Large Toile Skirt 1914

Curator: Gerda Wegener’s 1914 drawing, "Large Toile Skirt," presents a woman standing on a balcony, showcasing an elegant, floor-length skirt in a bold plaid pattern. It’s rendered in watercolor and ink, displaying the fashion trends of the time. Editor: My immediate thought is: there’s something ethereal, almost otherworldly about the subject. The swirls of fabric feel alive and untamed despite the rather rigid, geometric structure of her skirt. Curator: That feeling makes perfect sense. Wegener, in her fashion illustrations, often challenges the traditional role of women, suggesting a certain autonomy. The dress almost becomes a metaphor for her liberation, her movement within society. Editor: I agree. The cascade of flowing, diaphanous fabric juxtaposed against the severe lines of the wrought iron railing behind her definitely communicates confinement versus freedom. Do you see a continuity of feminine symbols that trace across fashion from the era? Curator: Absolutely, particularly in the interwar period. One aspect often missed, I think, is Wegener’s commentary on societal expectations and class differences through clothes. What seems like simple dress becomes, under Wegener’s pen, a coded message about power, desire, and gender. Editor: This image is especially telling for its ability to subtly weave threads of female empowerment and individuality into the fabric, quite literally, of high fashion at a turning point for European cultural memory and design. Curator: Right, Wegener uses fashion as a way of representing shifts in how women see themselves and how they choose to be seen by others. It moves beyond simply depicting trends. It reveals her inner world in sartorial representation. Editor: And by using watercolors to capture these forms and patterns, Wegener gives her imagery a gossamer presence that's almost transparent—or just translucent enough—for us to get a peek inside her sitter's private life. I hadn't fully considered Wegener's fashion drawings from that lens before. Curator: Exactly, considering fashion drawings as not just documents of design, but cultural reflections offers much broader understandings. Editor: A view through which we glimpse evolving notions of femininity and agency in fashion illustrations of the time.