I featured Pierre Balmain and the House of Balmain for one of my style history posts at the beginning of the month. Many fashion houses were started during, between, and immediately after the First and Second World Wars. However, many of those houses closed those doors. Balmain was not one of them. While the current House of Balmain aesthetic is not necessarily my own style, I do adore the earlier history of the house. I was lucky enough to see one of Pierre Balmain’s gowns in person, at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. This Balmain evening gown is rather gorgeous and speaks to Balmain’s talent.
Pierre Balmain
Balmain was a fairly simplistic designer. Not that his designs were easy to create, but in that he favoured clean and classic silhouettes and designs. He worked with Dior at Lucien Lelong’s atelier, and I can see similarities between the two. His day wear often featured a smaller waist and a longer, bell-shaped skirt. This evening gown is an elegant column shape, though, and he uses it well. (If you want to know more about Balmain, please feel free to check out my style history post linked above!)
1954 Balmain Evening Gown
You can find this beautiful gown in Gallery 40, aka Fashion, at the V&A. It is made of brocaded silk satin with metallic thread, and features ribbon, satin, and netting details. Though you cannot see it, there is a pink silk satin bow at the back- you can see it represented to the left and behind the gown. According to the V&A,
[the] satin sash and draped skirt meet in a series of asymmetrical, diagonal gathers [at the back]. The pearl white satin fabric of the dress is shot through with silver metallic threads and woven with a pattern of small thistles and painstakingly hand painted in pastel shades, while the bodice is embellished with leaves appliquéd with minute stitches. The dress was worn by the Austrian film star Lilli Palmer in the 1956 film Teufel im Seide (Devil in Silk).
This Balmain evening gown is emblematic of the 1950s; what is your favourite fashion decade?
Cheers,
The Historian
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