cocktail dress

Michel Goma, Paris 1958

Summary

Cocktail dress of printed silk, stylised white leaves on a green ground, figured with paler green circles; long full sleeves; bodice with 7 vertical rows of pintucks each side cf; full pleated skirt; plain white crepe scalloped 'petal' collar; woven label, side seam 'Michel Goma, Paris'. Separate beige silk underskirt, also labelled. The dress was worn for cocktail events by the wife of the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire whilst accompanying him to parties. She had a long association with couture, having been dressed by Worth of London when a young woman and having known well one of the vendeuse at Dior, London. After the war her husband was based at the British Embassy in Paris and she was lent dresses by Lanvin, Schiaparelli and Dior for formal functions, and then allowed to buy them at the end of the season. Michel Goma opened his own house in 1958 and then worked as chief designer at Patou from 1963 to 1973 when he started to produce under his own label again.