The Pink Folly

From an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2018 of designs from their own collection from Dior’s ‘new look’ to the present.

 

 

 

A partial view of the exhibition

 

Following the Fashion, 1794, hand-coloured etching.  James Gillray, 1756-1815, British.  Philadelphia Art Museum

 

 

Two-piece dress,1971-72, wool knit. Stephen Burrows, American born 1943 for Henri Bendel, NY

 

 

Shoes, 1991, silk satin, silk polyester chiffon flowers, leather. Susan Bennis/Warren Edwards, New York 1977-1997

 

 

Hat, 1988, silk satin acetate velvet.  Hubert de Givenchy, 1927-2018, French

 

 

Suit, belt, camisole and bag, Fall/Winter 1998; wool/silk twill, dyed wool faux fur, silk/Lycra damask with silk/polyester lace, leather, metal, faux pearls; wool tweed, silk damask, silver metal.  John Galliano, British born 1960, for Christian Dior, Paris, founded 1946

 

 

Dress and sash, 1968, printed silk shiffon over printed silk plain weave with dyed ostrich feathers.  Designed for Nina Ricci, Paris, founded 1932 by Gerard Pipard, 1933-2013, French

 

 

Short evening dress, cotton/acrylic machine-made lace with cotton metallic boucle, yarn machine embroidery, nylon tulle with plastic sequins, beads, artificial gems, metallic embroidery, 1968-69.  Geoffrey Beene, 1927-2004, American

 

 

 

Catsuit, 1990, printed nylon spandex knit.  Christian Lacroix, French born 1951

Behind and above an evening dress, 1967, acetate/rayon crepe.  Gustave Tassell, 1926-2014, American

 

 

 

Evening dress and gloves, 1988, nylon plain weave, machine embroidery over acetate plain weave ribbons, triacetate taffeta and polyester net synthetic knit.  Patrick Kelly, American active Paris c. 1954-1990

 

 

 

Jacket, top, trousers and pin, 2004-2005, wool/acrylic/rayon/cotton plain weave with woven-in sequins, printed silk chiffon, printed silk twill.  Giambatista Valli, Italian born 1966 for Emanuel Ungaro, 1956 to the present

 

 

 

Two-piece dress, 1988, printed cotton acrylic complex weave, silk plain weave flowers, polyester plain weave ribbon.  Christian Lacroix, French born 1951.

Shoes, 1988, silk plain weave, silk synthetic organza, patent leather.  Susan Bennis/Warren Edwards, New York 1977-1997

 

 

 

 

Dress, socks and shoes, 1913, pleated polyester satin, cotton acrylic knit, leather, rubber with polyester cord, twill tape, double-weave webbing.  Dress designed by Bernhard Wilhelm, German born 1972.   Shoes made by Camper, Spain, 1975-present

 

 

 

And a pair of red shoes

 

Platform shoes, c. 1993, cotton gingham, leather, suede leather.  Vivienne Westwood, British born 1941

 

 

 

The  show was redeemed  by this creation by the master of pleated architecture, Roberto Capucci, for whom the museum mounted a spectacular retrospective a few years ago.

 

 

 

‘Fumo’ (Smoke) evening dress, 1985, slubbed silk plain weave.  Roberto Capucci, Italian born 1930

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “The Pink Folly

    1. The truth is, I suppose, that we have been spoiled rotten by the Met’s Costume Institute and by the Met in general. Anything not approaching its standards for display etc. is beginning to drive me mad! But this is not completely fair to the Philadelphia Art Museum, either…….

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