Dress

This breezy evening dress typifies Geoffrey Beene’s aesthetic in color, pattern, texture, and cut. Boldly printed textiles such as this were characteristic of his first collections, and appeared again and again throughout his career. This dress is fresh, young-looking, and relaxed. Trimmed with a large silk poppy at the waist, it is printed with multicolored flowers on a background of polka dots in varying sizes and shades of pink. The full, fluttering skirt floats over a slim sheath of silk jersey. The high neckline and long sleeves contrast sharply with the low back, a perfect example of Beene’s use of cut to surprise and shock.

Geoffrey Beene established his house in 1962. He was one of several young, pioneering designers in the 1960s who rejected traditional couture and championed ready-to-wear clothing as the wave of the future. Beene focused on innovative and complex methods of cutting fabric, which eliminated the need for bulky seams, facings, and zippers. He used bold color and unusual combinations of fabrics, sometimes combining as many as four different materials in a single dress.