The Paris Exhibition of decorative arts of 1925 had an enormous impact on American design when it toured the USA the following year. It encouraged American designers to create furniture and interiors in the modern style. One example is this printed silk dress fabric called ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ by Ralph Barton, a well-known caricaturist, for the Stehli Silks Corporation. The pattern shows men in top hats focusing their attention on blonde women. It takes its inspiration from Anita Loos’s satirical novel of the same name, published in 1925. This tells the story of a flapper who becomes a film star by marrying a wealthy man. (The 1953 film of the novel was directed by Howard Hawkes and starred Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.)

The textile is part of the ‘Americana’ range of dress fabrics which Stehli Silks commissioned from leading artists in 1927. To make a change from ubiquitous floral patterns, these fabrics were designed specifically to depict contemporary American life.