Woman's Dress, 1948–58
date: label: Date made
content: 1960 - 196900
label: Date made
content: 1946-1956
name: label: designer
content: Simpson, Adele
label: designer
content: Simpson, Adele
notes: label: Description
content: There is no information as to who wore this dress designed by Adele Simpson. The Washington Fashion Group, a chapter of the Fashion Group International, donated this dress to the Smithsonian Institution in 1975. This association of women executives began in 1931 at the insistence of a few prominent women in the fashion industry who wanted to promote more careers for women in the fashion business.
label: Description
content: Adele Simpson, who was born in New York in 1905, created ready-made clothes for the sophisticated, yet conservative, American woman. She was one of the founders of the Fashion Group International and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. By 1924, she was one of the highest paid designers in the fashion industry, but her name was not known to the general public. At that time, manufacturers only put their name, not the designer’s, on their labels. When Ms. Simpson purchased Mary Lee, Inc. in 1949, where she had been working as chief designer, she changed the name to her own. She continued to run the business until her retirement in 1980. Her dresses were sold in the country’s leading department and specialty stores. Her customer list included five women who were or would become First Ladies of the United States: Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, and Barbara Bush.
label: Description
content: Adele Simpson loved to travel and was interested in indigenous art from many parts of the world. She incorporated Indian fabrics in many of her collections, as evidenced in this dress, which was made from a sari.
label: Description
content: This full length two-piece dress is constructed from a burnt orange and gold silk sari cloth. The dress is cut straight with shoestring straps, and it is semi-fitted with long darts on either side of the center front and the center back. Additional darts on the sides control the fit in place of side seams. There is a heavy gold metallic border at the bust and the hemline. A horizontal band with a curved wedge is inserted under the border at the bust for further shaping. There is a metal zipper at the center back opening. The accompanying shawl has a gold metallic woven border that is more prominent in the front. There is a snap closure covered with a bow that fastens over the shoulder. The center back of the dress measures 45 3/8 inches.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: made in
content: United States: New York, New York City
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Costume
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of The Washington Fashion Group
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CS.310259.005
label: catalog number
content: 310259.005
label: accession number
content: 310259
objectType: label: Object Name
content: dress, 2-piece
label: Object Type
content: Main Dress
label: Object Type
content: Woman
label: Object Type
content: Dress
label: Object Type
content: Entire Body
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: center back: 45 3/8 in; 115.2525 cm