Poster Dress

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V&A South Kensington
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C

Artist/Maker	Harry Gordon (designer)
Place of origin	London (made)

'Poster dresses' were part of new enthusiasm for posters in the late 1960s. Posters were popular as a quick, cheap and temporary way to decorate a domestic interior. The poster dress reflected a similar taste for fast-changing fashions and disposable clothing. The packaging of this dress suggests that when you are bored with it "why not...cut open all the seams and hang it on your wall as a poster...or cover pillows...or as your collection grows, sew them together to make a bedspread or curtains or a table-cloth."

Object details

Categories	Paper Clothing and Textiles Fashion Womenswear Interiors
Object type	Paper dress
Parts	This object consists of 3 parts. Dress Print Print
Titles	Poster Dress (generic title) Cat (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques	Screen printed tissue, wood pulp and rayon mesh, with polythene and card packaging Tissue Paper Wood Pulp Rayon Polythene Card Screen Printing
Brief description	Paper dress/Poster dress 'Cat', disposable, screen printed on rayon and nylon mix, designed by Harry Gordon, London, 1968
Physical description	Poster dress, of screen printed tissue, wood pulp and rayon mesh in polythene and card packaging. The 'paper' dress is printed with a black and white with image of cat. Text in black on red.
Dimensions	Dress height when unfolded height: 900 mm (Note: Object has four parts: dress, plastic packaging, card insert, card packaging) Dress width when unfolded width: 290 - 600mm (Note: Object has four parts: dress, plastic packaging, card insert, card packaging) Folded dress, plastic packaging and card insert height: 300mm (Note: Object has four parts: dress, plastic packaging, card insert, card packaging) Folded dress, palstic packaging, paper insert width: 300mm (Note: Object has four parts: dress, plastic packaging, card insert, card packaging ) Card packaging height height: 90mm (Note: Object has four parts: dress, plastic packaging, card insert, card packaging) Card packaging width width: 306mm (Note: Object has four parts: dress, plastic packaging, card insert, card packaging)
Summary	'Poster dresses' were part of new enthusiasm for posters in the late 1960s. Posters were popular as a quick, cheap and temporary way to decorate a domestic interior. The poster dress reflected a similar taste for fast-changing fashions and disposable clothing. The packaging of this dress suggests that when you are bored with it "why not...cut open all the seams and hang it on your wall as a poster...or cover pillows...or as your collection grows, sew them together to make a bedspread or curtains or a table-cloth."
Collection	Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number	E.375-2011

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Record created	July 28, 2011
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1239965/poster-dress-paper-dress-harry-gordon/

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