The Knock-Out Evening Dress from 1935

If this one doesn’t make your heart race, I’m not sure what will. It is an orange silk number, full-length, with a shaped train by Sally K. Greenebaum which opened a shop in Chicago in 1932. It is part of the Chicago History Museum’s show Silver Screen to Mainstream: American Fashion in the 1930s and ‘40s which is on through January 21st.

It has the fitted waistline and slim hipped look which was popular in the mid-1930s, as well as the full-length evening gown which had disappeared in favor of short ones during the 1920s. While the front neckline is somewhat daring, it is tempered by the height with which it wraps around the sides and back of the neck, but then--oh, my!-- the back dips down almost to the waist. I sometimes think these revealing backs were meant to send the message --”nope, there’s nothing underneath this dress!” as any underpinnings would have to be skipped because they would peek out. And yet the neckline makes sure the bodice of the dress stays securely in place--a lesson for all of those designing those strapless dresses which are far more awkward to move in, and those strapped dresses which are always falling down.

The belt is made plastic, so modern, and glass and the curator calls it a “barley twist” design. Whatever you call it, it is all amazing and proves the point of the show: that even the most dramatic of screen looks made it into the shops on Main street.

To learn more about the show, go here: https://www.chicagohistory.org/silverscreen

All dressed up with nowhere to go? Come see our new exhibition “Silver Screen to Mainstream: American Fashion in the 1930s and '40s,” which opens to #CHMmembers starting 4/6 and opens to all on 4/8! // Mount maker Kat Anderson dresses a mannequin with a Sally K. Greenebaum silk evening dress (c. 1935). chicagohistory.org/silverscreen #SilverScreenChi #LinkInBio #FashionFriday #chicagohistorymuseum http://bit.ly/2WMUL8z

All dressed up with nowhere to go? Come see our new exhibition “Silver Screen to Mainstream: American Fashion in the 1930s and '40s,” which opens to #CHMmembers starting 4/6 and opens to all on 4/8! // Mount maker Kat Anderson dresses a mannequin with a Sally K. Greenebaum silk evening dress (c. 1935). chicagohistory.org/silverscreen #SilverScreenChi #LinkInBio #FashionFriday #chicagohistorymuseum http://bit.ly/2WMUL8z

All dressed up with nowhere to go? Come see our new exhibition “Silver Screen to Mainstream: American Fashion in the 1930s and '40s,” which opens to #CHMmembers starting 4/6 and opens to all on 4/8! // Mount maker Kat Anderson dresses a mannequin with a Sally K. Greenebaum silk evening dress (c. 1935). chicagohistory.org/silverscreen #SilverScreenChi #LinkInBio #FashionFriday #chicagohistorymuseum http://bit.ly/2WMUL8z