Dinner dress 1900 - 1903

This dress was designed by Rouff, sometime between 1844 and 1914, using velvet, lace and other textiles, probably in a Parisian atelier. I like to imagine the artist who made this piece, working with a team of seamstresses, thinking about how the material falls, how it moves on the body. The velvet has these beautiful vertical lines that create texture, almost like brushstrokes. I wonder how many iterations of the design she went through. I am drawn to the way the velvet bunches and folds at the bottom. Those lines are like a visual rhythm, a sort of wave. The velvet, the lace, the belt... it all speaks to an interest in texture and how fabric can shape the body and communicate status and wealth. There's something painterly in the way the dress comes together. I think about other textile artists, like Anni Albers, and how they use thread and weave to create an image. All these artists were in conversation, asking questions and pushing the boundaries of their medium.