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Evening Dress thumbnail 2
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Evening Dress

1925 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Turquoise silk georgette sleeveless evening dress with a straight cut chemise bodice with a low V-neckline. Heavily beaded with turquoise, black and clear glass beads on the bodice and down the streamers forming the skirt. The design comprising St Andrew's cross forms outlined with floral motifs. The apex of the crosses form the shoulder straps and end on the main skirt panels. Streamers with small floral designs hang between these and the skirt, and similarly beaded streamers hang under each armhole. These armhole streamers attach to the georgette slip with press studs, which is attached inside the dress at the top but is otherwise separate, and is also lined in matching chiffon. Slip of turquoise crêpe has been stitched into place at the top. It has shoulder straps, a loose straight top and gathered skirt.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Evening Dress
  • Slip
Materials and techniques
Silk georgette and glass beads, lined with chiffon
Brief description
Evening dress of silk georgette and crêpe slip, designed by Jeanne Lanvin, France, 1925
Physical description
Turquoise silk georgette sleeveless evening dress with a straight cut chemise bodice with a low V-neckline. Heavily beaded with turquoise, black and clear glass beads on the bodice and down the streamers forming the skirt. The design comprising St Andrew's cross forms outlined with floral motifs. The apex of the crosses form the shoulder straps and end on the main skirt panels. Streamers with small floral designs hang between these and the skirt, and similarly beaded streamers hang under each armhole. These armhole streamers attach to the georgette slip with press studs, which is attached inside the dress at the top but is otherwise separate, and is also lined in matching chiffon. Slip of turquoise crêpe has been stitched into place at the top. It has shoulder straps, a loose straight top and gathered skirt.
Dimensions
  • Shoulder to current hem length: 111cm (flat on table)
  • Widest part width: 63cm (flat on table)
Object history
This dress was worn by Miss Emilie Grigsby (1876-1964) who was a wealthy independent American who came to England from New York. She established a salon which was frequented by writers and the military. She was considered to be one of the great international beauties, with extremely pale, almost transparent skin and golden hair. She was frequently the subject of articles in the New York Times during the early 20th century. Her clothes were purchased from couturiers in London, Paris, and New York, and demonstrated an elegantly avant-garde approach to style.

At the time of acquisition Emilie Grigsby's friend, Miss Chisholm, stated that this dress and a few others were by Callot Soeurs. However, further research has confirmed that this dress is a 1925 design by Lanvin.
Bibliographic reference
Olivier Saillard, Laurent Cotta, Christian Gros, Sophie Grossiord, Marie-Laure Gutton and Sylvie Lécallier, Jeanne Lanvin [Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Palais Galliera, Paris, March 8 - August 23, 2015], (Paris: Paris Musées Editions, 2015), p. 148-149
Collection
Accession number
T.151&A-1967

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Record createdJune 12, 2009
Record URL
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