Evening dress

Halston

ca. 1972 · silk · Costume Institute

Beginning his career as a milliner, Halston later crossed over to ready-to-wear, promoting minimal design. His loyal clientele of the rich and famous chose to display his creations in trendy locals such as New York's Studio 54. In 1971, he began incorporating Ultrasuede into his work, which was an instant success, becoming one of his signature fabrics. Halston's quick rise to fame ended abruptly when he agreed to design an inexpensive line for J.C. Penney. While his career ended in the eighties, his innovations continue to be seen in fashion today, and have been resurrected with the Halston brand of the twenty-first century. An elegant jersey dress, one of the designer's signatures, its construction is extremely simple. A circular skirt with an elasticized waist, the dress is made unique by the long ties, which the wearer can wrap around the bodice however they please. Instead of detailed tailoring, the designer chose to manipulate the fabric, simply twisting it, creating a Grecian-like silhouette.

Artist

Halston

Date

ca. 1972

Medium

silk

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Toni Tavan Ausnit, 1990