Worn by donor, Mrs. William McCormick Blair Jr., who purchased the dress for $2,125 and wore this Balenciaga evening gown to an opening of the Metropolitan Opera.
This dress is called Infanta, or sometimes Williamsburg, referring to skirts worn at two different times in history. Infanta was a title used by royal women in the seventeenth century Spanish court, whose wide skirts are captured in paintings by...
James launched this mermaid-like gown early in his career and created several versions of it over a period of twenty years. The name of the dress, La Sirène, refers to sea creatures in Greek mythology who used their enchanting voices to lure...
James designed this dress for New Yorker Millicent Rogers in 1949. Two year later the design appeared in Vogue magazine, when it was photographed by Horst and included in James's "black and white" collection. James described the dress as a...
James, Charles, 1906-1978 (designer); Samuel Winston Inc. (manufacturer)
1952
There are four known versions of this dress, including this one worn by Chicagoan, Mrs. Byron Harvey, Jr. The others belonged to Mrs. Jean de Menil, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, and Mrs. William Randolph Hearst Jr.
Anita Carolyn Blair wore this dress to the debut of Gladys High in Chicago, a bold and possibly scandalous choice that would have upstaged the young woman hosting the party.
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...
James created his first Tree gown in 1955; this version followed two years later. He stated that the design used "faille stretched like a ruched membrane over a stiffened shell molded NOT to the figure of the client, but to the shape I wished it...
