Nightgown

Madeleine Vionnet

ca. 1930 · silk · Costume Institute

Vionnet purified and distilled form, compressing fashion to its essential structure. A monogram is a like identifier, representing an individual, but abridging the name to initials and letting those initials become a visual form. Hardly the name tags of garments for sleep-away camp, monograms are inherently an elite system, suggesting known names from the discreet initials and the capacity of extrapolating the whole from first letters.

Artist

Madeleine Vionnet

Date

ca. 1930

Medium

silk

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. T. Reed Vreeland, 1960