Evening Dress
1954 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Balenciaga was the most exclusive fashion house in Paris immediately after World War II. The Spanish-born couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972), regarded by his peers as ‘the Master’, had moved to Paris from Spain in 1937. By 1952 he had 232 employees there and was producing 356 new designs per year. His clients, admitted to his salon only after a personal introduction, included many cosmopolitan women of different nationalities.
Balenciaga was a perfectionist in cutting, sewing and finishing garments, and was renowned for his exacting standards. Plain fabrics show up defects in any aspect of dressmaking so this dress, shown here prepared for the V&A’s 2007 exhibition, The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957, reveals his craftsmanship. He created this elegant sleeveless summer gown in a simple, pared-down shape in a stiff ribbed cotton, the type of fabric which provided opportunities for his famed 'sculpted' shapes. It is displayed here under a pea-green 'duster' coat (T.230-1984).
Balenciaga was a perfectionist in cutting, sewing and finishing garments, and was renowned for his exacting standards. Plain fabrics show up defects in any aspect of dressmaking so this dress, shown here prepared for the V&A’s 2007 exhibition, The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957, reveals his craftsmanship. He created this elegant sleeveless summer gown in a simple, pared-down shape in a stiff ribbed cotton, the type of fabric which provided opportunities for his famed 'sculpted' shapes. It is displayed here under a pea-green 'duster' coat (T.230-1984).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Ribbed cotton |
| Brief description | Sleeveless evening dress of ribbed cotton, designed by Cristóbal Balenciaga, made by Lajoinie, Paris, 1954 |
| Physical description | Sleeveless full-length evening dress of white (horizontally) ribbed cotton with a centre-back zip fastening. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Haute couture |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Mrs D.M. Haynes and Mrs M. Clark |
| Object history | Opal Holt was born in Canada in 1887 but lived in the US until the end of the Second World War. She travelled extensively between the wars and was in the first plane to land in Bali. She married Herbert Holt, a Canadian who lived a large part of his life in England, as her third husband in 1946. They came to England and Europe every summer and Opal Holt began buying clothes in Paris for her life in England, and for the Bahamas in Winter, over a period of about thirty years. She died in 1980. Given by Mrs D.M Haynes and Mrs. Clark (nee Holt; Opal Holt's step-daughters). |
| Summary | Balenciaga was the most exclusive fashion house in Paris immediately after World War II. The Spanish-born couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972), regarded by his peers as ‘the Master’, had moved to Paris from Spain in 1937. By 1952 he had 232 employees there and was producing 356 new designs per year. His clients, admitted to his salon only after a personal introduction, included many cosmopolitan women of different nationalities. Balenciaga was a perfectionist in cutting, sewing and finishing garments, and was renowned for his exacting standards. Plain fabrics show up defects in any aspect of dressmaking so this dress, shown here prepared for the V&A’s 2007 exhibition, The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957, reveals his craftsmanship. He created this elegant sleeveless summer gown in a simple, pared-down shape in a stiff ribbed cotton, the type of fabric which provided opportunities for his famed 'sculpted' shapes. It is displayed here under a pea-green 'duster' coat (T.230-1984). |
| Bibliographic reference | Demornex, J., and Jouve, M., Balenciaga (New York, 1989), unpaginated. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.126-1982 |
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| Record created | February 11, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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