Sunday, November 10, 2013

History’s Runway: The Baba Beaton Wedding Dress, 1934



Wedding Dress
Charles James, 1934
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum


This wedding gown was worn by Miss Baba Beaton in November of 1934 when she married Mr. Alec Hambro. The gown, designed by Charles James, shows the development of the designer’s famous complex cut and simple lines.

James said of his work, “all my seams have meaning - they emphasise something about the body.”

The gown is constructed of cream, ivory, and satin. It’s cut with a high neckline and long, tight sleeves. James’ famous seaming and darting serves to sculpt the satin to fit the body. The finishing touch is a spray of wax orange blossoms at the neck. 






2 comments:

JavaBeanRush said...

Ah! When I saw the thumbnail image of the gown in my Blogger reader I thought, "there's a gown for some glamorous Hollywood actress." I was almost right.

The gown reminds me of the wedding dress Claudette Colbert wears in It Happened One Night.

Gorgeous!
-- Java

Joseph Crisalli said...

You're right; it does look like Colbert's gown from IHON! So of that moment in time. You're always such a welcome observer here.