The Fashion and Textile Collection has a new gift!  And it’s part of a set! The dress at the upper left--depicting an Apollo-era rocket at lift-off--is our newest poster dress from the 1968 Harry Gordon set. The rocket version joins three other dresses from the set already collected by the Cincinnati Art Museum. The Harold Gordon set included five versions, as pictured on the original packaging (which we also have for all four dresses). Paper dresses like these were a short-lived fad of the late 1960s and rarely survive due to their ephemeral nature. The dress with the eye even has an original label that warns the dress cannot be cleaned or dry-cleaned, making it a wear-and-toss item of clothing. Luckily, these four dresses are all in never-been-worn condition. They survived the years between their creation and their arrival at the museum stored in their original packaging. At the museum, we store them opened so they can lay flat in a custom-made archival box. Their original packaging is stored nearby, separated by tissue paper. Now we just need the dress with the rose to complete the Harry Gordon set. Do you have one in a drawer somewhere? Give us a call!

The four paper dresses together! Only one to go to complete the set…

Hand: (Harry Gordon (American, b. 1930, d. 2007), designer, Poster Dresses, Ltd. (British, active 1960s), manufacturer, Poster dress, 1968, screen-printed tissue, wood pulp, rayon mesh, Museum Purchase: Friends of Fashion, 2020.35)

Rocket: (Harry Gordon (American, b. 1930, d. 2007), designer, Poster Dresses, Ltd. (British, active 1960s), manufacturer, Poster dress, 1968, screen-printed tissue, wood pulp, rayon mesh, nylon, Gift in honor of Kimberly Klosterman and Cynthia Amneus, 21/22.42)

Eye: (Harry Gordon (American, b. 1930, d. 2007), designer, Poster Dresses, Ltd. (British, active 1960s), manufacturer, Poster dress, 1968, screen-printed tissue, wood pulp, rayon mesh, Museum Purchase: Lawrence Archer Wachs Fund, 2001.154)

Cat: (Harry Gordon (American, b. 1930, d. 2007), designer, Poster Dresses, Ltd. (British, active 1960s), manufacturer, Poster dress, 1968, screen-printed tissue, wood pulp, rayon mesh, Gift of Mrs. Thomas J. Reis, 1973.728)

The original packaging for the poster dresses, showing all five versions:

The warning label from the dress with the eye: