Dress
1970 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This dress was designed by Alice Pollock, who founded the Quorum boutique in 1964. In 1965, she invited Ossie Clark to join her at Quorum, where he, his girlfriend Celia Birtwell, and Alice Pollock struck up a productive design partnership.Birtwell designed textiles which were used by both designers at first, until Clark claimed exclusive use of her fabric prints.
They both designed using the same supple and fluid moss crepe, satin and chiffon fabrics. Without a label it can be difficult sometimes to tell whether a dress is by Ossie Clark or Alice Pollock. Her designs tended to be slightly more restrained. This deceptively simple tea-length dress in matte crepe features a dramatic diamond-shaped cutaway panel at the midriff and a row of satin-covered buttons and loops as its main details.
They both designed using the same supple and fluid moss crepe, satin and chiffon fabrics. Without a label it can be difficult sometimes to tell whether a dress is by Ossie Clark or Alice Pollock. Her designs tended to be slightly more restrained. This deceptively simple tea-length dress in matte crepe features a dramatic diamond-shaped cutaway panel at the midriff and a row of satin-covered buttons and loops as its main details.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Moss crêpe and satin |
| Brief description | Moss crêpe tea-length dress, designed by Alice Pollock for Quorum, London, 1970 |
| Physical description | Black moss crêpe tea-length dress with a high neck, long sleeves, dramatic cutaway back and diamond cutaway over the midriff. Satin-covered buttons-and-loops fastening down the front above and below diamond cutaway midriff. |
| Production type | Limited edition |
| Credit line | Given by Mr Daniel Manning |
| Object history | Historical significance: A relatively restrained design for Alice Pollock. Alice Pollock, the founder of the Quorum boutique, struck up a productive design partnership with Ossie Clark in the mid-1960s. Her designs are often similar to Ossie Clark's in mood and approach, and they used similar fabrics and design ideas. |
| Summary | This dress was designed by Alice Pollock, who founded the Quorum boutique in 1964. In 1965, she invited Ossie Clark to join her at Quorum, where he, his girlfriend Celia Birtwell, and Alice Pollock struck up a productive design partnership.Birtwell designed textiles which were used by both designers at first, until Clark claimed exclusive use of her fabric prints. They both designed using the same supple and fluid moss crepe, satin and chiffon fabrics. Without a label it can be difficult sometimes to tell whether a dress is by Ossie Clark or Alice Pollock. Her designs tended to be slightly more restrained. This deceptively simple tea-length dress in matte crepe features a dramatic diamond-shaped cutaway panel at the midriff and a row of satin-covered buttons and loops as its main details. |
| Bibliographic reference | Mendes, Valerie. Black In Fashion. London: V&A Publications, 1999.
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.191-1997 |
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| Record created | June 15, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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