Left:

Balenciaga, Spanish, 1895-1972

Evening Gown (Dress and Tie)

French, Spring 1950

Silk crepe, shantung

Gift of Mrs. Sybil Harrington1968.c.504.A-B

"The sash plays a leading part. Balenciaga achieves dramatic new effects with huge sashes of taffeta. These Balenciaga sheaths are always easy to walk in, owing to an impeccable flare at the bottom of the skirt."

-Harper's Bazaar, November 1950

This free-flowing drapery was inspired by paintings by the seventeenth-century Spanish artists Zurbarán and Velasquez. Dramatic draperies that created romantic effects made women look and feel glamorous. 

Right:

Balenciaga, Spanish, 1895-1972

Suit (Jacket and Skirt)

French, Winter 1948

wool tweed, velvet collar

Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth J. Chisholm1968.c.175.A-B

The donor of this suit, Mrs. Elizabeth (Betty) Chisholm, a local philanthropist, lived at the Biltmore Estates. Her family owned the Jones Sausage company. She was courted in Phoenix by Clark Gable and they were seen about town in his blue Duesenburg roadster.

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