{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O133559"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O133559/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PF2711/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PF2711/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PF2711","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2672","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2546","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2544","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2543","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2542","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF2529","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BK4739","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BK4741","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BK4743","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BK4742","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BK4740","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GA0556","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O133559","accessionNumber":"T.36-1964","objectType":"Evening dress","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Couturier clothing was custom-made for each individual client. The designs often included interior padding or subtle structuring to camouflage and correct defects. Shoulder pads could be adjusted to allow for natural unevenness, and busts could be gently enhanced with concealed padding and ruching. The process of fitting couture was conducted in strictest confidence.\r\n\r\nThis 1936 evening dress is by Elsa Schiaparelli, who was known for her shock tactics and love of surrealism. Even her simpler dresses often featured unexpected details. Here, Schiaparelli has taken the intimate padding over the breasts which would normally be concealed, and used it to decorate the outside of a severe brown crepe dress. The contrast between the modest high-necked gown and the overt reference to the wearer's bust is typical of Schiaparelli.","physicalDescription":"Evening dress of brown woollen crêpe. Floor length, high necked with a gathered bodice, and a circular trapunto quilting over each breast. Six rows of gold braid encircle the slim and columnar full length skirt at regular intervals from the waist down. Fastens at the back with a gilt button on which is impressed a horse. No sleeves, but the shoulder is covered with a small gathered cape attached to the neckband. The bodice is open to the back of the waist and fastens from the waist to hip with a matching celluloid zip fastener. Grouped at the centre back.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Elsa Schiaparelli","id":"A2375"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wool crepe","id":"x36836"},{"text":"gold braid","id":"AAT248064"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Wool crêpe, gold braid, celluloid, impressed gilt metal","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Evening wear","id":"THES48999"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2025PF2711","2025PF2672","2025PF2546","2025PF2544","2025PF2543","2025PF2542","2025PF2529","2006BK4739","2006BK4741","2006BK4743","2006BK4742","2006BK4740","2013GA0556"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG051","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Evening dress","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"late 1935","earliest":"1935-06-01","latest":"1935-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs P. Otway-Smithers","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"61.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Waist - measured inside garment","note":"Measured by Conservation"},{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"81","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Bust - measured inside garment","note":"Measured by Conservation"},{"dimension":"Length","value":"38","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Nape-waist","note":"Measured by Conservation"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"SCHIAPARELLI, 21 PLACE VENDOM PARIS HIVER 1935-36","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Stamped on a label stitched to the inside side seam"}],"objectHistory":"Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) was one of the world’s revolutionary fashion designers. Her couture house, one of the most discussed of interwar Paris, redefined fashionable taste and perceptions of beauty in the 20th century.  With no formal training, she launched her first fashion collection in 1927. Her bold, often audacious, haute couture creations soon made her the designer of choice for a confident clientele. Within five years, Maison Schiaparelli employed 400 staff who created over 7000 couture garments each year.  \r\n\r\nOften designing to confront and shock, Schiaparelli’s radical approach embraced the new and experimental, resulting in clothes that were resolutely modern. Perhaps more than any fashion designer of the era, Schiaparelli urged textile manufacturers to bring her their newest and best materials. At the same time, Schiaparelli’s impact extended beyond fashion and she possessed a vibrant artistic sensibility. Embedded within Europe’s creative avantgarde, she positioned her work in direct dialogue with art, design and performance. Her collaborations with artists, including Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau and Meret Oppenheim, led to some of her most radical and memorable designs for clothing, accessories and jewellery. In 1954, Schiaparelli officially retired and closed the doors of her couture salon. She left an enduring mark on the world of fashion and a creative legacy that spanned the cities of Paris, London and New York.  \r\n\r\nWorn by Mrs. Peter Otway-Smithers, who remembered this being one of the first dresses to have a zip fastener.\n\n\nPhoto notes:\r\n\tBodice front: Trapunto embroidery over the breasts; applied gold braid strips on skirt from waist down\r\n\tBack hem: gathered flounce at back.\r\n\tLabel: Paris label hiver 35-36\r\n\tCB Zipper: brown plastic zipper at CB.  Probably Eclair zip\n\nJan G. Reeder, Curator, The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art\r\nTaken May, 2011, Compiled September, 2011\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Evening dress of woollen crêpe, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, Paris, Winter 1935-36","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Reason For Production: Commission","productionType":{"text":"Haute couture","id":"THES48861"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"horse","id":"x34864"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.36-1964"],"accessionNumberNum":"36","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1964,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-11","recordCreationDate":"2007-03-30","availableToBook":false}}