OverDressed for Life

Designs by Sonia Delaunay in 1924.

The craft of fashion is not yet constructive, but rather multiplies details and refinements. Instead of adapting the dress to the necessities of daily life, to the movements which it dictates, it complicates them, believing that it thereby satisfies the taste of the buyer or exporter. 

– Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979), Russian born artist and fashion/textile designer known for her use of bold colors and geometric shapes.

Sonia Delaunay fashion plates from Sonia Delaunay: Art into Fashion.

I found this quote in the book, Sonia Delaunay: Art into Fashion (George Braziller, Inc., 1986). Ms. Delaunay was speaking of fashion trends in 1931. She and her husband Robert, also an artist, believed in simultaneity in art, the idea that two designs placed next to each other affect one another. She applied this to her textile and fashion design, keeping in mind how the design of the fabric would work with the construction of the clothing. (This was unheard of in fashion at the time as each component of fashion design was thought of separately.) She took the next step in also considering how her fashions might be worn by women, who in the modern era were much more active than previous generations. Sonia Delaunay is where fashion plays with art and everyday life.