Dress with a Tie Belt c. 1951 - 1952

Here's a black dress with a tie belt, made by Kruysveldt-de Mare. I imagine them, surrounded by reams of fabric, snipping, pinning and adjusting. It’s interesting that the object is completely without colour. I’ve worked in monochrome myself and it's a very different way of working, it has its own logic. With this dress, the artist is completely reliant on shape and texture to convey the effect. There's a lot of crumpling and gathering to draw the eye, and a certain amount of asymmetry. I keep thinking about the person who made it, and how that person wanted someone to feel when wearing it. Maybe powerful? I don't know, it’s a very specific garment and that makes me wonder about the occasion for which it was made. I am sure, as an artist, that Kruysveldt-de Mare was inspired by the work of other fashion designers, just like visual artists are in dialogue with their predecessors. The history of fashion design is just like the history of art, an ongoing exchange of ideas.