Physical description
Cocktail evening dress of black silk tulle with beaded net tulle trimmed with black satin bows. The dress has a low round neck, elbow length sleeves and a bell-shaped skirt, and with the net caught in drapes by the bows. The edges of the neckline and the sleeves are trimmed with black beads and there is a band of black satin around the hem. The bodice of the under petticoat is boned and the skirt petticoat has several layers of net and gauze, stiffened and boned. The dress fastens down the backs with hooks.
Black is used in a series of contrasts of matt and shiny materials. The confection of tulle is embellished with a scattering of tiny jet beads and a series of black satin bows.
Place of Origin
Paris, France (made)
Date
1958 (made)
Artist/maker
Yves Saint Laurent, born 1936 - died 2008 (designer)
Christian Dior (designed for)
Materials and Techniques
Silk tulle and boned silk, with bugle beads and satin ribbons
Marks and inscriptions
'Christian Dior Paris Printemps-Ete Made in France 94460'
Dimensions
Circumference: 70 cm waist, Circumference: 200 cm hem
Object history note
Made for the Duchess of Windsor. Worn and given by the Duchess.
Historical context note
Dior's sudden death in 1957 threatened an international business empire. The fashion trade was of vast importance to the French economy, and its recovery after the war was helped immeasurably by Dior's success. Yves Saint Laurent's appointment as chief designer at the age of 21 presaged a shift in taste as the decade drew to a close and his 1958 triangular 'trapeze line' was hailed in the US as 'the first big change in female fashion since the New Look in 1947'. From Wilcox, C., ed., The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-57 (V&A Publications, London), p.56.
The success of the collection was aided by the presence of the world's best-dressed women, including the Duchess of Windsor.
Descriptive line
Cocktail evening dress 'Bal Masque' for 'Ligne Trapèze' of silk tulle with beaded net tulle trimmed with satin, designed by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior, Paris, 1958
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Mendes, Valerie. Black In Fashion. London: V&A Publications, 1999. p. 75
Throughout her life the Duchess of Windsor (1896-1986) dressed in an elegant manner, patronising top Paris designers (Dior was a particular favourite). She was often photographed in pride of place, front row at the collections, and was sixty-two years old when she selected this froth of a black evening gown from Yves Saint Laurent's spring-summer collection for the house of Dior. Always impeccably groomed, with a youthful appearance and an angular slenderness maintained by careful dieting, she made sure that she always had the very latest mode. In 'The Windsor Style' (1987), Suzy Menkes gathered evidence of Wallis Simpson's affinity for black, pin-pointing such comments as: 'You have to wear black, ageing or not, because when the little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear in its place'. When sketching Mrs Simpson for American Vogue (February 1937), Cecil Beaton wrote: 'My sitter is at her best in a nondescript black dress that she makes smart by wearing'.
Indicating how slim the Duchess was, this dress has a tiny bodice tapering to a waist measuring 23 inches. Stylistically, the dress makers reference to 1860s bell-skirted fashions, and there are even some constructional parallels in its cream silk strapless foundation of a tightly fitted, boned corset and a domed skirt supported by a layered petticoat. Like many late nineteenth and early twentieth-century evening fashions, the frivolous outer shell of swathed tulle, bows and beads has a fragility that belies the firm, highly structured underpinnings. A symphony in black, the lightweight overdress is a double layer of spotted black tulle, studded with sparkling black bugle beads and arranged in festoons caught at intervals by forty-two bows of satin ribbon.
Exhibition History
Black in Fashion (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/01/1999-31/12/1999)
The Golden Age of Couture. Paris and London 1947 - 1957 (Victoria and Albert Museum 22/09/2007-06/01/2008)
Fashion: an anthology by Cecil Beaton (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/01/1972-31/12/1972)
Spectres: When Fashion Turns Back (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/01/2002-08/05/2005)
Maligh Muses: When Fashion Turns Back (ModeMuseum 18/09/2004-30/01/2005)
Labels and date
'Bal Masque' short evening dress (robe du soir courte)
Yves Saint Laurent (born 1936) for Christian Dior
Paris
1958 spring/summer, Ligne Trapèze
This dress was worn by the Duchess of Windsor and designed by Yves Saint Laurent for his first season following Dior's death in 1957. The young designer paid tribute to Dior's predilection for complex constructions with a boned bodice and full skirt supported by numerous layers of stiffened net and gauze.
Tulle and net with beads and satin bows
Given by the Duchess of Windsor
V&A: T.125-1974 [22/09/2007-06/01/2008]
Associated names
Cecil Beaton
Production Note
Yves Saint Laurent for the House of Dior. Atelier: Jane. Original model: Victoire.
Materials
Satin; Beads; Gauze; Tulle
Techniques
Beading
Categories
Royalty; Fashion; Evening wear; Women's clothes
Production Type
Haute couture
Collection code
T&F
