Mid-20th Century Fashion

Elsa Schiaparelli Black Straw High Brimmed Hat, circled with white twisted cord and accented with a faux berry stickpin. Outside measure 8" diameter, 7"height, 7"inside

Elsa Schiaparelli Spring Hat with wreath of pastel silk flowers around the edge. Wrapped straw, silken floss flowers, hand sewn attached to netting frame. Topped with a pink swirling...

Rare and unusual figural Surrealist Elsa Schiaparelli lingerie bag. This amusing, rare Schiaparelli figural cat lingerie bag is made of bright pink acetate, with "Shocking" Pink ribbon accents and long pink raffia fringe. With a white plush snout and hand cut felt eyes eyebrows and mouth. Excellent Condition. Signed, Zipper Entry on back. Length 18" x Wide 9". 1950's. Schiaparelli, "I gave to pink, the nerve of the red, a neon pink, an unreal pink, Shocking Pink". Yves Saint Laurent: Schiaparelli's pink was "an aggressive, brawling, warrior pink” Elsa Schiaparelli's "Shocking" Pink was a color which derived from a 17.27 carat rose colored Cartier diamond known as the Tete de Belier, belonging to her friend and client, Daisy Fellowes. Shocking Pink was used for the eponymous perfume "Shocking", which was launched in 1937. The packaging was designed by artist Leonor Fini and the bottle was based on Mae West's curvaceous figure. Her first shoe-hat, designed for her autumn 1937 collection, had a Shocking Pink heel. Salvador Dali loved...

Schiaparelli 1970s tie in a beautiful red (the color of a fresh ripe cherry) black and white pattern created for the now defunct Michigan department store Hughes & Hatcher. Signed Sc...

Owned by a French expatriate and shoe-hoarder, these incomparable slingbacks were adored but have remained unworn in their original box for sixty years. Featuring a modest, wearable ...

Circa 1958 United States Pair of stockings by Elsa Schiaparelli in original box, as new, collector's item dating from the late 1950s in the United States. Pair of brown nylon stockings...

1950 Schiaparelli hat is completely constructed of layers of black horsehair swirls of ribbon creating a dome-like design. This unusual domed hat is ...

Schiaparelli's Mint in Box, "Sleeping" perfume sachets of "Sleeping Blue" satin, over stitched with Schiaparelli's signature "S". Still fragrant wrapped in the original unopened cellophane, tied with vibrant yellow ribbon. "Sleeping," is one of many perfumes Schiaparelli designed, debuted for her summer 1940 collection. For her spring 1939 Commedia dell' arte collection, Schiaparelli had been inspired by Man Ray's 1939 painting...

Black with white chiné wool skirt-suit. Interesting collar effect like a tie. Black silk lining ( jacket only) with Schiaparelli's signature

Circa 1938/1940 Paris France An Elsa Schiaparelli (attributed to) long black woolen coat embroidered by the Maison Lesage with large baroque volute patter...

Schiaparelli guest soaps shaped as bon bon hearts in a candy box, a salute to Schiaparelli's surrealist wit. 1950's USA. Excellent condition. L9", W 5" I gave to pink, the nerve of the red, a neon pink, an unreal pink, Shocking Pink" Yves Saint Laurent: Schiaparelli's pink was "an aggressive, brawling, warrior pink” Elsa Schiaparelli's "Shocking" Pink was a color which derived from a 17.27 carat rose colored Cartier diamond known as the Tete de Belier, belonging to her friend and client, Daisy Fellowes. Shocking Pink was used for the eponymous perfume "Shocking", which was launched in 1937. The packaging was designed by artist Leonor Fini and the bottle was based on Mae West's curvaceous figure. Her first shoe-hat, designed for her autumn 1937 collection, had a Shocking Pink heel. Salvador Dali loved the color so much he used it for one of his own works, “an enormous stuffed bear...

A highly coveted and incredibly unique Elsa Schiaparelli sequin blowfish cane purse dating back to the early 1950's. Fashioned from rich red vinyl bubble covered in black knit with s...

Schiaparelli's Mint in Box, "Sleeping" perfume sachets (3) of "Sleeping Blue" satin, over stitched with Schiaparelli's signature "S". Still fragrant wrapped in the original unopened cellophane, tied with vibrant yellow ribbon. "Sleeping," is one of many perfumes Schiaparelli designed, debuted for her summer 1940 collection. For her spring 1939 Commedia dell' arte collection, Schiaparelli had been inspired by Man Ray's 1939 painting...

Schiaparelli's Mint in Box, Sleeping perfume sachets.Of Sleeping blue silk satin, hand stiched with Schiaparelli's signature S. Still fragrent wrapped in the origional unopened celophane,tied with vibrant yellow ribbon. Excellent condition. "Sleeping," is one of many perfumes Schiaparelli designed, debuted for her summer 1940 collection. For her spring 1939 Commedia dell' arte collection, Schiaparelli had been inspired by Man Ray's 1939 painting...

This RARE Schiaparelli attributed cocktail or day dress is composed of a pink silk Damask, with a floral print. The Label is missing from this dress and apparently tradectly lost w...

1960s Schiaparelli Black Wool Felt Cloche Hat w Huge Silk Bow At Front. A striking homage to the classic 1920s style this plush and furry cloche is as stunning today as ever with it...

Schiaparelli Haute Couture Changeant Faille Jacket, 1938-39. "France gave me the inspiration: America gave me the approval" Elsa Schiapa...

"In difficult times, fashion is always outrageous" Elsa Schiaparelli,1930's. "Life has changed so much, A Schiaparelli was never made for the streets." Karl Lagerfeld, 1970's. 2 quotes,2 designers, 4 decades apart. 4 decades later. Although these quotes are highly debatable, especially in the context of today's high-low designer collabs and pop up retailing, iconic fashion endures. Whether now relegated to a museum exhibition, a collector's acid free box or a celebrity one nighter, these fashion artifacts from the french Haute Couture of the 1930's echo a time, pace and culture unrecognizable to most people today. Schiaparelli changed the definition of what it meant to be a designer at an important time in the evolution of the Haute Couture. Rather than simply making beautifully elegant garments (which she also did), she focused on the concepts behind the pieces. For her fashion was a fluid medium and she effortlessly blended fashion, politics and the fine arts. She was one of the most innovative and rebellious designers of the period working against what she considered the stale fashion currents of the day. She was elegant yet untrained. As a protege of Poiret, she gained entry into the world of Parisian fashion. While her rival Chanel was essentially uneducated and a “primitive” in the artistic circles in which she socialized, Schiaparelli’s impeccable social credentials as the daughter of an old and distinguished Roman family gave her a relatively easy entree into Paris society. She was a subversive, a punk, a desecrator, a collaborator, an innovator as well as the ultimate insider whose plans on design domination and creating "la zone rose" for the modern world were cut short by the advent of WWII. She was at the height of her influence and power showing 4 iconic collections in the last years of the decade. Fascinating to consider what the House of Schiaparelli could have brought forth in the following decades had the world not been swept away in turmoil at that moment. In the context of her short prewar career, few remaining masterworks have survived. The rare "moment" she created in the 30's lives on within each art piece, safelocked away within each stitch and sequin. Each design retains her spirit and legacy as a free thinking, modernist rebel who used the avantegarde as her platform in the most creative period of fashion design in the 20th Century. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rare and Important Elsa Schiaparelli Haute Couture...

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...