Patricia Lester
Woman's Dress1986

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Designer: Patricia Lester
Title: Woman's Dress
Place Made: Wales
Date Made: 1986
Medium: Silk, glass beads, hand-pleated and hand-painted
Dimensions: Center back length: 56 1/2 in. (143.51 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Elyn Zimmerman
Accession Number: M.2024.162
Classification: Costumes
Collecting Area: Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes: Patricia Lester’s designs are known for their meticulous artisanal dyeing, handmade construction, and delicate embellishments. This particular style of gown was a popular model in the 1980s but has now fallen out of production. Its salient features are full-length shaped sleeves, iridescent beadwork, and fine hand-pleating reminiscent of the renowned Italian artist Mariano Fortuny (18711949), whose silk pleated sheath dresses still have a cult following. However, Lester maintains she was not aware of Fortuny’s work when she developed her methods of dyeing and pleating. In fact, she first turned to pleating as a means to an end in developing a new style of tie-dyed fabric that involved painting on a pleated ground, then releasing the pleats to reveal subtle variations in color. Lester soon found the pleated state of manufacture so beautifully reminiscent of tree bark (the natural environment has long been her muse) that she decided to include pleated garments in her line. Her artisanal methods of hand-painting are beautifully showcased here in a gray silk that evokes an iridescent “oil slick” sheen when exposed to light. Perhaps the most striking feature of this gown is the cluster of wavy pleated lines that meander throughout the bodice, rendered by means of a challenging technique known as genre d’étoffe plissée-ondulée within couture circles.

Nicole LaBouff

2024

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Patricia Lester
Woman's Dress1986

Not on view

No image

Designer: Patricia Lester
Title: Woman's Dress
Place Made: Wales
Date Made: 1986
Medium: Silk, glass beads, hand-pleated and hand-painted
Dimensions: Center back length: 56 1/2 in. (143.51 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Elyn Zimmerman
Accession Number: M.2024.162
Classification: Costumes
Collecting Area: Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes: Patricia Lester’s designs are known for their meticulous artisanal dyeing, handmade construction, and delicate embellishments. This particular style of gown was a popular model in the 1980s but has now fallen out of production. Its salient features are full-length shaped sleeves, iridescent beadwork, and fine hand-pleating reminiscent of the renowned Italian artist Mariano Fortuny (18711949), whose silk pleated sheath dresses still have a cult following. However, Lester maintains she was not aware of Fortuny’s work when she developed her methods of dyeing and pleating. In fact, she first turned to pleating as a means to an end in developing a new style of tie-dyed fabric that involved painting on a pleated ground, then releasing the pleats to reveal subtle variations in color. Lester soon found the pleated state of manufacture so beautifully reminiscent of tree bark (the natural environment has long been her muse) that she decided to include pleated garments in her line. Her artisanal methods of hand-painting are beautifully showcased here in a gray silk that evokes an iridescent “oil slick” sheen when exposed to light. Perhaps the most striking feature of this gown is the cluster of wavy pleated lines that meander throughout the bodice, rendered by means of a challenging technique known as genre d’étoffe plissée-ondulée within couture circles.

Nicole LaBouff

2024