"Taxi"
Charles James
ca. 1932 · wool, synthetic · Costume Institute
James considered this dress one of his most important designs, both commercially and artistically. Though difficult to manufacture—one side of the top and the spiral wrap-over skirt being made without seams—it was the first dress to be sold in a department store’s accessories department, along with sweaters, in sealed cellophane packages. It was made in two sizes and sold at Best & Co. in 1933–34 for twenty-two dollars. James conceived the spiral design in 1929, and this sample piece in a novel ribbed wool appears to date from before his commercial version for Best’s, exemplifying how the designer continuously refined his ideas.
- Artist
- Charles James
- Date
- ca. 1932
- Medium
- wool, synthetic
- Culture
- American
- Department
- Costume Institute
- Credit line
- Purchase, Alan W. Kornberg Gift, 2013
