Dress of off white silk organdy patterned with crossed black lines. Straight, low neckline with 1" thick straps. Wide self-fabric ruffle at bust. Center front buttons from top hem to navel; buttons are silver-colored and white squares with engraved white cruciform flowers. Bias-cut. Floor-length.
Worn by Mrs. Walter Paepcke, née Elizabeth Nitze (1902-94).
Curatorial Statement
Women's dress in the 1930s can be summed up in one word: bias (the cross-grain of fabric). This dress perfectly illustrates this new style of cutting. The black lines of the fabric are on the straight grain of the material but fall at 45 degree angles showing how the cross-grain or natural "stretch" of the fabric is used. Ukrainian-born Valentina Sanina started her dressmaking business in New York in 1925.
