Evening ensemble

Gabrielle Chanel|House of Chanel

1935 · silk, rayon, plastic · Costume Institute

From the late teens, Chanel created glamorous evening clothes entirely embellished with paillettes. While the paillettes were seemingly inconsistent with her anti-decorative aesthetic, she asserted the modernity of her designs by applying them in a uniform field, which enhanced a garment's monochromatic starkness as well as its straight, usually tubular, silhouette. Some of her all-over paillette evening clothes revealed sportswear influences. Several were based on separates dressing, such as tops, skirts, and scarves, with some bodices revealing straps based on swimwear. Most famously, Chanel created a luxe version of her beach pajamas for the fashion arbiter Diana Vreeland.

Artist

Gabrielle Chanel|House of Chanel

Date

1935

Medium

silk, rayon, plastic

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Claudia de Osborne, 1977