The Scaasi exhibit needed much further ado. This blue and white strapless silk gown was my absolute fashion favorite. Designed almost sixty years ago? And still just perfect for 2011 spring runways.
The exhibition celebrates the designer Arnold Scaasi (did you know he changed his last name, Isaacs, to the now infamous Scassi?) and the MFA’s recent acquisition of his archive and more than 100 of his designs.
Isn’t this white mink and ostrich feather creation the perfect winter wedding couture gown? Complete with the white mink wrap of course…
He began his business in New York in the mid-1950s and was one of the few New York designers to concentrate on custom-made clothing rather than ready-to-wear.
He designed for the 20th century’s most celebrated artists and most fashionable socialites, including Broadway, TV, and movie stars, such as Arlene Francis, Mitzi Gaynor, Barbra Streisand, Diahann Carroll, Mary Tyler Moore, and Elizabeth Taylor; Palm Beach and New York socialites including Mary Sanford, Ivana Trump, Joetta Norban, Gayfryd Steinberg, and Edna Morris; and First Ladies Mamie Eisenhower and Barbara and Laura Bush. His work has always been synonymous with luxurious materials, exuberant color, and refined silhouettes.
I may actually enjoy the sketches even more than the gowns themselves…
Scaasi became an immediate success upon launching his first ready-to-wear line in 1956. By the end of 1958, he had won the Coty American Fashion Critics Award for best designer of the year and had seen his clothing featured on the covers of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, all before reaching age 30. Despite his success, the growing emphasis on a youth market and changes on Seventh Avenue caused the designer to stop making ready-to-wear and to focus on his custom clientele. He has said that he preferred working directly with his clients making luxurious and dramatic garments that suited their lifestyles.
“Scaasi: American Couturier” explores the designer’s relationship with his clients and how the garments created for them suited their lifestyles and helped them to establish a strong public image, whether it was the youthful sophistication of Barbra Streisand, the fashionable and always appropriately dressed first lady Mamie Eisenhower, or the extraordinarily beautiful and feminine Elizabeth Taylor.
These stage gowns were made for his most famous client, Barbra Streisand, including the custom-made and now infamous black sequined pantsuit that, under the lights of the Oscar stage, appeared see-through. I am not joking, no more than my arms would fit in the pant legs…I have never seen such TINY and narrow pants.
Debi Lilly, aperfectevent.com
