1908
FRENCH
Dress
French, 1908
Navy wool twill inset with navy silk net and trimmed with
black silk soutache and cream silk lace
Gift of Mrs. William Floyd Nichols and
Mrs. B. Langdon Tyler, 1975 (1975.248.14)
2011
MARC JACOBS
for LOUIS VUITTON
Dress
Autumn/winter 2011–12
Louis Vuitton, French, founded 1854
Marc Jacobs, American, born 1963
Navy blue synthetic twill and white patent leather
Courtesy Collection Louis Vuitton
In the early twentieth century, fashion took inspiration from the high waistlines and narrow proportions of Napoleonic-era costumes. This walking dress alludes to the spencer jacket, a form of outerwear with a bust-length bodice that was de rigueur in the early years of the nineteenth century. The spencer was often designed with military or menswear details such as soutache trimming and decorative buttons, also included here, and softened at the neck and wrist with ruffles and frills, details echoed in the lace-edged collar, frilled jabot, and ruffled sleeve ends of this example.
Marc Jacobs renewed this high-waisted silhouette in his autumn/winter 2011–12 collection for Louis Vuitton. Made of blue synthetic twill, this dress features a similar front panel sewn with leather-covered buttons from the neckline to just below the bust. Along with its rigid, plasticized lace collar and short, puffed sleeves, the garment combines the demure quality of the early twentieth-century style with the discipline of a military uniform.
Marc Jacobs renewed this high-waisted silhouette in his autumn/winter 2011–12 collection for Louis Vuitton. Made of blue synthetic twill, this dress features a similar front panel sewn with leather-covered buttons from the neckline to just below the bust. Along with its rigid, plasticized lace collar and short, puffed sleeves, the garment combines the demure quality of the early twentieth-century style with the discipline of a military uniform.