresses together comprise a remarkable record of a decade of designs for a single client by one of the 20th century’s most important couturiers. In addition, the objects date from the last decade of Vionnet’s career, and represent Vionnet at her most sophisticated and complex, at the height of her design powers.

This dress and corresponding muff represent Madeleine Vionnet at the height of her creative powers. A master geometrician, Vionnet was known for the complicated cut of her gowns and the simplicity of their lines. The floor length skirt of this design follows the fashionable eveningwear silhouette of the 1930s. Its cascading layers of soft tulle suggest the natural curve of the body beneath.

This Vionnet design formed part of the wardrobe of Lady Minoru Foley (around 1888-1968). She would have purchased this dress when she was approximately 47 years old. Lady Foley was among the women of privilege who could afford the finest quality textiles, meticulously crafted gowns and highly personal attention offered by couture houses such as Vionnet's.

T.378:1, 2-2009