Madame Gres’ Styles of the 1930’s By: Hannah Barrett
History of the 1930’s Franklin Roosevelt: President The Great Depression The Dust Bowl The Social Security Act Laissez-Fair economy Wagner Act of 1935 WWII
History of Madame Gres’ Real Name: Germaine Emilie Krebs Born in Paris 1903 Was Jewish Began as sculptor 1st house: Alix Barton Used live mannequin's Married Serge Czerefkov in 1930 Sold Rights to name: Alix New Name: Gres’ (Husbands First Name Backwards) Died in 1993 When WWII came around German soldiers would ask her to design dresses for their wives but she said no because she was Jewish. So they closed her down.
Madame Gres’ Style Training as sculptor influenced designs Most gowns were silk jersey Draped & pleated gowns right on models Sophisticated, Clean, & clung in right places After war: Grecian pleated dresses Each pleat done by hand Grecian style dresses made 1-2 pieces of fabric Began tailoring in 1950’s 1987: House went bankrupt Grecian style dresses took up to 300 hours to make and were all hand made. Each pleat was exactly 1 cm. wide. Madame Gres wanted very piece to be true couture so she never did mass production.
Key Gres’ Look: pleats, created by hand then sewn together lots of folds and drapes bias cut, away from the body Greco-roman influence, togas, capes, wraps, Asian and Eastern influence
“Grecian” evening dress (front detail), off-white silk jersey “Turandot” evening dress, black silk faille
“Grecian” evening dress, navy blue silk jersey Two-piece evening ensemble, coral wool and angora jersey
“Grecian” evening dress (back view), aubergine silk jersey “Grecian” evening gown, blue silk jersey
Sources Mendoza, Sandra. “Alix Gres.” Vintage Fashion Guild. 2008. VFG Label Resource. Oct.1,2008. <Vintagefashionguild.org> Mears, Patricia. Madame Gres’: Sphinx of Fashion. New Haven: Yale UP, 2008. Mollina, Joanne. “The Sphinx of Fashion.” International Decorative Arts Exhibitions & Curiosities. 2008. the Curated Object. <www.curatedobject.us > Sutton, Bettye. “1930-1939.” American Cultural History. June 2008. Lonestar College. Oct. 1,2008. <Kclibrary.lonestar.edu>