Evening dress

Halston

ca. 1978 · silk · Costume Institute

The one-shouldered gown appeared in many of Halston's collections. He was especially interested in the bias-spiraling of fabric over the body. Although this gown is modest in its coverage of the body, its sliced neckline and tentative anchoring on the right shoulder convey a potential for nudity and allude to the classical Greek fashion of fixing the himation, or cloak, at the shoulder to drape in a fall at one side.

Artist

Halston

Date

ca. 1978

Medium

silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Alexandra Auchincloss Herzan from the collection of Lily Auchincloss, 1996