Evening vest

Madame Marie Gerber|Callot Soeurs

ca. 1910 · linen · Costume Institute

First established in the 1890s by the four Callot sisters as a lingerie and lace business, Callot Soeurs evolved into a premier dressmaking house in the early years of the 20th century. Madame Gerber, the eldest Callot sister, served as the primary designer for the house until 1927 when her sons took over the business. Rita de Acosta Lydig (1880-1929), a noted beauty and style icon of the early twentieth century, owned this garment, attributed to Callot Soeurs. A great admirer and collector of lace, de Acosta Lydig favored simple silhouettes, even culotte-type bifurcated dresses, which she paired with her signature lace vests or jackets, like this example. It is a stunning garment using three 17th-century Venetian type laces, each constructed with a different lace-making technique, two flat and the other with raised elements, which create a contrast in texture and surface. The piecing to refashion antique laces into a garment requires the skill and sensitivity of "couture hands," such as those that sewed the renowned lace-embellished Belle Epoque dresses from Callot Soeurs.

Artist

Madame Marie Gerber|Callot Soeurs

Date

ca. 1910

Medium

linen

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mercedes de Acosta, 1954