Images(2)

Dress

Object number2014.114.1

Designer Sadie Nemser

Datec. 1920

MediumFabric/Satin/Metal/Plastic/Thread

Credit LineGift of Louise Machinist

DescriptionPurple sleeveless chiffon dress with beadwork and embroidery.DimensionsHeight x Width: 45.5 × 13 in. (115.6 × 33 cm)
InscriptionsThe interior of the slip at the front center has a satin label with blue embroidered text "Nemser / ORIGINAL MODEL".
Historical Notes1920s-era purple dress, a Nemser Original, that belonged to the donor's maternal grandmother Lucile Kerr Wrenshall. Lucile Kerr was born circa 1893. Nemser Originals were one-of-a-kind dresses made by designer Sadie Nemser and sold in her shop. Such as an Inaugural Dress for Grace Coolidge, a lipstick red, asymmetrical, triple-tiered chiffon velvet with dropped hip, and jewel belted, flapper-style gown, with a detachable train, but others were sold through department stores. Sadie Nemser was a leader in the cubism effort of design. It was a family business with different relatives specializing in different work. Miss Kerr grew up on Woodville Plantation/Neville House where her grandfather had been a tenant farmer and her father Robert Kerr started a wall paper business on the North Side. Lucille married William Ebbs Wrenshall, whose family owned Woodville from c. 1830 till the 1970s. The couple lived in Bellevue.

Previous owner Lucile Kerr Wrenshall

Subjects