#2517 $1,600
Deco beaded evening dress, late 1920s
The use of primary geometric forms is characteristic of Art Deco, which reached its apogee in the mid 1920s. According to the Victoria & Albert Museum, Art Deco style was "the most glamorous and popular style of the twentieth century." In fact, Art Deco was not a single style but rather an assortment of bold designs popular in the early 20th century.
Whether the design featured the intense colors of Orientalism; or was geometric; or borrowed from ethnic art: Art Deco was always boldly graphic. Surface ornamentation, rather than silhouette, was especially important in the Deco style, which took its inspiration from Deco fashion illustration.
Here is an exemplar of Deco geometric design. The dress was fashioned from sheer black silk chiffon that was later lined for support. This makes it wearable and saves you the trouble of finding the right slip. I believe the chiffon hem flounce was added when the dress was lined.
The torso of the dress is decorated with alternating stripes of opaque white and clear crystal beads that swirl toward elaborate beaded medallions on one side. The scalloped hem border of the original flapper dress (above the chiffon flounce) has a looped fringe of clear crystal beads.
The elaboration of the curvilinear motifs is quite striking. The theme and variations on the geometry of the circle are worked out with great ingenuity. The vertical stripes on the bodice, which lengthen the silhouette, contrast with curvilinear (feminine) forms: arcs, loops, and circles. The top picture shows that the arcs form the bottoms of J- and reverse J-shaped elongated "hooks." It is as if the harsh geometry of Euclid has been trumped by the feminine principle.
The sophisticated modernism makes a dramatic fashion statement. A fashionable woman knows that there is nothing so memorable to a man as the first time he sees a stylish woman whose manner and dress capture his imagination once and for all.
The condition is excellent and wearable.
It measures: 36" bust and waist, 38" hip, and 55" from the shoulder to the hem.
