1877
AMERICAN
Afternoon Dress
American, ca. 1877
Black silk faille trimmed with black silk satin
Gift of Theodore Fischer Ells, 1975 (1975.227.4)
1995
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
“Bumster” Skirt
Autumn/winter 1995–96, edition 2010
Alexander McQueen, British, 1969–2010
Black silk faille
Courtesy Alexander McQueen
This dress typifies the hourglass contours of the princess line, in vogue between 1876 and 1881. Introduced by Charles Frederick Worth and named after Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the princess line consisted of a one-piece dress without a horizontal waist seam; vertical seaming instead extended uninterrupted from the shoulders to the skirt, creating an extremely formfitting, long-waisted silhouette. The style typically lacked a bustle, but gathers, ruffles, and puffs cascading from below the hips created a similar effect. Here, the skirt is gathered into swags at the front that join a waterfall of puffs at the back, ending in a rounded train.
Alexander McQueen radically reinterpreted the princess line in his “Bumster” trousers and skirts, which are cut outrageously low on the hips, revealing the lower back and upper buttocks. Like the princess silhouette, the extreme cut of the “Bumster” creates the illusion of an elongated torso. Of the design, McQueen commented, “To me, that part of the body—not so much the buttocks, but the bottom of the spine—that’s the most erotic part of anyone’s body, man or woman.” .
Alexander McQueen radically reinterpreted the princess line in his “Bumster” trousers and skirts, which are cut outrageously low on the hips, revealing the lower back and upper buttocks. Like the princess silhouette, the extreme cut of the “Bumster” creates the illusion of an elongated torso. Of the design, McQueen commented, “To me, that part of the body—not so much the buttocks, but the bottom of the spine—that’s the most erotic part of anyone’s body, man or woman.” .