Dress

ID:

28.125/1

Production date:

1911

Location:

In Store

This dress was donated by Lady Duff-Gordon who owned the London fashion house Lucile. In her letter offering the gown, Lady Duff-Gordon wrote:  < ...Read more

This dress was donated by Lady Duff-Gordon who owned the London fashion house Lucile. In her letter offering the gown, Lady Duff-Gordon wrote:

'I have in my possession two or three models which I designed for the firm of Lucile Limited, which I founded and directed. These particular dresses were made in 1910 and 1911 and have a certain sentimental interest as two of them were especially created for the popular London favourites of the moment, namely Miss Lily Elsie and Miss Gertie Millar. They were also part of the mannequin show with which I opened the Paris branch of Lucile Limited.'

Contemporary postcards show Gertie Millar wearing a very similar dress playing the title role of the musical comedy 'The Quaker Girl'.

Duff-Gordon made clothes for Gertie Millar on and off the stage. She wrote of the actress in her autobiography: 'She was one of the frankest women I have ever met, and would discuss her love affairs with the saleswomen, and make them laugh at the stories she told of her different admirers' (Discretions and Indescretions, 1932) < Hide

Measurements

L 120 mm (centre front); L 136 mm (centre back); L 140 mm (shoulder to hem); CF 660 mm (waist); L 340 mm (sleeve)

Materials

silk; lace

Last Updated

2024-03-14