British mourning evening dress, c. 1861 (original) (raw)

Evening Dress worn by Queen Alexandra

Henriette Favre

1902

Mauve silk tulle, sequins

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Miss Irene Lewisohn, 1937 (C.I. 37.44.1)

This dress appeared in “Death Becomes Her,” the 2014-155 exhbition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Photograph © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, by Karin L. Willis.

Click on image to enlarge it and see museum commentary below

• Review of “Death Becomes Her”

The museum label points out that the evening gowns that Queen Alexandra wore the year after Queen Victoria's death, embody the loosening of the rigid prescriptions of earlier decades and “the opulence of court dress in tones of half mourning. On the gown by Henriette Favre, a couturiere whose clients included ladies of the English court and American women of style, silk tulle is densely embroidered with sequins in varying shades of mauve, forming motifs of bow knots and scrolling ribbons that cascade from bodice to hem. This gown, and the similarly composed example of black tulle embroidered with deep purple sequins, demonstrates a dramatic shift from the sober mourning attire of Queen Victoria.”

Created 29 December 2014