#6919 $750
Beaded crepe evening blouse, c.1939
This work of wearable art has the showiness and brilliance in clothing celebrated throughout the Great Depression—a quality more important in the 1930s than anytime before or since. See our original article on Fashion in the 1930s.
Made from black rayon crepe with a persimmon crepe neckline border, the blouse closes on the side with a metal zipper. The blouse is gently fitted at the waistline with darts above a bias-cut peplum.
The beaded decoration—with a profusion of coral, turquoise, and burnished gold metal—is spectacular. The creativity of the design motif conveys a stylish elegance that the initiated understand, but which remains a mystery to the rest.
The condition is excellent.
It measures: 38" bust, 28 1/2" waist, 37" lower peplum circumference, 15 3/4" from shoulder to waist, and 19" from shoulder to front hem (longer in back).
