Evening dress and jacket of crocheted metallic yarn, designed by Kostio de Warkoffska, Paris, 1937

Evening dress and jacket of crocheted metallic gold yarn.

The dress is full length, straight and shaped to the figure. Made in mesh with a denser patterned high band collar, square stiffened shoulder yoke, and cuffs to the long sleeves and hem. It is open from the collar to the back waist.

The jacket matched the dress trim. It is fitted and hip length with a notched revers, long sleeves with padded shoulders and double wedge-shaped pocket flaps. There are three buttons cast to emulate pseudo-antique coins dated 1580, which are actually camouflaged logo buttons bearing the signature of the designer Kostio de War(koffska).

Given by Hon. Mrs H. Sherek

This extraordinary evening ensemble was created by the Parisian fashion house of Kostio de War. Lyska de Warkoffska was born in Baku in 1896 and emigrated to Paris in the early 1910s. After a brief career as a stage performer under the name Lyska Kostio, she opened her fashion house, Kostio de War, at 18 rue Jean-Goujon in 1935. Kostio de War quickly became known for inventive and decorative hand-knitted and crocheted ensembles and accessories, gaining relative notoriety and regular mention in the fashion pages in France, Britain, and the USA during the second half of the 1930s. The house remained active (albeit with an increasingly lower profile in the fashion press) until the 1970s.

This outfit was acquired along with some equally striking Elsa Schiaparelli garments also worn by the donor, actor Pamela Carme (1902–1953). Born Kathleen Boscawen, she was known for films such as The Girl Was Young (1937), Holiday Lovers (1932) and Almost a Honeymoon (1930). In 1937 she married theatre manager Henry Sherek and retired from acting to become his business partner.

T.230&A-1964