One thing about Black girl magic: it permeates through the decades. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker wore a remake of a design by the first Black fashion designer in the White House, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, Town & Country reports.
On Monday, the Met Gala returned, and stars paraded on the red carpet to support the evening’s theme, In America: An Anthology of Fashion. Guests were to honor “the tenets of American style, and celebrate unsung heroes of US design.” The dress code for the evening was “gilded glamour, white tie,” Town & Country reports.
The American Museum of Natural History states that “the term ‘Gilded Age,’ coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their 1873 book, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, was an ironic comment on the difference between a true golden age and their present time, a period of booming prosperity in the United States that created a class of the super-rich. This new social elite bought gold luxury items that declared its wealth and status in society.”
Parker collaborated with Christopher John Rogers on a remarkable and thoughtful gown designed as an homage to Keckley.
Keckley was born into slavery in Virginia and bought her freedom in 1855. Five years later, she moved to Washington, D.C., and later landed a position as former first lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s dressmaker during former President Abraham Lincoln’s administration. Keckley also designed dresses for other Washington socialites, according to Vogue.
“She was a smaller designer, and someone that people don’t really talk about,” Rogers told Vogue. “The idea was to highlight the dichotomy between the extravagant, over-the-top proportions of the time period, and the disparity that was happening in America at the time.”
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Parker and Rogers decided to re-create one of Keckley’s distinctive designs that she made in the 1860s, although the Gilded Age started close to 1870.
“It was this cape, and a black and white gingham-plaid gown underneath,” Rogers said. “It was the starting point for us — and since we’re known for using plaids and taffeta, it was already in the wheelhouse of what we do.”
Using Keckley’s stylish innovation motivated Rogers to construct a black and white fitted top and ball-gown skirt accompanied by a train, using silk faille, moire, taffeta, and Swarovski-crystal buttons.
“We took the idea of a small gingham and really blew it up,” Rogers said. “We also exaggerated the silhouette.”
As Rogers and Parker laid the framework for the ensemble, they focused on how to modernize the historical design.
“We didn’t do the cape — we turned it into a top, with an emphasis on the décolletage,” Rogers added. “In lieu of a lot of embroidery, we also kept it simple, but the fabrics are super luxe.”
Rogers’ said his collaboration with Parker opened the door for him to exercise his creative muscle fashion-wise.
“One thing that I always love in the design process is serendipity, and letting the fittings take to a place that you didn’t necessarily intend initially,” he said. “She allowed me to lean into those happy accidents. On the sleeve, there’s a sliver of skin, and we also dropped the neckline even lower than I had originally intended.”
A custom veil by milliner Phillip Treacy finalized Parker’s look, according to Town & Country.
