Dress #115: Charles James ‘Balloon’ at-home dress Penguin yet also adorable harpy is

yet also adorable harpy is based on an illustration from John Jonston’s Natural History of Birds

It is based on an 1885 illustration of ‘The Skull’ from the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union’s ‘Hygiene for Young People’

Glass beads decorate the skirt as well as the left shoulder

The dress is made from chiyogami (Japanese paper)

Materials: Japanese paper

Dress #115: Charles James ‘Balloon’ at-home dress Penguin yet also adorable harpy isThis hand stitched paper dress is based on the Balloon at home dress in black silk faille, created by Charles James in ca. 1956; the original is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession 2013. 327). Charles James used the balloon shape in a number of designs, including evening dresses, an opera coat, and a maternity dress created for retailer Lane Bryant. Charles James is considered by the Met to be the only American to work in the true couture