1940s Evening Dresses and Gowns

Elsa Schiaparelli was well connected into the avant-garde artistic and intellectual circles of New York and Paris in the 1920s and 30s. She regarded fashion as art and thought of herself as an artist. She was the first and arguably the most influential designer to explore irony in dress, collaborating frequently with fellow Surrealists Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, and Man Ray. One is reminded of the famed Dali-Schiaparelli organdy Lobster dress...