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| Day Dress Victor Steibel 1947 This and all related images from: The Victoria & Albert Museum |
With this theatrical day dress, designer Victor Steibel nods to Victorian fashions by attaching an oversized bustle-like bow to the rear of the dress. The dress was made in 1947 as a response to Christian Dior’s “New Look” of pinched waists and full skirts. Steibel wasn’t out to make practical dresses. He wasn’t interested in the continuation of war time rationing. Both of these concepts are evident with this dress and it’s almost comic bow which was so heavy with material that it had to be supported by a hidden horsehair frill beneath the skirts.
South Africa-born Steibel studied fashion at Cambridge and apprenticed with the House of Reville and Rossiter before opening his own couture house in 1932. He became especially known for his use of striped fabrics and his dramatic, yet, feminine evening and day wear.
This very-Steibel striped dress is constructed of silk grosgrain and is given body with net petticoats. It was made for and worn by Lady Cornwallis.
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