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Evening Dress

1956 (made)
Artist/Maker
Chanel (made and retailed by)
Chanel, Coco (designer)
Place of origin
Paris (made)

In 1954, at the age of 71, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel' (1883-1971) presented a comeback collection, after a retirement of fifteen years. She challenged the formality and complexity of the fashions of the time, and was critical of designers such as Christian Dior (1905-57). Pat Cunningham, editor of Vogue said, 'Femininity had gone too far - you needed stage-coach luggage to pack your frocks in and ladies' maids to fix the trimmings and petticoats. Chanel simplified clothes to meet modern needs.'

In 1957 Dior died, leaving Chanel once more the undisputed leader of fashion. In this year she won the Neiman-Marcus award for fashion, and in 1958 Vogue declared her 'more truly of today' than many designers half her age.

This dress was worn by the 1950s model, Anne Gunning Parker (later Lady Nutting).

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read What makes CHANEL so iconic? During her 60-year career, fashion designer Gabrielle Chanel (1883 – 1971) took a consistent and considered approach to her aesthetic.

Object details

Categories
Fashion
Evening Wear
Womenswear
Lace
Object type
Evening dress
Materials and techniques
Lace over silk and net boned foundation
Silk (Textile)
Net (Textile)
Lace Making
Boning
Brief description
Strapless evening dress of lace over silk, designed by Gabrielle Chanel for CHANEL, Paris, Autumn Winter 1956
Physical description
Evening dress of black lace over silk. Strapless, form-fitting, and with a skirt that flares out at the hem into a triple flounce. Boned foundation with net stiffening.
Style
1950s
Production typeHaute couture
Gallery label
(16/09/2023)
[Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto exhibition, September 2023 - March 2024]

DRESS

While Chanel’s later work is often viewed in contrast to that of Christian Dior, she was very aware of his popular New Look when she relaunched her label in 1954. In fact her final collections of the 1930s had predicted this line with cinched waists and full skirts, although in Chanel’s hands – always attentive to women’s comfort – the construction of the bodice is much less constricting than in many contemporary garments. Noteworthy too was Chanel’s use
of lace, one of her favourite fabrics for eveningwear.

Autumn/Winter 1956
Lace by Dognin and tulle
V&A: T.131-1990
Given by Sir Anthony Nutting in memory of Anne, Lady Nuttin
(22/09/2007-06/01/2008)
[case panel]
Cocktail and Early Evening

Daywear was followed by formal afternoon dresses (robes après-midi habillées), cocktail dresses (robes de cocktail), semi-evening (robes demi-soir) and short evening dresses (robes du soir courtes). These distinctions became simpler as the decade progressed and social codes began to break down.

Cocktail dresses first appeared in the 1920s and gained a new popularity after the war. They were worn at early evening or ‘6 to 8’ gatherings, where guests usually stood and mingled. The gowns could include complex bustles and skirt details, which would be crushed if sat on.

In his book the Little Dictionary of Fashion (1954) Christian Dior described cocktail dresses as ‘elaborate and dressy afternoon frocks’, preferably in black taffeta, satin, chiffon and wool. These confections became the personification of the ‘little black dress’ and were often accessorised with gloves and small hats.

[object label]
Cocktail dress (robe de cocktail)
Gabrielle Chanel (1883-1971)
Paris
Mid 1950s

This black lace dress was worn by the leading British model Anne Gunning. Its slender, flared shape is quite different to the conventional full skirts of most evening dresses of the time.

Worn by the fashion model Anne Gunning Parker (later Lady Nutting) and given by Lord Anthony Nutting
V&A: T.131-1990
Credit line
Given by Sir Anthony Nutting, in memory of Anne, Lady Nutting
Object history
Registered File number 1990/125. Worn by the model Anne Gunning Parker (later Lady Nutting) and given by Lord Anthony Nutting.

Chanel's presented her come-back collection in 1954 after an absence of 15 years. The first collections were not very popular and the editor of Vogue Bettina Ballard recalls that only about six outfits were ordered by buyers (de la Haye, A. & Tobin, S. Chanel: The Couturiere at Work. V&A Publications, 1994, p.94).

By the time that this dress was made however 'Chanel was back on top agian. Some of the best-dressed women in the world were to be numbered among her clients...' (ibid. p.97)
Associations
Lady Nutting
Summary
In 1954, at the age of 71, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel' (1883-1971) presented a comeback collection, after a retirement of fifteen years. She challenged the formality and complexity of the fashions of the time, and was critical of designers such as Christian Dior (1905-57). Pat Cunningham, editor of Vogue said, 'Femininity had gone too far - you needed stage-coach luggage to pack your frocks in and ladies' maids to fix the trimmings and petticoats. Chanel simplified clothes to meet modern needs.'

In 1957 Dior died, leaving Chanel once more the undisputed leader of fashion. In this year she won the Neiman-Marcus award for fashion, and in 1958 Vogue declared her 'more truly of today' than many designers half her age.

This dress was worn by the 1950s model, Anne Gunning Parker (later Lady Nutting).
Bibliographic references
  • de la Haye, A. & Tobin, S. Chanel: The Couturiere at Work. V&A Publications, 1994, p.96.
  • Cullen, Oriole and Karol Burks, Connie. "Gabrielle Chanel". London: V&A Publishing, 2023 p 205 Cocktail and evening dresses of black or white lace featured regularly in Chanel’s collections during the 1950s and ’60s. This strapless, form-fitting example from 1956 is made of black lace over silk, constructed over a boned foundation. Its trumpet-shaped skirt flares to a triple flounce at the hem that is supported by a layered petticoat heavily stiffened with a deep band of black net. Reporting on the collection for the British press, journalist Hazel Hackett picked out this dress, commenting that ‘one swathed black lace dress had a flamenco flavour with its bunch of low-set flounces’. With its boned construction and stiffened petticoat, it is a key example of Chanel’s experimentation with structure and is a world away from her signature draping bias-cut and free-flowing dresses of the 1930s. Its slender, flared shape represents Chanel’s own take on the 1950s silhouette that typically saw either the pencil skirt or voluminous full skirt in most evening dresses of the time.
Collection
Textiles and Fashion Collection
Accession number
T.131-1990

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Record createdJanuary 10, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O143241/evening-dress-chanel-coco/
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