Beaded Bow Dress

Brief Item Record

Title: Beaded Bow Dress

Date: 1920-1929

Description: Black chiffon dress with beaded bow at dropped waist. Sheer black silk crepe chiffon, round white glass beads, mother of pearl, silver bugle beads, metal snaps, black grosgrain ribbon inner waistband with metal hooks and eyes.

Full Item Record

Dublin Core

Identifier

VC1992015

Title

Beaded Bow Dress

Description

Black chiffon dress with beaded bow at dropped waist. Sheer black silk crepe chiffon, round white glass beads, mother of pearl, silver bugle beads, metal snaps, black grosgrain ribbon inner waistband with metal hooks and eyes.

Date

1920-1929

Subject

Clothing and dress

Extent

32 inches (chest), 38 inches (waist), 48.5 inches (center front length), 50 inches (center back length), 98 inches (hem circumference), 10.5 inches (underarm to waist).

Type

Physical Object

Temporal Coverage

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Rights Holder

© Vassar College Costume Collection. Images in this collection may be used for teaching, classroom presentation, and research purposes only. For other reuse, reproduction and publication of these images, contact costumeshop@vassar.edu.

Costume Item Type Metadata

Color Main

Color Secondary

Technique

Chest

32

Waist

38

Center Front Length

48.5

Center Back Length

50

Hem Circumference

98

Underarm to Waist

10.5

All Measurements

32 inches (chest), 38 inches (waist), 48.5 inches (center front length), 50 inches (center back length), 98 inches (hem circumference), 10.5 inches (underarm to waist).

References

malonoff, p. 79-80 moore, p. 175

Date Earliest

1920

Date Latest

1929

Gender

Classification

costume
clothing

Function

Exhibitions

Vassar Girls and Other Women

Public Information

By the time we arrive at this black silk crepe chiffon dress with a trompe 1'oeil beaded bow along the dropped waist, straight lines have almost completely replaced the curves of the nineteenth century. With the drama of the strengthening of line comes a certain drama of color: 'Art Nouveau and abstract art, aided by photography, were able to create a new set of visual possibilities for black clothing in the twentieth century that could take new account of its purely visual appeal. At that time, about the end of the First World War, conventional sober black for feminine costume [popularized by the wearing of mourning by Queen Victoria for at least twenty years after the death of Prince Albert] had largely given way to pale colors, as feminine freedom of self expression advanced and became a commonplace, along with feminine employment. Black could again rely more on its visual impact than on its symbolic social impact, (Anne Hollander, Seeing Through Clothes New York: Penguin Books, 1975. p. 381-2). Here we find a dress whose focus on the design elements of line and color powerfully emphasizes the motion of the body wearing it.

Condition Term

very good

Condition Description

Beading missing on right shoulder strap; some beading missing on trim of left should strap.

Mannequin

size 10 1972

Storage Location

C4

Exhibition Notes

19 black crepe chiffon evening dress with beaded bow, 1920's 1992.15 By the time we arrive at this black silk crepe chiffon dress with a trompe 1'oeil beaded bow along the dropped waist, straight lines have almost completely replaced the curves of the nineteenth century. With the drama of the strengthening of line comes a certain drama of color: 'Art Nouveau and abstract art, aided by photography, were able to create a new set of visual possibilities for black clothing in the twentieth century that could take new account of its purely visual appeal. At that time, about the end of the First World War, conventional sober black for feminine costume [popularized by the wearing of mourning by Queen Victoria for at least twenty years after the death of Prince Albert] had largely given way to pale colors, as feminine freedom of self expression advanced and became a commonplace, along with feminine employment. Black could again rely more on its visual impact than on its symbolic social impact, (Anne Hollander, Seeing Through Clothes New York: Penguin Books, 1975. p. 381-2). Here we find a dress whose focus on the design elements of line and color powerfully emphasizes the motion of the body wearing it.

Work Type

Citation

“Beaded Bow Dress,” Vassar College Costume Collection, accessed September 26, 2023, https://vccc.vassarspaces.net/items/show/687.