Cocktail ensemble

Anne Fogarty|Margot, Inc.

fall/winter 1955–56 · wool, silk · Costume Institute

For Fogarty, clothing elements worked together to create multipurpose dressing. This cocktail dress with decorative trim is matched with a short jacket, or spencer, that suppresses the decorative band but offers a well-cut military impression. The woman who wears this outfit does more than put on an additional layer of warmth with the jacket; she also transforms the reading of the ensemble. One might think she has changed during the course of the cocktail and dinner hour, but she has simply worn or doffed her jacket, and she appears complete and coherent in both stages.

Artist

Anne Fogarty|Margot, Inc.

Date

fall/winter 1955–56

Medium

wool, silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Miss Anne Fogarty, 1959