Dress #115: Charles James ‘Balloon’ at-home dress Chanterelles Materials: Japanese paper and cotton

Materials: Japanese paper and cotton floss on cotton paper

Glass beads decorate the skirt as well as the left shoulder

The original dress

This hand-stitched paper Edwardian dress is made from pale pink Japanese paper

the original is held by the Chicago History Museum (accession 1960

Dress #115: Charles James ‘Balloon’ at-home dress Chanterelles Materials: Japanese paper and cottonThis 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