From Paris to Wanamakers to the Philadelphia Museum of Art: the story of the Balenciaga 66
Bought fresh off the runway in 1951, a $3000 dress tells the story of Philly's 'fashion active' past.
By 1951 Paris designer Cristóbal Balenciaga was loved by high society women worldwide for his tailored, corseted, curve-hugging silhouettes. His clients — including Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, and more — adored how he added black and brown lace overlays to body-skimming gowns fashioned from hot pink satin. There wasn’t a ruffle or a cinched waist Balenciaga didn’t feel free to play with.
That year, Wanamakers fashion merchandise director Mildred Custin was on the lookout for gowns to feature in a swank fashion show and fundraiser to benefit Abington Hospital. The Gala Soiree was the department store executives’ attempt to stimulate the economy and get people interested in high fashion after the war.
Custin — who would become the president and chairperson of Bonwit Teller in the 1960s — went to the Paris shows and picked a frothy black and white Balenciaga, forever known as Balenciaga 66, off the runways.
She purchased the gown for $3,000 — worth more than $36,000 in today’s money.
Shortly after the Gala Soiree, which, according to a 1951 Philadelphia Inquirer article “featured a group of fashions considered among the most sensational in Paris openings,” Wanamakers donated the Balenciaga gown to the Art Museum, where it still resides as part of its permanent costume collection.
The designer behind classic shapes like the no frills chemise, the baby doll dress, and the empire waist dress, Balenciaga could work a silhouette. This Balenciaga, however, is decadent. It’s a dreamy precursor to the 1950s princess gowns and romanticism. It’s flamenco style is a nod to Balenciaga’s Spanish heritage and features a removable white overskirt sitting atop a fringe of black organza petals.
“The white cotton juxtaposed with the waterfall silk makes for a very interesting piece,” said Dilys Blum, senior curator of costumes and textiles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
It is now on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s ongoing exhibition “Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s.” The must-see piece is one of 25 chic outfits displayed in the museum’s Dorrance Galleries.
The vintage pieces sit next to minimalist furniture, abstract art, and gelatin silver print photographs born in the dynamic years that yanked America out of the Great Depression, thrust her into World War II, and set the stage for the opulent 1950s.
The exhibit’s clothing represents a time often romanticized as America’s best-dressed: women wore hats, gloves, hose, and pumps every day. Philadelphia was particularly well-dressed. Back in the day, according to that Inquirer article, Philadelphia was “among the most fashion active city in the world by manufacturers and fashion followers throughout the world.”
Nestled in the collection are beautifully tailored pieces from Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaparelli as well as American designers Irene Lentz and Claire McCardell. The vivid fabrics and familiar shirtwaist silhouettes may be 80+ years old, but they are very wearable even today.
Case in point: Nicole Kidman wore a copy of the Balenciaga No. 66 to the 2024 Met Gala.
“Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s” is on view through Sept. 1. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., philamuseum.org