Dress

Madeleine Vionnet was the first couturiere to take a “modern” approach to fabric by perfecting the bias cut to clothe the body. Rejecting the traditional method of designing by drawing, Vionnet draped the fabric directly on the human form. By working in the round she could visualize the garment as a whole, and she was able to find solutions to design problems that were unavailable to those who relied on two-dimensional sketches. Her use of the bias cut—cutting the fabric at a 45-degree angle across the grain—allowed her dresses to mold themselves to the body’s contours. This method of construction eliminated the need for multiple seams to fit the cloth to the figure. Vionnet’s dresses could be slipped over the head, seldom requiring closures such as buttons or snaps.

This evening dress, which Vionnet designed in the late 1920s, is a prime example of the bias cut that later characterized fashions of the 1930s. Constructed of dark and light green silk velvet, it falls perfectly and softly on the figure. In this dress, she has used triangles of contrasting colors that converge just below the waistline. The entire bodice and the floor-length floating panel that hangs down the back are cut from a single piece of fabric. The skirt and its handkerchief hem are made from only three large rectangles of velvet.