Suit

Gilbert Adrian

fall/winter 1950–51 · wool · Costume Institute

An Adrian jacket is typically constructed from six pieces with front closures and a center back seam. Fitted at the waist, it has shoulder pads that measure anywhere between ¾ of an inch to 1¼ inches in thickness. Skirts are either slightly flared or fall straight with a side closure. While jackets are usually lined, normally with rayon crepe, skirts are left unlined. In 1945 Adrian commented in the New York Times, "Women who have narrow shoulders look best with narrow hips to go with them. But most women don't have narrow hips so I broaden their shoulders in proportion." After Christian Dior's introduction of the New Look in August 1947, Adrian observed that some women who had adopted the new silhouette "looked as though they were coming up out of holes in the ground," especially if they were petite. Although Adrian promoted his aesthetic in direct contradiction to Parisian authority, his suits continued to be embraced as a flattering style. As Virginia Pope, the fashion editor of the New York Times, pointed out in 1950, his impeccable tailoring was "modern, exciting and completely Adrian."

Artist

Gilbert Adrian

Date

fall/winter 1950–51

Medium

wool

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Joseph S. Simms, 1979