#2583 $1,400
Beaded silk chiffon dress, c.1923
Beaded dresses with long sleeves from the 1920s are difficult to find. Too many have had their sleeves removed for a modern sexy look suitable for evening wear. Here is a dress will that will appeal to the collector who cares about design integrity.
The dress summons up images and sounds of the Jazz Age. Picture the dress' first owner, the lovely woman in the black beaded dress as new as the music she was hearing on that magical May evening in a Manhattan penthouse.
The longer dresses from the early 1920s are very elegant. The graceful, long silhouette has the languid, casual charm so highly valued in the 1920s. "Thighs are one thing," said a latter-day Coco Chanel, "but a woman should never, ever, show her knees."
The dress is covered with beaded pin stripes of iridescent gray/blue/black metallic beads. The pinwheel designs add a burst of color with large coral glass beads. The pretty beading confers on the overall design a stylish gaiety that will win all hearts.
The dress consists of two separate layers of black silk chiffon attached at the neckline and hipline. The outer layer of the skirt, longer than the lining layer, is slit almost to the drop waist on the sides.
The sleeves are cuffed at the wrist and lined behind the beaded portions. The dress closes on one shoulder with snaps and closes partially around the armhole with snaps. The under layer closes separately with snaps.
Jazz Age memories—what amazing music! Playwright Sam Berhman recalls a 1923 party. The guests were gathered round the piano while George Gershwin was playing his own tunes. "I felt on the instant, when he sat down to play, the newness, the humor, and the great heady surf of vitality." Equally memorable was the lovely woman in the coral beaded dress, leaning against the piano and gazing at Gershwin.
The condition is excellent. The dress can be worn, but gently, please.
It measures: 40" bust and drop waist, 44" hip, 15 1/2" from shoulder seam to shoulder seam, 24" sleeve length (including the cuff), 23 1/2" from the shoulder to the drop waist, and 51" from the shoulder to the hem.
