1930
BOUÉ
SOEURS
Peignoir and Gown
Ca. 1930
Attributed to Boué Soeurs, French, 1899–1957
Black Chantilly lace embroidere with polychrome silk ribbons
Promised Gift of Sandy Schreier (L.2018.61.59a, b)
1987
GIANNI
VERSACE
Evening Dress
Autumn/winter 1987–88
Gianni Versace, Italian, 1946–1997
Black metal mesh embellished with clear crystals, and black cotton lace embroidered with clear crystals, black bugle beads, and black seed beads
Gift of Gianni Versace, 1993 (1993.52.6)
This daring one-shoulder nightgown and robe with a languorous train capture the glamorous, feminine mood that came to characterize fashions of the 1930s. From the late nineteenth century, intimate apparel gradually shifted from its primary functions of providing warmth, protection, and discrete shaping to a vehicle for beauty and allure. This lingerie set, which incorporates two types of lace with contrasting patterns and structures, is a work of exceptional artistry. Sheer and revealing, it would have been intended for intimate encounters within the privacy of the boudoir.
The seductive power of clothing was a constant preoccupation for Gianni Versace, who frequently appropriated lingerie as provocative eveningwear. In this dress, Versace achieved an overt eroticism by re-creating the sinuous silhouette of the early 1930s through the fluidity of his draping. The designer collaborated with a German craftsman to develop a metal mesh with exceptional pliancy, allowing it to cling to the body like bias-draped silk. Here the material is paired with delicate lace, projecting a modern sense of strength, appropriate to the design’s unabashedly sexual character.
The seductive power of clothing was a constant preoccupation for Gianni Versace, who frequently appropriated lingerie as provocative eveningwear. In this dress, Versace achieved an overt eroticism by re-creating the sinuous silhouette of the early 1930s through the fluidity of his draping. The designer collaborated with a German craftsman to develop a metal mesh with exceptional pliancy, allowing it to cling to the body like bias-draped silk. Here the material is paired with delicate lace, projecting a modern sense of strength, appropriate to the design’s unabashedly sexual character.