Read and Review: 'Lobster Dress'

The Lobster dress, “an exhibition in itself”, designed by influencial Italian designer and artist Elsa Schiaperelli, was famously worn by Wallis Simpson in a series of photographs by Cecil Beaton. Schiaparelli is regarded one of the most famed figures in fashion between both World Wars, alongside her greatest rival, Coco Chanel, who described Schiaparelli as 'that Italian artist who makes clothes'. Schiaparelli’s work was heavily influenced by Surrealists, including collaborator, Salvador Dali. Dali incorperated lobsters in a lot of his work during 1934, inlcuding ‘New York Dream-Man Finds Loster in Place of Phone’. The dress itself, created in 1937, was a simple silk evening dress with a crimson waistband featuring a large lobster painted onto the front of the skirt. The placement of the lobster is among parsley sprigs on the front of the skirt of the dress. The lobster’s sexual connotation possibly represented an aphrodesiac among many other suggestions of erotic symbolism. The placement of the lobster charged the design with erotic tension, defeating the idea of the romantic looking photos. It has been said that Dali was apparently disappointed when Schiaparelli would not allow him to spread mayonaise on the finished gown.

The photos were taken at the Château de Candé by Cecil Beaton shortly before Wallis Simpson’s marriage to Edward VIII. With regards to the photos, the general feel for the image is serene and romantic, with the beautiful floral garden setting. My initial reaction is that the woman looks rather elegant and poised. The white dress creates a sense of purity and enhances the female figure with the detail at the waist. The pose is effortless as if the woman is taking a casual stroll in a garden. The flowers add to the femanitity and purity of the photo, yet don’t overpower the dress, still allowing it to be the main focus of the image. With further inspection of the image, you notice the lobster on the front of the skirt, changing the message portrayal. The photo originally appears to be an image of bridal innocence, but the lobster design creates a contrasting message with the controvesial implications of the crustacean. The photo creates speculation with the outlandish dress design, something that Dali often did. This may have been the intention for this shoot as the model was a famous individual and may have been chosen deliberately to increase recognition.

The composition of the image is quite delightful. The detail of the background is slightly blurred to create emphasis on the foreground. The main focus is placed on the dress with it being in the centre. With Wallis Simpson’s head turned to the side she is not drawing attention to herself and letting the dress take centre stage.

I sense that there may have been contrasting ideas from each artist with the message portrayal, working in its favour. Cecil Beaton’s intentions for the shoot were to photograph Wallis Simpson in a more flattering light with an idealistic portrayal. The dress’s general shape and material coincide with this theme: the purity of the white, the elegant shaping of material and the detailed waist. Yet the message portrayal of the lobster covering the women’s genitalia flaunts a surrealist symbol of sexual acts and reproductive organs. This gesture portrays an expression of sexual desires and interests, converting an innocently themed image to something quite symbolically provocative. The general idea of the photo is very clever as the artists have created a much talked about final product, with Vogue publishing the photos as an eight page spread.