Evening dress

Designer Charles James American

Not on view

The slightly structured strapless bodice is overlaid with a diagonal panel originating at the right side waist, which is draped loosely around the back to curve in a fan over the shoulder. The skirt is similarly unconventional. Many of James’s other draped effects are made from continuous panels, but this asymmetrical skirt has multiple parts, each seamed in a pronounced curve. The seams lightly buttress the final draping. The effect may appear spontaneous, but the construction reveals James’s deliberate intentions.

Evening dress, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), silk, American

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