dress, 1-piece
date: label: Date made
content: 1958
name: label: maker
content: Charlotte Villaret
notes: label: Description
content: Dress, 1-piece; deep blue peau de soie printed with lighter blues and blue-greens in blurred floral pattern; V-neckline, deeper in F than B, with self-fabric facing; cap sleeves with self-binding around inside bottom edge; fitted bodice, shaped with diagonal seams and front darts; CB openign with metal zipper under placket, extending into skirt, handsewn, with hooks at top and waistline; wasitline seam has large, flat self-fabric bow at CF; skirt has straight side seams and deep hem around the bottom; lined with navy china silk; measures 38" (96.5 cm) down CB.
label: Description
content: Label text: Haute Couture / Charlotte Villaret / New York
label: Description
content: Donor was daughter of designer Charlotte Villaret; says dress was shortened. According to donor, dress worn by Villaret for cocktail parties and Villaret called it a "cocktail dress."
label: Description
content: Villaret worked for Valentina, Muriel King, and Charles James in late 1930s through 1950s; then was in business for herself in New York and San Antonio, Texas. According to donor, Villaret's clients included Elise A. Roosevelt, Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Grace Moore and Lily Pons. The Smithsonian accepted some Villaret garments from donor and the rest went to Marymount University's Costume and Textile collection.
label: Description
content: A short biography of Villaret written by donor includes personal anecdotes about her experience working for Muriel King and Charles James. See accession file for details.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Costume
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Ginette V. Patch
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1994.0263.003
label: catalog number
content: 1994.0263.003
label: accession number
content: 1994.0263
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Dress, 1-piece