Wedding dress front c. 1975

This wedding dress front was made by Suere, and there is no date attached to it. I love that! The dense embroidery, tiny mirrors and colorful tassels are what first strike me about this piece. It’s clear that so much love and attention went into this garment. It’s a slow labor, stitching each element just so, and then repeating that process over and over. I find myself wondering about the maker. Did she do this alone, or was this part of a collective process, with many hands contributing to the whole? Look closely at the grid of squares in the lower section, and how each one is slightly different, even though they follow a similar pattern. That’s the human element right there. This reminds me of the work of contemporary quilters, like Rosie Lee Tompkins, who had this amazing way of breaking up formal patterns to create these incredibly dynamic compositions. Both artists embraced the idea of imperfection as a form of personal expression, and both transformed humble materials into something truly extraordinary.