Wedding Bodice and Cap
1946 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Pierre Balmain maintained that 'the basic job of a couturier...is to dress women for everyday living'. Everyday living for Balmain's clientele often involved grand evening occasions, and he is perhaps best known for the lavish ball-gowns he created for these events.
Miss Stella Carcano y Morra wore this jacket at her marriage to Viscount Ednam on 10 January 1946. She teamed it with a skirt of white faille and a small pillbox cap. Balmain later wrote, 'This was the first society marriage for which I designed the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses'.
The jacket forms part of the Cecil Beaton Collection. Sir Cecil Beaton was a society photographer. With great energy and determination Beaton contacted the well-dressed élite of Europe and North America to help create this monument to the art of dress. The Collection was exhibited in 1971, accompanied by a catalogue that detailed its enormous range.
Miss Stella Carcano y Morra wore this jacket at her marriage to Viscount Ednam on 10 January 1946. She teamed it with a skirt of white faille and a small pillbox cap. Balmain later wrote, 'This was the first society marriage for which I designed the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses'.
The jacket forms part of the Cecil Beaton Collection. Sir Cecil Beaton was a society photographer. With great energy and determination Beaton contacted the well-dressed élite of Europe and North America to help create this monument to the art of dress. The Collection was exhibited in 1971, accompanied by a catalogue that detailed its enormous range.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Quilted satin, embroidered with pearls |
| Brief description | Wedding bodice, 1945-1946, French, Balmain, white satin quilted with pearls, with wedding cap, 1946, French, Paulette |
| Physical description | Tiny, gleaming costume pearls embellish this white satin bridal corsage. It is quilted and beaded all over in a simple pattern of scallops, each punctuated by a large pearl flanked by two small pearls. The cap is a small matching pillbox |
| Production type | Haute couture |
| Credit line | Given by Stella, Lady Ednam |
| Object history | Miss Stella Carcano y Morra wore this bodice and cap for her 10 January 1946 marriage to William Humble David Ward, later 4th Earl of Dudley, when he was Viscount Ednam on 10 January 1946. She teamed it with a skirt of white faille. Balmain later wrote, 'This was the first society marriage for which I designed the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses'. |
| Summary | Pierre Balmain maintained that 'the basic job of a couturier...is to dress women for everyday living'. Everyday living for Balmain's clientele often involved grand evening occasions, and he is perhaps best known for the lavish ball-gowns he created for these events. Miss Stella Carcano y Morra wore this jacket at her marriage to Viscount Ednam on 10 January 1946. She teamed it with a skirt of white faille and a small pillbox cap. Balmain later wrote, 'This was the first society marriage for which I designed the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses'. The jacket forms part of the Cecil Beaton Collection. Sir Cecil Beaton was a society photographer. With great energy and determination Beaton contacted the well-dressed élite of Europe and North America to help create this monument to the art of dress. The Collection was exhibited in 1971, accompanied by a catalogue that detailed its enormous range. |
| Bibliographic reference | Fashion : An Anthology by Cecil Beaton. London : H.M.S.O., 1971
no. 33 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.46&A-1974 |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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