What:
Butterfly Evening Gown
Label: "Charles James Design"

Where:
716 Madison Avenue, New York

When:
First created in 1954 and produced until 1956

Who:
This dress belonged to interior and industrial designer Melanie Kahane. She wore it to an opening at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. As the dress is rather voluminous in back, she needed three seats. According to Elizabeth Ann Coleman, the first version in white silk chiffon and white silk satin with tulle of daffodil yellow, orange, gold and topaz was sold to Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr. for $1250 in 1954 while a 1955 version sold for $1,000.

How:
Section 1: Sheath Dress
The sheath is composed of up to eight layers of fabric. The outermost layer consists of a smoke-grey silk chiffon overlay draped in a swag with a center front axis. The front neckline has a section of chocolate-brown tulle overlay instead of chiffon. The folds of the overlay cover the multitude of stitches that anchors it to a base of light-pink silk satin interfaced with cotton muslin. These three layers of fabric create a shell that is attached to an inner bodice and two skirts. The pink satin bodice is boned vertically thirteen times and extends below the Petersham waist ribbon. Two visible oval batting pads covered in white silk chiffon are stitched to the bodice below the shoulder blades. Attached to the bodice at waist level is a structural skirt and a skirt lining. Except for a triangular section from the pelvic area to the back slit at the hem, the structural skirt of ivory silk faille interfaced with cotton muslin is interfaced a second time with horsehair canvas and third time with stiff bobbinet tulle. The ivory silk taffetas lining is the innermost layer. The dress closes at the center-back with a zipper.

Section 2: Back Bustle Attachment
The bustle is sewn to the exterior of the dress at the buttocks area, and when it meets the center back slit, it wraps around the opening and is attached to the dress inside and out. A double arch structure centered at the back crowns the bustle. The arches are built in two sections: the draped outer shell and the structural base. The outer shell consists of pleated rose-colored silk satin interfaced with black organza. On the lowest of the three anchored pleats, two added layers of ivory silk faille interfacing provide a thicker hand. The layers of the structural base on which the draped layer rests are not visible. The exterior layers of silk taffeta are extremely stiff and probably contain several layers of tulle and horsehair canvas. Above the arches and on both sides of the lower part of the zipper is a gathered panel of chocolate brown tulle. Below the arches is an accumulation of tulle layers. Truncated quadrants of tulle are gathered and layered from outer to inner layers as such: two of chocolate brown, two of chestnut brown, two of lilac. The hem of the meandering tulle godet measures 20.7 m / 22 ¾ yards. The added hem length of the six layers of tulle totals 124.2 m / 135.8 yards, which is longer than a football field. The complete dress weighs 3.4 kg / 7 ½ lb, contrary to the 18 pounds attributed to the tulle section in Elizabeth Ann Coleman's The Genius of Charles James.

Credit:
Kent State University Museum
Silverman/Rodgers Collection
KSUM 1983.1.412