Dress c. 1938

Catherine Fowler made this watercolor, Dress, at an unknown date; it's a ghostly, ephemeral thing. The colours are gentle—muted pinks, blues and greens—applied with an almost hesitant touch. It's as if the dress is there, but also not quite, a memory or a dream of a dress. Look at the way the floral pattern is scattered across the fabric; it’s so delicate, like tiny seeds spread by the wind. You can almost feel the texture of the paper, a slight roughness that contrasts with the smoothness of the paint. The waist is so cinched it is like a tourniquet: the eye is arrested there, and then released down into the skirt, a release into possibility. It reminds me of some of the fashion sketches of Sonia Delaunay, who also had this incredible knack for capturing movement and light with just a few simple strokes. Ultimately, this dress exists in the realm of suggestion, where ambiguity is not a weakness, but a strength.