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Evening Dress

1922 (made)
Artist/Maker
Kitmir (embroiderer)
Chanel (made and retailed by)
Coco Chanel (designer)
Place of origin
Paris (made)

This ankle-length evening dress is made of black silk georgette embroidered with golden thread and glass bugle beads. It is sleeveless with a square-shape neckline and a straight long bodice. The dress is slightly larger from the hip level down. It has convoluted embroidered motifs on the bodice, and vertical stripes and motifs embroidered with golden thread on the skirt. Black silk drapes trim the side of the skirt, which is open from the knee. A black silk petticoat is attached at the bodice. Chanel designed it in 1922 for her Spring Summer 1923 collection.

This evening dress of the early 1920s illustrates the transition between the romantic picture dress with its wide skirt and the more 'Cubist' straight and square shape of the mid 1920s. The stylised embroidered motifs were Chanel's trademark at this period. They witness her relationship with the Russian House of Kitmir, who embroidered exclusively for her.

Object details

Categories
Evening Wear
Womenswear
Fashion
Embroidery
Object type
Evening dress
Materials and techniques
Hand-sewn silk georgette, hand-embroidered with glass beads and gold thread
Silk Georgette
Metallic Thread
Glass Beads
Metallic Thread
Hand-Sewing
Hand-Embroidery
Hand Embroidery
Brief description
Sleeveless and ankle-length evening dress of hand-embroidered silk georgette, designed by Coco Chanel and embroidered by Kitmir, Spring Summer 1923
Physical description
Sleeveless and ankle-length evening dress made of black silk georgette embroidered with golden thread and bugle beads. Square-shape neckline and straight long bodice. Dress slightly larger from hip-level down. Convoluted embroidered motifs on the bodice, and vertical stripes and motifs embroidered with golden thread on the skirt. Black silk drapes trim the side of the skirt which is open from the knee. A black silk petticoat is attached at the bodice.
Style
Art Deco
Production typeHaute couture
Gallery label
EVENING DRESS
Silk voile embroidered with bugle beads and silver-gilt and gilt frisé
French, Paris, Chanel, Spring Summer 1923

It seems that 'Chanel's growing predilection for black...'developed after the death of her lover Boy Capel in 1919. In her biography "Chanel" (Grasset, 1974) Edmonde Charles-Roux charts the designer's liberating contributions to 20th century fashion and the evolution of her little black dresses. She observes that Chanel drew on her humble origins when she exploited the black of peasant costumes and made 'black the instrument of her success'. '1925 was the year of women in black' and between 1925 and 1927 black dresses (many by Chanel) had maximum exposure in fashion magazines, particularly Vogue. As well as revolutionary designs (her jersey suits etc.) Chanel produced 'mainstream' works such as this beaded dress. Her contemporaries were amazed when in the early 1920s she employed embroideresses and wondered if this meant the end of her severe and undecorated clothes - this was not the case. This dress has all the features associated with 1920s evening attire - a tubular, low-waisted shape lavishly beaded. The abstract geometric design is carefully disposed (the panels were embroidered to shape) over the garment and the cylindrical silhouette is broken by the tabbed skirt.

Worn and given by Mrs Anthony Henley
The Cecil Beaton Collection
T.86-1974
(September 2023)
[Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto exhibition, September 2023 - March 2024]

DRESS

The House of Kitmir executed the embroidery on this dress. The atelier was established in Paris in 1922 by the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna Romanova, an aristocrat who fled Russia after the 1917 revolution. At her Kitmir studio, Pavlovna employed fellow Russian émigrés to embroider elaborate embellishments for the Parisian couture houses. In 1926, the firm exhibited in London. They drew on techniques and motifs common to the stitched decoration of Central and Eastern European traditional dresses.

Spring/Summer 1923
Embroidered silk georgette, glass beads and gilded thread
V&A: T.86-1974
Given by the Hon. Mrs Anthony Henley
Credit line
Given by the Hon. Mrs Anthony Henley
Object history
Early 1920s evening dress illustrating the transition between the romantic picture dress with its wide skirt and the more cubist square shape of the mid 1920s. The stylised embroidered motifs were the trademark of Chanel at this period and witness her relationship with the Russian House of Kitmir who embroidered exclusively for her.
Summary
This ankle-length evening dress is made of black silk georgette embroidered with golden thread and glass bugle beads. It is sleeveless with a square-shape neckline and a straight long bodice. The dress is slightly larger from the hip level down. It has convoluted embroidered motifs on the bodice, and vertical stripes and motifs embroidered with golden thread on the skirt. Black silk drapes trim the side of the skirt, which is open from the knee. A black silk petticoat is attached at the bodice. Chanel designed it in 1922 for her Spring Summer 1923 collection.

This evening dress of the early 1920s illustrates the transition between the romantic picture dress with its wide skirt and the more 'Cubist' straight and square shape of the mid 1920s. The stylised embroidered motifs were Chanel's trademark at this period. They witness her relationship with the Russian House of Kitmir, who embroidered exclusively for her.
Bibliographic references
  • Mendes, Valerie. Black In Fashion. London: V&A Publications, 1999.
  • Fashion : An Anthology by Cecil Beaton. London : H.M.S.O., 1971
  • Cullen, Oriole and Karol Burks, Connie. "Gabrielle Chanel". London: V&A Publishing, 2023 p87 Dating from Chanel’s Spring/Summer collection of 1923, this dress is covered in a striking embroidery design probably carried out by the house of Kitmir. Couched gilt frisé thread is combined with clear bugle beads in a graphic design comprising a central circular motif on the bodice (echoed on the back) and repeating stripes of decoration on the skirt. These stripes are extended onto tabs of chiff on projecting from either side of the skirt, punctuating the otherwise straight and simple silhouette. A square-shaped bodice with a low waist, typical of this period, is defined solely by the placement of the embroidery pattern. The silk georgette gives a light and delicate feel to the dress despite the extensive decoration. The skirt of the dress is open from the knee down, making it easy to move freely: a staple feature of Chanel’s approach to designing clothes. An integral black silk petticoat is edged with a thin band of intricate black lace. A sketch of a similar design is in the collection of Henri Bendel, a New York department store that was one of the first retailers of Chanel designs in the USA.
Collection
Textiles and Fashion Collection
Accession number
T.86-1974

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Record createdJanuary 8, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72654/evening-dress-coco-chanel/
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