Afternoon suit 1900 - 1910

This Afternoon Suit, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, comes to us from the House of Worth. What I love about textiles – and I mean, I *love* textiles – is how they are crafted, stitched, and tailored into existence. The artist here coaxes the fabric into submission, each cut and hem a deliberate, expressive gesture. The velvety material of the suit is so sumptuous, like a deep, dark oil painting. It's as though the artist is building up layers of color and texture. You get a sense of how the artist thought about volume and form. The skirt cascades down, while the jacket puffs out around the shoulders. The purple trim is so precise, like an echo of the overall form, but in miniature. It's like the house of Worth is riffing on a theme, trying out variations, much like painters do. This is how artists talk to each other, across mediums, across time.