{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O363069"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O363069/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2012FV2853/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2012FV2853/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2012FV2853","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Mainbocher","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BG5361","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Mainbocher","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2012FV2852","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Mainbocher","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BF7905","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Mainbocher","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2012FV2851","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Mainbocher","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O363069","accessionNumber":"T.239 to B-1984","objectType":"Ensemble","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Mainbocher ( 1890-1976) was a native of Chicago, where he studied art at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He served in the Army in the World War I and stayed on in Paris after the war, working as a fashion illustrator for Harper's Bazaar, as Paris fashion editor for Vogue (1922-1929), and eventually became the editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue in early 1927. Main Bocher's decision to become a couturier grew out of his years as editor at Vogue; he realized that his critical eye and his feeling for fashion might also serve him as a designer. In November 1929 he established his own fashion house, ‘Mainbocher Couture’ at 12 Avenue George V in Paris.\r\nHe designed expensive, elegant haute couture dresses and gowns for an exclusive clientele. He designed much of Wallis Simpson's wardrobe, naming a colour, ‘Wallis Blue’, for her. In 1937, he also designed the wedding dress and trousseau of her marriage to the former Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor). Described as one the most photographed and most copied dresses of modern times, the bridal dress is today part of the Metropolitan Museum collection. \r\n\r\nMainbocher created impeccably elegant garments. He held decoration to a minimum, favouring refined feminine forms (petal-shaped collar, shirring, small embroideries) If his design seems conservative, as compared to the modern experiments of others in the 1930s, it was because he sought an elegant gentility best seen in this beautifully cut afternoon ensemble featuring an overall genteel floral pattern on fashionable navy.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Afternoon dress, jacket and belt of silk. Full length sleeveless dress of navy and white floral printed silk, the armholes and skirt seams accented with fluttering appliques of the same fabric. The belt is covered to match. With an unlined and long sleeved short jacket with appliques along the edges of the front facings.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Mainbocher","id":"A2283"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silk (textile)","id":"AAT243428"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printed","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Printed silk crêpe de Chine","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Day wear","id":"THES49000"},{"text":"Europeana Fashion Project","id":"THES265804"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2012FV2853","2006BG5361","2012FV2852","2006BF7905","2012FV2851"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"BY009","id":"THES404141"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY009","id":"THES404141"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY009","id":"THES404141"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dress","id":""}],[{"text":"Jacket","id":""}],[{"text":"Belt","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1935","earliest":"1930-01-01","latest":"1939-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"900","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"06/06/2025","earliest":"2025-06-06","latest":"2025-06-06"},"part":"Length belt","note":"Measured by textile conservation"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"39","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"06/06/2025","earliest":"2025-06-06","latest":"2025-06-06"},"part":"Width belt","note":"Measured by Textile Conservation"},{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"700","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"06/06/2025","earliest":"2025-06-06","latest":"2025-06-06"},"part":"Dress waist, measured flat and variable due to bias cut","note":"Measured by Textile Conservation"},{"dimension":"Length","value":"1650","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"06/06/2025","earliest":"2025-06-06","latest":"2025-06-06"},"part":"Overall length of dress, lying flat","note":"Measured by Textile Conservation"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This ensemble could have been worn as an evening dress, but during the mid-1930s, full-length and ankle length dresses were fashionable for elegant afternoon and day wear.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Dress, jacket and belt of printed silk, designed by Mainbocher, Paris, ca. 1935","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Haute couture","id":"THES48861"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"AFTERNOON ENSEMBLE\r\nDRESS AND JACKET\r\nFrench, Mainbocher, about 1935.\r\nPrinted crepe de Chine.\r\n\r\nThe fabric is cut on the cross so that it softly moulds to the body. The intricate piecing and diagonal seaming, necessary to achieve this typical 1930s long, lean silhouette, demanded a small-scale pattern without obvious direction or repeat. The armholes of the sleeveless dress are decorated with 'petals' of fabric echoing those on the skirt and front edges of the matching jacket. The all-over floral design in chic navy and white (perfect for a visit to Ascot or a summer garden party) works particularly well.\r\nT.239 & A-1984","date":{"text":"1988","earliest":"1988-01-01","latest":"1988-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["T.239-1984","T.239A-1984","T.239B-1984"],"accessionNumberNum":"239","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1984,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Dress","Jacket","Belt"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-15","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}