{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O248780"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O248780/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BP5741/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BP5741/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BP5741","copyright":"©Cecil Beaton/Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CA1431","copyright":"©Cecil Beaton/Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O248780","accessionNumber":"193-1977","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Schiaparelli Evening Dresses","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Fashion photographer Sir Cecil Beaton (1904 – 1980) launched his career as a 'society' photographer in 1926 with an exhibition in London that won him an immediate contract with Vogue, where he worked for the next 30 years.\r\n\r\nBeaton's fascination with glamour and high society prevailed throughout his life and in 1937 he became court photographer to the British Royal Family. He also became a successful set and costume designer for stage and film productions, most notably My Fair Lady (1956) and Gigi (1958).","physicalDescription":"This photograph depicts two models wearing Elsa Schiaparelli evening dresses against a simple studio setting with two large arrow props pointing upwards. It was taken in the Paris Vogue studio  by Cecil Beaton in August 1936 and shows fashion models Lyla Zelensky (left) and Miss Ford (right).","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Beaton, Cecil (Sir)","id":"A5902"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"x43821"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2007BP5741","2009CA1431"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"WN001","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"06/04/1936","earliest":"1936-04-06","latest":"1936-04-06"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This photograph was taken in the Paris Vogue Studio in 1936 and published in Paris Vogue.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"20thC; Beaton Cecil, Evening dresses. Published in French Vogue in 1936.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<i><b>Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art</b></i><b> (March - November 2026)\n</b>\nFashion in focus\n\nSchiaparelli’s eveningwear gave photographers license to create adventurous fashion images,visually matching the artistic language of her garments. Cecil Beaton shifted towards a more surrealist aesthetic, with stark spaces cast in dramatic lighting. Horst P. Horst’s tightly cropped format echoes the strict tailoring of a collarless jacket from Schiaparelli’s Summer 1937 collection. The high camera angle accentuates the matching hat’s texture and the butterfly buttons.\n\n\nLyla Zelensky and Ruth Ford, Schiaparelli Evening Dresses\r\nCecil Beaton\r\n1936\r\nLondon\r\nGelatin silver print\r\nV&amp;A: 193-1977\n\r\nCollarless jacket and hat with butterfly trimmings, British Vogue, 15 March 1937\r\nHorst P. Horst\r\n1937\r\nParis\r\nGelatin silver print\r\nPrivate Collection","date":{"text":"2026","earliest":"2026-01-01","latest":"2026-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["193-1977"],"accessionNumberNum":"193","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1977,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-07-30","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-12","availableToBook":false}}