1943
PLEYDELL & SMITH
BERTHA BLACK LEWRY
Dinner Suit
1943, re-created from man’s tail suit, 1929
Pleydell & Smith, British
Bertha Black Lewry, American
Jacket of black wool twill, black silk faille, and
white linen plain weave; skirt of black wool twill
Gift of Harper’s Bazaar, 1943 (C.I.43.58a, b)
2000
MARTIN
MARGIELA
Jacket
Spring/summer 2000
Martin Margiela, Belgian, born 1957
Black wool broadcloth and black silk satin
Purchase, the Gould Family Foundation,
in memory of Jo Copeland, 2019 (2019.590a–c)
In 1942 the U.S. government issued wartime restrictions on textiles, which encouraged the innovative reuse of materials already in the home. The next year Harper’s Bazaar commissioned dressmaker Bertha Black Lewry to transform a 1920s man’s tailcoat into a dinner ensemble, combining the fashionable masculine silhouette with the “make do and mend” imperative. The ensuing article was headlined “Your Husband’s Tails” and featured this suit of fine wool, a material restricted for military uniforms. Lewry altered the jacket by removing the tails and resetting the shoulders to a woman’s proportions. She reassembled the trousers to fashion the skirt, integrating the tails as side panels.
Traditional menswear garments have continued to inspire inventive adaptations in contemporary womenswear. Martin Margiela’s spring/summer 2000 collection opened with a series of looks based on essential elements of the male wardrobe. Rather than alter the garments to accommodate the female form, Margiela maintained their cut and proportions and enlarged them to an Italian size 78, countering the arbitrary nature of standardized body types. The shoulder line of this tuxedo jacket extends beyond the body, with the sleeves hanging over the hands and the hemline resting at mid-thigh.
Traditional menswear garments have continued to inspire inventive adaptations in contemporary womenswear. Martin Margiela’s spring/summer 2000 collection opened with a series of looks based on essential elements of the male wardrobe. Rather than alter the garments to accommodate the female form, Margiela maintained their cut and proportions and enlarged them to an Italian size 78, countering the arbitrary nature of standardized body types. The shoulder line of this tuxedo jacket extends beyond the body, with the sleeves hanging over the hands and the hemline resting at mid-thigh.