An enormous bustle bow dominates this striped silk dress by Victor Steibel. In February 1947 Christian Dior had launched the New Look featuring pinched waists, full skirts and a soft shoulder line. It was an attempt to reinstate feminity in dress after a period of wartime austerity and shortage. The impractical scale and frivolity of Steibel's bow was clearly a defiant gesture against rationing. It makes lavish use of material and is so large and weighty that it requires the support of a sturdy horsehair frill beneath the skirts.
Victor Steibel was born in South Africa. He moved to London in 1924 to study at Cambridge. Following an apprenticeship with the Reville and Rossiter fashion house, he opened his own Bruton Street couture house in 1932. After the Second World War he worked with Jacqmar and reopened his couture house in Cavendish Square in 1958. Steibel was a highly successful British designer, celebrated for his stylish feminine clothing, striped fabrics and evening wear.
Physical description
Silk grosgrain day dress supported with net petticoats and a horsehair frill. Enormous bustle bow at the rear, an unusually extravagant touch for day wear. Green and yellow stripes.
Place of Origin
London, England (made)
Date
1947 (designed)
Artist/maker
Victor Stiebel, born 1907 - died 1976 (designer)
Materials and Techniques
Silk grosgrain with net and a horsehair frill
Object history note
Worn by Lady Cornwallis:
Esme Ethel Alice d'Beaumont (1901-1969) is the daughter of Captian Montmorency d'Beaumont. She married, firstly, Major Sir Robert James Milo Walker, 4 Bt., on 23 January 1923. She married, secondly, Sir Wykeham Stanley Cornwallis (1892-1982), 2nd Baron Cornwallis on 26 February 1948.
Given by the 3rd Lord and Lady Cornwallis.
The dominating feature of this dress is the enormous bustle bow at the rear, an unusually extravagant touch for day wear. The lavish use of material for a decorative, non-functioning trimming was a defiant gesture in this time of austerity and rationing.
Victor Steibel at Jacqmar, 16 Grosvenor Street, London, W1.
Descriptive line
Silk grosgrain day dress with net, designed by Victor Stiebel, London, 1947
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
De La Haye, Amy, ed. The Cutting Edge: 50 Years of British Fashion 1947-1997. London: V&A Publications, 1997. p.74, plate 45
Vogue (British), March 1947
Photo.
Caption to photo: Stiebel's yellow-green striped overskirt, with bustle bow.
Text:
Stripes crop up throughout the Collections, for formal and everyday clothes - in rayons, tweeds and woollens, and especially in stiff taffetas and satins. There are fine stripes like those shown here - in light or bright colours on a dark ground or vice versa… It is new to see an immensely full ballet skirt over a narrow underskirt; or a rather longer ballet skirt dress for young party going; in [this dress] above… stripes underline the essential character.
de la Haye, A., 'Material Evidence' in Wilcox, C., ed., The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-57 (V&A Publications, 2007),
For his Autumn/Winter 1947-8 collection, Victor Stiebel designed a yellow-green striped late-afternoon dress in silk grosgrain with a distinctive bustle bow which was worn and given to the V&A by Lady Cornwallis. It was a stylish and ingenious interpretation of the New Look.
Exhibition History
The Collection Grows: New Acquisitions (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/01/1988-31/12/1988)
The Cutting Edge: 50 Years of British Fashion 1947-1997 (Victoria and Albert Museum 06/03/1997-27/07/1997)
Labels and date
With its luxurious and bright bouffant skirt (which is given extra fullness by a stiff horsehair frill beneath the layered skirts) and frivolous bow, this dress takes some elements from the New Look. In the austere period after the war, it presented a striking contrast to prevailing pared-down Utility designs. [1997]
DAY DRESS
English, Victor Steibel
Autumn 1947
Striped grosgrain silk
This cleverly constructed dress reveals Steibel's skill in the use of a striped material. Creating an effective contrast, a full skirt is gathered over a longer tubular skirt. This overskirt is made with just one vertical seam and gathered to fit the waist leaving the selvedge free to provide a crisp and original finish. The fashionably bouffant shape is further emphasised by an enormous bustle bow supported (from within the skirt) by a horsehair frill.
Given by Lady Cornwallis
T.292-1984 [1988]
Materials
Silk (textile); Net (textile)
Categories
Fashion; Day wear; Women's clothes
Collection code
T&F
