Evening belt

Designer Elsa Schiaparelli Italian

Not on view

Schiaparelli often used her accessories as avenues of expression for her Surrealist ideals. Buckles, clasps, decorations and belts themselves were made of unusual materials, such as plastic and plaster, and in quirky shapes that could elicit a viewer’s double-take. To pair such an off-beat accessory with a couture garment was just the kind of humorous irony Schiaparelli enjoyed incorporating into her work. Here, she uses a bubbled plastic studded with gilded stars. The celestial realm and astronomy were favorite themes of hers, and was present in many collections. There is another example in the Brooklyn Museum collection, also owned by the fashionable Millicent Rogers, in a different color (see 2009.300.2764).

Evening belt, Elsa Schiaparelli (Italian, 1890–1973), plastic (cellulose acetate), metal, French

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