Dress Fabric thumbnail 1
Dress Fabric thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Dress Fabric

1937 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This silk and rayon satin dress fabric is printed with a repeat of flowers and leaves in white, pink, fushia, lavender, blue, yellow and black. Floral printed fabrics held a prominent place in every smart woman's wardrobe in the 1930s. Motifs floating on a plain ground worked admirably; navy, black and brown background colours were perennially in vogue. The use of floral decoration on cloth was hardly new but the flowers of the 1930s blossomed with fresh life and vigour. Detailed, naturalistic representations in the traditional manner were replaced with a freedom of line and form closely allied to contemporary movements in the fine and graphic arts.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Screen-printed silk and rayon satin
Brief description
Dress fabric of screen-printed silk and rayon satin, France, 1937
Physical description
Dress fabric of silk and rayon satin screen-printed with a repeat of flowers and leaves in white, pink, fushia, lavender, blue, yellow and black.
Dimensions
  • Max. width width: 885mm
  • Max. length length: 2310mm
  • Diameter: 84mm (Note: Rolled.)
Production typeMass produced
Summary
This silk and rayon satin dress fabric is printed with a repeat of flowers and leaves in white, pink, fushia, lavender, blue, yellow and black. Floral printed fabrics held a prominent place in every smart woman's wardrobe in the 1930s. Motifs floating on a plain ground worked admirably; navy, black and brown background colours were perennially in vogue. The use of floral decoration on cloth was hardly new but the flowers of the 1930s blossomed with fresh life and vigour. Detailed, naturalistic representations in the traditional manner were replaced with a freedom of line and form closely allied to contemporary movements in the fine and graphic arts.
Bibliographic reference
Webb & Bower / Michael Joseph, Thirties Floral Fabrics, V&A Colour Books
Collection
Accession number
T.54-1982

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJanuary 15, 2004
Record URL
Download as: JSON