Evening dress
Jacques Fath · spring/summer 1947
Jacques Fath
- Corset-inspired couture
- Sculptural ball gowns
Jacques Fath made the upper body a site for structural experimentation. The Met highlights visible corset-style lacing in a spring/summer 1947 evening dress and the projecting outer bodice of a ball gown from about 1951.
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Collection selection
Evening dress
spring/summer 1947
Fath exposed lacing across the narrow bodice of this pink evening dress from spring/summer 1947. The Met connects its deliberate reference to corsetry with the tightly defined waist of postwar fashion. Its recorded material, cellulose acetate, gives the historically suggestive structure a distinctly twentieth-century substance.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Gift of Richard Martin, 1993
Collection selection
Ball gown
ca. 1951
Fath set an extended outer bodice above a pale satin inner section in this ball gown from about 1951. The Met emphasizes its contrasts of black and ivory, matte and reflective surfaces, and rich ornament. The angular top creates a sculptural frame above the long, dark skirt.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Gift of Mrs. Giorgio Uzielli, 1984
Collection selection
Wedding suit
1954 · V&A collection
Worsted and cotton, figured with gold lurex thread, lined and boned.
©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Jacques Fath
Collection selection
Dress
1949-1950 · V&A collection
Wool lined with net and silk, petersham.
©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Jacques Fath
Collection selection
Evening dress
1950 · V&A collection
Chine silk taffeta; hat of plaited nylon.
©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Jacques FathCollections & archive pieces
1 collections represented · 2 piecesspring/summer 1947
1 piece
ca. 1951
1 piece · Season not recorded
Ball gown
Jacques Fath · ca. 1951
About Jacques Fath
These designs connect the fitted postwar silhouette with unusually emphatic necklines, historical references and calculated contrasts of texture.