{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O74727"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74727/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PF9484/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PF9484/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PF9484","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PG0435","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF9490","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF9512","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PF9511","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AP3497","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AP3496","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2023NH8804","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JP9240","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2021NA4247","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O74727","accessionNumber":"T.48-1965","objectType":"Evening dress","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) enjoyed the enormous publicity that her more bizarre creations generated, but her less provocative designs rarely caused a furore and have been somewhat neglected. She often referred to her simple black dresses and their versatility, and regularly wore black herself. Schiaparelli gave this dress to the V&A after her retirement.\r\n\r\nHere she composed a short-sleeved dress in matt black crepe. The extremely simple, fluid shape is relieved by a slashed neckline and a bold embroidered spray of lilies (by the specialist embroidery company Lesage) in various sizes of pearls, sequins and metallic strip. The dress fastens with a black plastic zip on the left-hand side.","physicalDescription":"Evening dress of embroidered black silk crêpe. With a large embroidered lily motif on the breast carried out in pearls of graduated sizes, sequins and metal strip and thread for the leaves. The dress is floor length and has a high round neck with a small central slip at the centre front, and the neck dips to a waist length 'V' flanked by pleats at the centre back. The dress has no waist seam at the front, which is made in two pieces, but there is one at the back. The sleeves are small and slightly gathered into the shoulder. Fastens with a black plastic zip on the left hand side. Unlined.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Elsa Schiaparelli","id":"A2375"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silk (textile)","id":"AAT243428"},{"text":"crepe","id":"AAT183741"},{"text":"pearls","id":"AAT11827"},{"text":"sequin","id":"AAT183896"},{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10900"},{"text":"plastic","id":"AAT14570"}],"techniques":[{"text":"embroidering","id":"AAT53653"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Embroidered silk crêpe, pearls, sequins, metal strip, plastic","categories":[{"text":"Evening wear","id":"THES48999"},{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES48960"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2025PF9484","2025PG0435","2025PF9490","2025PF9512","2025PF9511","2006AP3497","2006AP3496","2023NH8804","2016JP9240","2021NA4247"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SAINS","id":"THES276095"},"free":"","case":"FIG025","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":"1940","earliest":"1940-01-01","latest":"1940-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Madame Elsa Schiaparelli","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"148.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"maximum length from shoulder to hem"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"74.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"width at skirt hem"},{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"890","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Bust, (open back)"},{"dimension":"Circumference","value":"710","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"waist"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"381","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"shoulder seam to shoulder seam"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Schiaparelli, 21 Place Vendome, Paris, Automne 1940'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On a printed label inside the right-hand seam of the skirt"},{"content":"'14173'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Writted in ink on the back of the printed label"}],"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.  ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Evening dress of embroidered silk crêpe with pearls, sequins and metal strip, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, Paris, 1940","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Mendes, Valerie. <u>Black In Fashion</u>. London: V&A Publications, 1999."}],"production":"Autumn 1940","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"EVENING DRESS, embroidered silk crépe\r\nFrench, Paris, Schiaparelli, Autumn 1940\r\n\r\nSchiaparelli designed clothes that were almost theatrical in their impact. She favoured strong colours, including deep reds and purples as well as her own shocking pink but she also used a great deal of black for restrained and supremely elegant garments. Vogue and Harper's Bazaar frequently illustrated her '30s creations in black. Her autobiography \"Shocking Life\" often refers to her black dresses... \"I had designed a very plain black dress typically Schiap, a dress that was high in the neck and could be worn at the office and at the theatre, the sort of dress I wear all day myself.\" The dress on display is one she wore, although she has relieved its severity with a bold spray of lilies embroidered in pearls, sequins and gilt metallic thread and strip. Another quote from her autobiography contains interesting details about the women who bought black - \"Curiously enough, in spite of Schiap's apparent craziness and love of fun and gags, her greatest fans were the ultra-smart and conservative women, wives of diplomats and bankers, milllionaires and artists, who liked severe suits and plain black dresses.\"\r\n\r\nWorn and given by Madame Elsa Schiaparelli\r\nT.48-1965","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["T.48-1965"],"accessionNumberNum":"48","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1965,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-06","recordCreationDate":"2003-02-19","availableToBook":false}}