Evening Dress
ca. 1932 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This long, sleeveless evening dress is made of saxe-blue silk, completely covered with small matching sequins. It has a wide V-neck in the front, which dips to the waist at the back. A large bow of matching material is applied to the front bust, and another below the waist at the back. The skirt is gored to flare from the knees in front and from the waist at the back.
During the first half of the 1930s, evening dresses were designed to wrap women in luxurious, body-hugging sheaths, replacing the short, flat square gowns of the 1920s. Evening gowns were mostly sleeveless, often displaying a bare back or a low neckline and inevitably touching the floor. White or pastel colours, fashionable in the 1920s and early 1930s, soon gave way to stronger, more acidic colours.
After championing the modern, sporty and androgynous woman of the 1920s, Chanel successfully ventured into a luxurious and more feminine fashion in the 1930s.
During the first half of the 1930s, evening dresses were designed to wrap women in luxurious, body-hugging sheaths, replacing the short, flat square gowns of the 1920s. Evening gowns were mostly sleeveless, often displaying a bare back or a low neckline and inevitably touching the floor. White or pastel colours, fashionable in the 1920s and early 1930s, soon gave way to stronger, more acidic colours.
After championing the modern, sporty and androgynous woman of the 1920s, Chanel successfully ventured into a luxurious and more feminine fashion in the 1930s.
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Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silk tulle, sequins, machine-sewn and hand-sewn, embroidered |
| Brief description | Long and sleeveless evening dress made of silk tulle and sequins, designed by Chanel, Paris, ca. 1932 |
| Physical description | Long and sleeveless evening dress made of saxe blue silk tulle, and covered with small matching sequins. It has a wide 'V' neck in the front, which dips to the waist at the back. A large bow of matching material is applied to the front bust, and another below the waist at the back. The skirt is gored to flare from the knees in the front and from the waist at the back. Machine-sewn and hand-sewn. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Haute couture |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Loelia, Duchess of Westminster |
| Object history | Worn and given by Loelia, Duchess of Westminster |
| Summary | This long, sleeveless evening dress is made of saxe-blue silk, completely covered with small matching sequins. It has a wide V-neck in the front, which dips to the waist at the back. A large bow of matching material is applied to the front bust, and another below the waist at the back. The skirt is gored to flare from the knees in front and from the waist at the back. During the first half of the 1930s, evening dresses were designed to wrap women in luxurious, body-hugging sheaths, replacing the short, flat square gowns of the 1920s. Evening gowns were mostly sleeveless, often displaying a bare back or a low neckline and inevitably touching the floor. White or pastel colours, fashionable in the 1920s and early 1930s, soon gave way to stronger, more acidic colours. After championing the modern, sporty and androgynous woman of the 1920s, Chanel successfully ventured into a luxurious and more feminine fashion in the 1930s. |
| Bibliographic reference | Cullen, Oriole and Karol Burks, Connie. "Gabrielle Chanel". London: V&A Publishing, 2023
p 155
This dress elegantly balances a paired-back silhouette with lavish decoration. The simple sheath, with gored skirt cut to fl are below the knee, is transformed by the all-over sequin embellishment. It is further enhanced by two trompe-l’oeil sequin bows cleverly incorporated into the fl at surface, one across the bust and the other at the back of the dress, suggestively set across the bottom. In August 1934 The Times commented on Chanel’s evening dresses, which had ‘full backs with bows set low behind’. The dress was worn by the Hon. Loelia, Duchess of Westminster. Born Loelia Ponsonby, she was one of the ‘Bright Young Things’, a young aristocratic circle who frequently featured in the newspapers of 1920s London for their parties and misbehaviour. Loelia Ponsonby married the Duke of Westminster in 1930, becoming his third wife right in the middle of his decade-long affair with Chanel. As might be expected, Loelia and Chanel were never close friends. However, as a lover of elegant and fashionable clothes, the Duchess was not averse to ordering garments from the celebrated couturière. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.339-1960 |
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| Record created | November 13, 2003 |
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