Chanel evening dress with stole
Object No. 96/386/8
Over the four decades that Gabrielle Chanel worked in haute couture she created many diverse styles of dress. She was known in the 1920s for her cardigan suits or sheath-like dresses and the 1950s and early 1960s when her braid trimmed, English tweed suits fastened with gilt buttons, became the default uniform for many affluent matrons. Arguably, Chanel's designs from the 1930s are less recognisable yet it was a period when the designer produced some of her most interesting work such as this full-length evening dress from the Chanel Spring 1939 collection. This strapless dress, made from a fine lightweight plain silk weave printed with a painterly feather motif in cyclamen, green, blue and yellow on a black ground, features cut-outs of the individual feather designs with meticulously oversewn edges, adorning the surface of the print, bringing the two-dimensional design to life. Chanel's clothes were not usually known for their wit yet this effect, heightened with the use of dyed ostrich feathers around the bodice is a playful nod to Surrealist art of the 1930s. Roger Leong, Senior Curator, 2016
Loading...
Summary
Object Statement
Evening dress, womens, spring-summer 1939, silk / ostrich feather, designed by Gabrielle Chanel, Paris, France, 1939
Physical Description
Full length evening dress in lightweight silk plain weave with painterly feather print of cyclamen in green, blue and yellow on black background. The strapless bodice is appliqued with fabric feather cut-outs and trimmed with variegated pink dyed ostrich feathers. A boned inner bodice of rayon grosgrain supports the line. The skirt has flared panels and is similarly appliqued with fabric feathers all the way to the hem. The skirt is lined in black rayon with a [later addition] silk chiffon bias flounce panel. Dress closes at centre back with press studs. This dress is accessorised with an unlabelled pink dyed ostrich feather asymmetric stole; the major piece over one shoulder like a wing; this is secured around neck with a boa extension; wing lined in pink silk chiffon. The colour of the feathers is slightly different to those on the dress suggesting that this stole may have been made later, possibly by a different maker.
DIMENSIONS
Height
1550 mm
Width
500 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
The stole has slightly different coloured feathers to the dress. It may have been made by a different maker than Chanel.
HISTORY
Notes
The dress was photographed in US Vogue, 15 March 1939, page 60.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 1996
Acquisition Date
9 June 1998
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
Image Licensing Enquiry
Object Enquiry