Evening dress

Simcox

1912 · silk, metal, rhinestones · Costume Institute

Simcox, a New York dressmaker, highlights the Egyptian revival in fashion with this evening dress. ancient-Egypt influenced designs were a recurring theme during the 19th and early 20th centuries, reaching their height in the 1920s with Howard Carter's discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922. The curved bead motifs flanking the blue scarab mimic the representation of disk and horn headdress of Hathor and Isis. The asymmetric construction of the bodice is a representative style popular after 1910. The dress was worn by Jennie Lamson Currier on the occasion of marriage of the donor, C. Otto v. Kienbusch (1884-1976) to Mildred Clarke Pressinger (ca. 1888-1968), on January 4, 1912.

Artist

Simcox

Date

1912

Medium

silk, metal, rhinestones

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 C. Otto v. Kienbusch in memory of Mildred Clarke v. Kienbusch, 1968