Day Dress | c. 1947
An enormous bustle bow dominates this striped silk dress by Victor Steibel. In February 1947 Christian Dior had launched the New Look featuring pinched waists, full skirts and a soft shoulder line. It was an attempt to reinstate feminity in dress after a period of wartime austerity and shortage. The impractical scale and frivolity of Steibel’s bow was clearly a defiant gesture against rationing. It makes lavish use of material and is so large and weighty that it requires the support of a sturdy horsehair frill beneath the skirts.
House of Dior | Nuit D’Aout | c. 1954
Jessie Franklin Turner | Tea Gown | c. 1940
Teagowns or “negligees” as the style was sometimes called at the time, were adapted from strictly at home wear to dinner and evening dress in the 1930s. This particular teagown, one of her most well-known design types, exemplifies this alternative form of formal dress and Turner’s luxurious and unconventional design aesthetic. The use of sumptuous materials and textures, combined in pleasing ways, was a signature element of her designs, seen here in the expert juxtaposition of taffeta, lace, chiffon and satin. Turner was also known for her interesting, often unexpected, color combinations, shown in this teagown in the use of calming celadon satin, chiffon and lace contrasted with the softest of pink and vibrant magenta details.
Feliks Topolski | c.1947
I am loving the shoulders and the bias cut skirt. I with there was a detail shot of the print :(
Salvatore Ferragamo | “Booty” | c. 1947
