Evening Gown with Horse Motif

The calf-length dress in simple cut—a shirt-shaped bodice that turns into a loose skirt at hip level—is animated by the unusual motif of the tone on tone tambour embroidery. A reverse frieze of rearing horses is framed from above and below by wavy stylised bands. The motif recurs on the skirt and is delimited by a zigzag ribbon on the top and a second wavy band at the bottom. The hemline of the dress is divided into knee-high, tapering welts edged with beads. The prototype for this dress was a model designed by Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975) in 1921 that is currently in the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris. In spite of their great resemblance, the scantier cut of the Berlin dress dates to around 1924. The Berlin version is furthermore considered a copy of the original because the pearl decoration of the dress here is of a less sophisticated design than that of the version in Paris (see: Waidenschlager 2013).