Maison Worth
Two-piece evening dress
Yellow silk brocade with chenille and seed beads
Circa 1883, France
The Museum at FIT, 79.40.5, Gift of Jessie L. Hill


The great couturier Charles Frederick Worth was widely regarded as “an artist of luxury.” He created dresses that were expensive confections of lavish fabrics, trimmings, and embroidery for a clientele of wealthy Europeans and Americans. Worth proclaimed, “We live by and for luxury.”