Dress c. 1937

Isabelle De Strange made this drawing of a dress in graphite and white gouache on paper. I love the way the dress floats on the light-brown paper. I can imagine De Strange carefully applying the tiny white marks on the dress, building up the details one at a time. What must it have been like to sit and painstakingly record every detail of this garment? Maybe she was dreaming of wearing this dress, or was it for someone else? There’s a real tenderness to how she’s captured the fabric’s folds and the lace trim. The dress almost feels like a ghost, a memory of someone who might have worn it. Even though it’s just lines on paper, she makes me think of other artists, like Charles LeDray who makes tiny clothes out of porcelain clay. This drawing makes me want to go make something!