SKU: 52794369850

"Charles James: Architect Of Fashion- From The Wardrobe Of Lisa Kirk & The Collections Of Homer Layne & FIT"

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"Charles James: Architect Of Fashion- From The Wardrobe Of Lisa Kirk & The Collections Of Homer Layne & FIT"11 1 2" x 8 1 2" (menu size) Cover artwork by 'Antonio' Lopez FIT Exhibition March 23 May 1, 1993 w 11" x 4 1 4" folding [4] pp. card laid In w the (55) CJ lots featured [2] pp. Scroll Down for (2) Additional Scans: Charles James (1906 1978) was a designers designer. Although greatly admired by other couturiers, such as Christian Dior and Jacques Fath, he was unknown to the public at large. Indeed, he was often on the verge of bankruptcy, despite

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" (menu size)
Cover artwork by 'Antonio' Lopez

FIT Exhibition March 23 - May 1, 1993

w/ 11" x 4 1/4" folding [4] pp. card laid-In w/ the (55) CJ lots featured 

[2] pp.

Scroll Down for (2) Additional Scans:

Charles James (1906-1978) was a designer’s designer. Although greatly admired by other couturiers, such as Christian Dior and Jacques Fath, he was unknown to the public at large. Indeed, he was often on the verge of bankruptcy, despite creating expensive clothes for some of the world’s most discriminating clients, such as Mrs. Randolph Hearst and Millicent Rogers. A brilliant designer, but a difficult and tormented personality, he made fewer than 1000 garments over the course of a 50-year career. There are many stories of his eccentricities: once, for example, two clients wanted the same dress, so—like King Solomon—he cut it in half. The extreme rarity and originality of his existing garments makes them among the most valuable objects in museum costume collections.

Born in England, James began his career as a milliner in Chicago, working under the name Charles Boucheron. Then he moved to New York, where he also began designing dresses. The influence of millinery can be seen in the way he juxtaposed rigid geometrical forms and fluid folds. Many couturiers of the 1950s incorporated boning and padding into their dresses, but James went much further, often creating an elaborate infrastructure, encasing the wearer’s torso. A virtuoso with fabric, he would then create a superstructure of artfully-draped silk and satin. James is best-known for the intricately-cut, often asymmetrical ball gowns that he designed in the 1940s and 1950s, which sold at the time for about $1500, and can easily fetch 100 times that figure today. A fashion journalist described one evening gown as “so intricately shaped, so marvelously massed into drapery that every angle presents a new silhouette.” The Museum at FIT owns several gowns that James designed for the performer, Lisa Kirk, as well as a beautiful example of his most famous dress, the Abstract or Four-Leaf Clover ball gown. His quilted, padded evening jackets are also justly famous. Although best known for his ability to “sculpt” with fabric, James was also a brilliant colorist, masterfully juxtaposing unexpected colors, such as golden yellow and ice blue.
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SKU: 52794369850

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4.1 ★★★★★
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Ev Ting
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 5
Beautiful & Great Price!
Color: Gold-b, Color: Gold-b
I was looking at a $60 Williams & Sonoma “honeycomb collection” marble paper towel holder with gold bee accents, but decided to save a bunch of money and go with this one. Glad I did! It’s awesome!!! Easy to put together with the wrench that’s included, it’s packed well - great product for the price and they sent a free gift with it too. Received 3 super soft dish cloths along with the paper town holder. Unexpected surprise and happy with them too!! Just placed an oder for another one for the other bathroom sink. This will not be in a high use area so I’m not worried about the base getting beat up. I feel like it’s just the right weight. Not as heavy as real marble, but heavy enough to hold the towels securely. The gold is a pretty shade.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2025
K
Verified Purchase
kentra
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 5
perfect!!!
Color: Gold-b
great quality love look of it just what i was looking for looks great in space where i am using it
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Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2026
K
Verified Purchase
Kat 😺
Whiting, US
★★★★★ 5
Heavy marble base and solid rod holder.
Color: White-aa, Color: White-aa
After researching the many different marble base towel holders, which is what I wanted to match my marble decor, I finally settled on this which arrived today, packed very nicely in a Styrofoam tight box to protect the marble and came with it as you can see a gift of some very soft Microfiber dish cloths, which work very well at removing smudge marks on kitchen appliances. It took me 30 seconds to join the base to the rod. It came with a little tool to tighten the base however it really wasn’t necessary. I then covered the hole under the base with a piece of One-sided circular sticky, felt, which covered the hole very nicely. I have tried it, and it does do as it says, and the marble base is heavy enough where it holds the roll of paper towels so that with a couple of tugs, I can get one of the perforated sections out. Does take more than one tug as some people showed but two tugs or three light ones really doesn’t matter it gets the job done and in a far lower price than any of the others, in fact, some of the recommended others were 2 1/2 times more expensive and the reviews were not good at all. It pays to take the time to go through people’s reviews like mine and that’s why I believe in completing the reviews whenever I can time permitting. I’m giving this a five star and I think that you will too. I was lucky based on some of the other marble bases that were shown for this product that I got a significant amount of gray marbling matter because some of them had very little it’s just the way the marble runs and you take your chance, but I was lucky.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2025
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Barbara D
Los Angeles, US
★★★★★ 4
Base a bit light
Color: Gold-b
Attractive, functional but would benefit from a weightier base
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Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2025
K
Verified Purchase
Karen
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 5
Nice touch!
Color: Gold-b, Color: Gold-b
Handles large paper towel rolls. The gold color on the top which is mainly what you see when you have paper towels on it, coordinates nicely with the various shades of gold in my kitchen. The 4" pulls brushed gold, the Delta pull down facet as well as the Euro (Lamps plus) aged brass mini pendant. I find it easy to tear off paper towels even without the small tear bar found on different holders. Was a few $ more but it matches perfectly. Well worth it.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2025

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