"Clover Leaf"

Charles James

1953 · silk, silk/rayon · Costume Institute

The American couturier Charles James was noted for his breathtakingly sculptural creations. A James gown, like this famous Four-Leaf Clover, was a masterful blending of romantic Belle Epoque elegance and sexy mid-twentieth-century glamour. His beginnings as a milliner informed his most spectacular effects, relying as they did on a layered infrastructure of nylon mesh, feather-boning, buckram, and horsehair braid. A James gown did not require hoops and crinolines to hold its form; it could literally stand on its own.

Artist

Charles James

Date

1953

Medium

silk, silk/rayon

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Elizabeth Fairall, 1953