i63466 |
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Object Description
| Basic ID | Evening dress, Swan, 1954. Silk chiffon silk and nylon tulle. Charles James, U.S.A. Gift of Mrs. Corson Ellis. 1960.319 |
| Artists/Makers | James, Charles, 1906-1978 (designer) |
| Title | Swan |
| Other Title | Dress |
| Place of Origin | United States |
| Date | 1954 |
| Description | Dress, ball gown-style, of brown chiffon over white satin base layer and net skirt. Strapless fitted bodice; chiffon over-layer decorated by tucks creating a pattern of V-shapes. Matching brown chiffon polonaise drapes over conical skirt composed of layers of brown, orange, yellow, purple, yellow green, and pink orange net. |
| Materials/Techniques |
silk (fiber) chiffon net (textile) |
| Marks | Charles James-'54.; Harvey |
| Object History | Designed initially in black silk chiffon and tulle, this gown became James's most executed custom order. Vogue featured the garment in 1951. James's wife, Nancy, wore it in the mid 1950s and he created at least one version with a cocktail-length skirt. Ironically, the Swan's ingenious construction may also be its the reason for its demise: a garment this complex presents many challenges for long term preservation. Worn by Mrs. Byron Harvey, Jr. |
| Curatorial Statement | By far the most complex James design in the Museum's collection, the Swan is made of more than thirty layers and nearly one hundred pattern pieces. Although James usually focused on one or two main concepts per design, this dress suggests that he was exploring combinations of influences and approaches. In it James blended his own techniques with techniques from the past, such as tie-back supports, a type of bustle popular from the 1870s and 1880s. A CT scan was taken of this dress to allow for a review of the interior construction. Unfortunately, due to the large size of the hem of the skirt, only the top half of the dress fit into the scanning machine. The image shows bright lines representing metal stays sewn into the bodice and the top of the skirt. A closer review of the front hip area of the skirt shows numerous metal straight pins that were left in the dress from the time of original construction. |
| Subjects | Harvey, Byron Jr., Mrs. |
| Object Types |
dresses (garments) evening dresses (garments) |
| Classification | costume (mode of fashion) |
| Categories |
clothing main garments evening dress (concept) |
| Credit Line | Gift of Mrs. Corson Ellis |
| Owner | Chicago Historical Society |
| Exhibition History | Chic Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum. Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. (2007/10/12 - 2008/01/05); Charfles James: Genius Deconstructed. Chicago Histiory Museum (2011/10/22 - 2012/04/16) |
| Object Number | 1960.319 |
| Image File Name | i63466.jpg |
| Rights | All rights reserved. Contact Chicago History Museum, Rights & Reproductions (rightsrepro@chicagohistory.org) for use. |
| Collection Name | Costume and Textile Collection |
| Repository | Chicago History Museum. 1601 North Clark Street Chicago, Illinois 60614-6038 |
Additional Information
| Basic ID | Evening dress, Swan, 1954. Silk chiffon silk and nylon tulle. Charles James, U.S.A. Gift of Mrs. Corson Ellis. 1960.319 |
| Title | i63466 |
| Rights | All rights reserved. Contact Chicago History Museum, Rights & Reproductions (rightsrepro@chicagohistory.org) for use. |
| Collection Name | Costume and Textile Collection |
| Repository | Chicago History Museum |
