Evening dress

Charles James

1952 · silk · Costume Institute

The skirt of this dress is an especially exuberant rendering of James’s spiral draping. He cut away the below-knee-length hem as it winds clockwise over itself until it terminates in a disengaged point at the left front waist. The narrow underskirt, barely visible, suggests a continuation of the spiral but is cut separately. Here James exploited taffeta’s natural body and ability to hold its form to exaggerate the skirt’s animated and layered effect.

Artist

Charles James

Date

1952

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 Mrs. R. A. Bernatschke, 1955