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Evening dress
Hartnell, Norman, born 1901 - died 1979 - Enlarge image
Evening dress
- Place of origin:
London, England (made)
- Date:
ca. 1933 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Hartnell, Norman, born 1901 - died 1979 (designer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Silk crêpe faced with velvet
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs V. Fisher
- Museum number:
T.190&A-1973
- Gallery location:
In Storage
Throughout the 1930s Hartnell designed stage clothes for leading actresses, including Gertrude Lawrence, Evelyn Laye and Gladys Cooper. In his autobiography, Silver and Gold (1955), he summed up his position in 1934: 'The well-dressed women of society flocked to my dress parades and . . . bought generously, and the Press was proving both amiable and encouraging'. The turning-point in his career came in 1935, when Lady Alice Montague Douglas-Scott asked him to design the wedding dress for her marriage to the Duke of Gloucester. Royalty was then added to his already impressive list of customers and his business flourished. Hartnell is best known for his intricately embroidered dresses for grand occasions, especially those made for Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother in the 1950s. This earlier and more modest evening dress is bias-cut, and the design skilfully contrasts ruffled sleeves with knife-pleated godets and a perfectly plain bodice.
