Weekend Eye Candy - Charles James, 1940

Starting in 1933, Charles James showed variations on culottes in his collections.  These leg-wrapping garments always caused quite a sensation. This version, from 1940, shows his brilliant "Figure-8" skirt.  While the piece looks like a skirt, you can see how it is actually one pant leg with the rest of the fabric wrapping the other leg and buttoning at the front waist.  The skirt is cut on the bias from a single pattern piece that is shaped somewhat like a kidney bean.  It is paired with a bare midriff top and gold accessories including gold platform shoes.

Charles James Highlights at the Brooklyn Museum Exhibit

The Brooklyn Museum exhibit "American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection" includes many examples of the work of couturier Charles James. James worked closely with the museum through his involvement with the Design Lab and persuaded several of his clients, including Millicent Rogers, Austine Hearst, and Dominique de Menil, to donate their Charles James garments to the collection at the Brooklyn Museum. In 1993, Erik Lee Preminger donated 24 Charles James garments worn by his mother, Gypsy Rose Lee, to the museum. As a result, the museum holds nearly 200 garments and 600 related Charles James materials, including drawings and patterns of his work.

Many of Charles James' best known evening gowns were on display as part of the exhibit. Shown here are just a few. All photos were taken by me, and thanks to the museum for allowing photos for educational purposes! We appreciate it!

"Butterfly" ball gown, 1955.

Ivory silk satin evening gown, 1951.

"Four Leaf Clover" ball gown, 1953.

"Diamond" evening dress, 1957.

Evening dress, 1946.

"Tree" ball gown, 1955.

Two Charles James evening gowns, 1948 and 1947.

I hope you've enjoyed my reviews of the New York exhibits. I surely enjoyed visiting them!

Weekend Eye Candy - Charles James Evening Gowns 1946

Two silk satin evening gowns by Charles James from 1946. Need I say more?

Weekend Eye Candy - Charles James Evening Cape

1937 - Charles James is wandering a Paris flea market and finds a cache of Victorian silk ribbons. These ribbons are used to construct an evening mantle (a cape without sleeves). This piece became one of James' most well known and iconic garments. Photographed by Horst P. Horst for Vogue magazine 1940.