Once reserved for bedspreads and bathrobes, quilting began to appear on evening wear in the 1960s. "Newer than embroidery or beading on spring fashions for after dark is that old-fashioned favorite, quilting," The Washington Post announced in 1965. "It makes an unexpectedly elegant appearance on many of the new designer creations…. The quilting gives body without stiffness . . . and adds a strictly feminine touch at the same time."¹ Just as Sister Parish and other interior designers began featuring antique American quilts and folk art in elite interiors–most notably the Kennedy White House–fashion designers like Donald Brooks, Pierre Cardin, and Yves Saint Laurent brought the humble quilt out of the bedroom and down to dinner.

Arnold Scaasi
c. 1965-69
Gift of Jane Tucker
Study Collection
2009.967 

American designer Arnold Scaasi (1930-2015) was one of the most prolific quilters of the era. A quilted gold stretch brocade evening suit that appeared in Vogue in 1966 had "glamour-with-give."² A gown of white and gold brocade had a matching jacket weighted with wadding and quilting, to "make the most triumphant entrance of the season."³ And a simple white cotton minidress took on a sculptural quality when stiffened by all-over quilting.⁴

Detail

This gown's metallic silk brocade in a large-scale bird and floral motif is further embellished with quilting that highlights the leafy pattern. Two rows of wadding at the hem buoy the A-line skirt without the need for underpinnings, and, together with the Orientalist pattern, give the gown a kimono-like quality. The technique must have appealed to Scaasi's love of embroidery and surface embellishment while also pleasing clients in search of the streamlined, minimalist silhouette of the 1960s. Scaasi would continue to incorporate quilting into his designs for the rest of his career, whether evoking folksy handcrafting in the 1970s or adding dramatic volume in the 1980s.

¹The Washington Post, January 8, 1965.

²Vogue, November 1, 1963.

³Vogue, November 15, 1963. 

⁴ Vogue, April 1, 1966.