Dress #115: Charles James ‘Balloon’ at-home dress Penguin you probably don’t have a

you probably don’t have a lagoon)

It was the completely ridiculous shape of the skirt that drew me to this dress

I’ve since become much more obsessed with using paper that evokes the original fabric

Materials: Japanese paper

is made from a shimmery Japanese paper

Dress #115: Charles James ‘Balloon’ at-home dress Penguin you probably don’t have aThis 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