Evening dress

Unknown

1902 · silk, sequins · Costume Institute

Worn by Queen Alexandra the year following Queen Victoria’s death, this evening gown expresses the opulence of court dress in tones of half-mourning. This gown demonstrates a dramatic shift from the sober mourning attire of Queen Victoria, whose wardrobe in her later years responded little to changes in fashion. This contrast reflects differences in individual sensibilities, along with a more broadly shifting sense of propriety regarding mourning fashions at the turn of the twentieth century, which saw a loosening of the rigid prescriptions of earlier decades.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1902

Medium

silk, sequins

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Miss Irene Lewisohn, 1937