Dress, floral printed silk chiffon, Madeleine Vionnet, France, 1931.

This silk chiffon afternoon dress is printed with red and blue floral pattern. It is constructed from bias-cut sections which are pieced together to form the whole. There is a built-in capelet which is created when a section of fabric is placed over the head, and the ends tied around the waist. Thus tied, the capelet covers the upper arms. The hem falls unevenly around the wearer.

Purchase funded by the Friends of the V&A

Lady Foley purchased a number of dresses designed by Madeleine Vionnet between 1929 and 1938. This dress is one of four acquired by the Museum in 2009. They form part of a larger group of nine dresses stopped at export and secured for the nation. The other dresses are held in the collections of The Bowes Museum and The Fashion Museum, Bath.

Lady Foley was born Minoru Greenstone, the daughter of mine owner Harry Greenstone of Johannesburg, South Africa. She married the seventh Baron Foley (1895-1927), a former flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force who became Baron in 1918. Lord Foley died in 1927.

Minoru Foley’s marriage introduced her to British society. During the early to mid-1920s, the couple is listed in the Times Social Register as attending events of the London season and travelling to Paris on several occasions. Lord and Lady Foley’s son was born in 1923. Photographs of the couple taken by Bassano Ltd are held in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Lady Foley was among the women of privilege who could afford the finest quality textiles, meticulously crafted designs and highly personal attention offered by couture houses such as Vionnet’s.

The nine dresses together comprise a remarkable record of a decade of designs for a single client by one of the 20th century’s most important couturiers. In addition, the objects date from the last decade of Vionnet’s career, and represent Vionnet at her most sophisticated and complex, at the height of her design powers.

Madeleine Vionnet's couture house was known for championing the bias cut, a technique of cutting across the grain of a textile to produce a carefully draped silhouette. This afternoon dress is crafted from intricately pieced sections of bias cut fabric. The built-in capelet is cleverly integrated into the dress's bodice and sash. The soft floral print is a rare instance of Vionnet using a patterned fabric.

This Vionnet design formed part of the wardrobe of Lady Minoru Foley (around 1888-1968). Lady Foley was among the women of privilege who could afford the finest quality textiles, meticulously crafted gowns and highly personal attention offered by couture houses such as Vionnet's.

T.381-2009