A sleeveless, knee-length evening dress and underslip with a loose fit, draped cowl neckline, and curved drop waistline and hemline. The dress features two tiers of long, lustrous silk fringe in gradient ombré shading from deep blue at the bottom through to deep blue-grey and light grey-blue at the top. The upper tier hangs from the shoulders over the torso, with the navy blue chiffon cowl draped over the top; the lower tier follows a curved line low on the hips. The matte, navy blue silk chiffon underslip is revealed through the fringe. The dress is displayed on a white mannequin with silver stand. The mannequin’s head is turned to our right, hands on hips, wearing a short white wig with bangs, which echoes the fringe of the dress.

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See more objects with the tag dance, brightly colored, fashion, movement, nightlife.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
1926	Work on this object began.
2017	We photographed this object. We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Object ID #907216375

This is a Evening Dress and Underslip. It was designed by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel and produced by Chanel. It is dated 1926. Its medium is blue silk chiffon with applied blue ombré silk fringe.

Dancing to jazz music encouraged movement in fashion, accessory, and jewelry design. Materials and silhouettes were kinetic; tassels appeared in earrings and necklaces while dresses and shawls featured fringe. In this dress Chanel used shades of blue including indigo, which in 1927 became known as "Chanel blue" in Women’s Wear Daily.

It is credited Lent by Kent State University Museum, The Helen O. Borowitz Collection, KSUM 1997.71.7ab.

A black sleeveless dress with a plunging neck-line that is cut above the knees at the front and scooped below at the back. The dress has a lace-like appearance created from many interlocking parts in abstracted circular and floral forms. The dress is shown on an expressionless, slim, white plastic, female mannequin.

Dress, Kinematics Dress #4
nylon.
Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.
2015-18-1

Drawing, #167 Dark blue and blue;
acrylic, graphite.
Gift of Alfons Bach.
1993-108-274

Shopping Bag, Chanel: No. 5
paper.
Gift of Unknown Donor.
2000-26-78

Our curators have highlighted 2 objects that are related to this one.

A beige and brown finely checked wool knit skirt suit. The jacket reaches below the waist to the top of the thighs and has a long paneled collar that appears to sit loosely. It is worn open over a pale salmon pink shirt which has a ribbon belt tied in a bow on our left side. The fluted, columnar skirt falls below the knees. The suit is worn by a white, faceless mannequin, whose right hand is placed on the hip to allow the jacket to be open revealing the shirt underneath.

Object ID #1041531531
wool.
Lent by Museum of the City of New York. Gift of Ann Andrews, 1972, 72.136.6A-B.
76.2016.6

Perfume Presentation, No. 5, 1921
molded glass.
Christie Mayer Lefkowith Collection.
69.2016.1

We have 1 media file that features Object ID #907216375.

"Back Water Blues," Bessie Smith and James P. Johnson (1927)

This elegant evening dress designed by the House of Chanel, with blue silk and fringe, matches ideally with the blues of Bessie Smith and James P. Johnson. In “Back Water Blues,” Bessie Smith...

http://www.folkways.si.edu/bessie-smith-and-james-p-johnson/back-water-blues/jazz-ragtime/music/track/smithsonian

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2oaHPD/
Accession Number 70.2016.2
Object ID 907216375