{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O365902"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O365902/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O365902","accessionNumber":"T.437-1985","objectType":"Evening dress","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Evening dress of eau de nil satin.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Balenciaga, Cristóbal","id":"A2011"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Eisa","id":"A16955"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[{"text":"satin weave","id":"x37324"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Satin","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Evening wear","id":"THES48999"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"none","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"010","id":"THES307442"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Evening dress","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Spain","id":"x29170"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1960","earliest":"1955-01-01","latest":"1964-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Miss Ava Gardner","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Registered File number 1985/1585.\r\n\r\nIf the cost of his Paris salon was out of reach, there were other ways to buy a Balenciaga design. Some were sold less expensively under Balenciaga’s label Eisa in Spain, where labour costs were lower and cheaper fabrics might be used.\r\n\r\nAva Gardner moved to Madrid in the 1950s. She found Spain ‘unspoiled . . . dramatic . . .and so god-damn cheap to live in, that it was almost unbelievable’. She bought Balenciaga designs both in Paris and at Eisa, which may have appealed to what she called her ‘frugal side’. Gardner spent her final years living around the corner from the V&A and donated several of her clothes to the museum.\r\n\r\nGardner referred to her couture garments as her ‘babies’ and insisted on opening her wardrobes daily to let them ‘breathe’.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Evening dress of eau de nil satin, designed by Cristóbal Balenciaga for Eisa, Spain, ca. 1960","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Ava Gardner","id":"N15750"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.437-1985"],"accessionNumberNum":"437","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1985,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"RF number","id":"THES57673"},"number":"1985/1585"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-25","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}