Worn by Mrs. A. F. Ratray Grieg at Mrs. Potter Palmer's reception for the opening of her house on Lake Shore Drive. Mrs. Grieg was the daughter of David Rattray and Euretta Stuart who came to Illinois from New York in a covered wagon around 1837. ...
James, Charles, 1906-1978 (designer); Marshall Field & Company (distributor)
1954
Charles James originally designed the Butterfly ball gown for Mrs. William Randolph Hearst Jr., for the price of $1,250. The sculptural design lives up to a comment once made by Spanish couturier Cristbal Balenciaga, "Charles James is not only the...
Worn by Mrs. Robert E. Carroll (née Harriet Bermingham, b. June 3, 1922 in Chicago; m. Sept. 27, 1950; d. Dec. 21, 1967). Mrs. Carroll purchased the dress in 1950 in New York City for her trousseau. The dress was initially sold twisted into a...
Cánovas del Castillo, Antonio, 1908-1984 (designer); Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (designer)
1950
Worn by donor, née Katherine Woodruff, at her marriage to Marshall Field, Jr. The dress was designed by Antonio Cánova del Castillo who opened the Haute Couture Department of the Elizabeth Arden Salon in New York in 1945.
Dior, Christian (designer); Christian Dior, Inc. (designer)
circa 1954
This dress was worn by the donor, Mrs. Henry D. Paschen (Maria Tallchief). Although the donor does not remember altering this garment, there are signs of alterations throughout the bodice, waist and skirt hem. The original lining to the bodice has...
Halston, 1932-1990 (designer); I. Magnin & Co. (distributor)
circa 1976
Worn by donor, née Lynne Walker (born 1928, married July 19, 1969 to Leo Durocher). Worn with silver sandals, diamond and pearl jewelry, and fur wrap to the Chicago Lyric Opera opening in 1976 and the Big Brothers Charity Ball at the Casino Club,...
Part of the trousseau of Mrs. Ebenezer Andrews, Jr. (née Helen E. Robinson) of 389 Wabash Ave., mother of the donor. The wedding took place on September 15, 1869. The gown was cut and fitted at Field, Leiter and Company.
Worn by Mrs. Henry A. Rumsey. In 1911, the Rumseys commissioned a grand home - modeled after the eighteenth-century Clifford Manor House in Warwickshire, England - on eight acres in Lake Forest, Illinois. The label on this dress states it was made...
Dior, Christian (designer); Marshall Field & Company (distributor)
1948
This gown is from the first Dior New York Collection designed by Christian Dior. It should be belted very tightly at the waist with a rust colored belt. Worn by donor, Mrs. William Englehaupt (Dorothy Fuller). Dorothy Fuller's name is synonymous...
Worth, Charles Frédérick, 1825-1895 (designer); Worth and Bobergh (designer)
1861
Although married in Chicago in 1858, it was not until 1874 that the McCormick family constructed a permanent Chicago residence. They had homes in both New York and Washington and traveled abroad extensively, particularly to European expositions at...
