Evening ensemble

Valentina

ca. 1938 · silk · Costume Institute

During the 1930s, stylish clothing that was made specifically for entertaining guests at home was in vogue. While slightly more comfortable, it was often as elegant as evening wear and frequently had an element of fantasy or historicism. This particular example, worn by the chic Millicent Rogers, is made of an ivory slubbed silk, an example of how Valentina used unexpected fabric choices, rather than the ubiquitous lamé of the period. Instead of using a glamorous fabric in a simple cut, she combines an inventive bodice treatment that refers to the corseted bodices of the 18th-century peasant class with a signature barrel-shaped sleeve to craft an ensemble for a modern, stylish woman.

Artist

Valentina

Date

ca. 1938

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 Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 1954