A pretty 1927 pale lime green crêpe de chine dancing dress from Atelier Bachwitz, a Jewish-owned Vienna-based publishing house that published exquisite fashion and lifestyle magazines from 1898 to 1938.

The straight line silhouette is typical of the 1920s, the clever, zigzag piecing of the fabric more common after 1925 as the Art Deco aesthetic took hold. Loose, fluttering bias-cut ruffles became popular right around 1926 and got more and more fluttery as the decade progressed. Bright, cheerful colors in lightweight silks were fashionable the entire decade.

Looking at the image, I believe the skirt flounces are petal-shaped at the bottom, something like quarter-circles in cut, and freehanging from each other. A pain straight slip of matching silk worn underneath would protect modesty as the flounces flared out like flower petals while dancing.

• Robe de Style.

Date: 1927

Designer/Maker: Jeanne Lanvin

Medium: Silk moiré, glass beads, pearls, metallic thread.

Evening Dress

1926-1929

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

One Dress a Day Challenge

August: Fantasy and Sci-fi

Metropolis / Brigitte Helm as the Maschinenmensch (robot)

Does this really count as a costume? Is it more of a prosthetic? I'm really not sure how to classify it, but it is definitely iconic--and hugely influential on design in movies ever since.

I found an article with a fascinating description of how the suit was made: "The robot, whose construction took weeks, was made of 'plastic wood', a kneadable substance made of wood, hardening quickly when exposed to the air, allowing itself to be modeled like organic wood. They first took a plaster cast mould of Brigitte Helm from head to toe. Parts resembling a knight’s armour, cut out of Hessian, were covered with 2 mm substance, flattened by means of a kitchen pastry roller. This was then stuck on to the plaster Brigitte Helm, like a shoemaker pulls leather over his block. When the material had hardened, the parts were polished, the contours cut out.... Finally, cellon varnish mixed with solver bronze, and applied with a spray gun, gave the costume its genuinely metallic appearance which even seemed convincing when looked at from close range."

I'm all the more impressed after learning that Brigitte Helm was only eighteen when she played the triple role of the robot, Maria, and "False Maria"! And I love the behind-the-scenes picture of her getting a drink while a hair dryer is applied to the suit.

Les Petites Alliées by Claude Farrère, Illustrations by Pierre Brissaud, 1927.

The novel takes place in Toulon, in a world of young naval officers who entertain themselves with the demi-monde. 

Le Petit écho de la mode, no. 8, vol. 49, 20 février 1927, Paris. Le Mardi gras à Nice. Ville de Paris / Bibliothèque Forney

Costume de Pierrot en satin rouge, pour garçonnet. Veste ample à godets sur pantalon large. Collerette en tulle à trois rangs froncés. Boutons en marabout blanc.

Pierrot costume in red satin, for boy. Loose jacket with godets over wide trousers. Tulle collar with three gathered rows. White marabou buttons.

Métrage: 3m50 en 80.

–

Costume Papillon pour petite fille. Maillot en jersey de soie raye sur jupe de taffetas. Petites ailes en tulle brodé. Bandeau de velours avec deux antennes.

Butterfly costume for little girl. Striped silk jersey swimsuit on taffeta skirt. Small wings in embroidered tulle. Velvet headband with two antennae.

Métrage pour 8 à 10 ans: tissu rayé, 1m10 en 70; tissu uni, 1m50 en 100.

Beaux Arts de Modes - 1927

Vintage photo of San Giovanni in Fiore, Calabria, Italy (1927)

Follow us on Instagram, @calabria_mediterranea

baby Napoleon being attacked by pillows TM

Black Satin Evening Dress, ca. 1927, French.

MFA Boston.

• Dress.

Date: 1927

Evening Dress

Paul Poiret (French)

Late 1920s 

Fashion Museum Bath via Twitter

Tamara Łempicka (1898-1980) — The Red Dress (oil, canvas, 1927)

Le Petit écho de la mode, no. 36, vol. 49, 4 septembre 1927, Paris. Chapeau de demi-saison en feutre noir, forme Napoléon, orné d'une boucle de roses blanches en cire avec feuillage en cire verte. Collier en perles baroques. Ville de Paris / Bibliothèque Forney