This Mamie Eisenhower dress is Kansas City Museum catalogue number 1976.93.1.a,b. It consists of a strapless dress with a short overjacket which ties at center rear.
This dress dates from 1955-1960 and Mrs. Eisenhower, who was also the donor, said that she wore it to various events while she & her husband resided in the White House.
Mrs. Eisenhower's dress was made by well-known designer Mollie Parnis. Mollie Parnis probably most typifies wealthy conservative women’s dress, from 1950s to mid-1970s. Mamie Eisenhower had a great deal to do with firmly establishing Parnis in the top list of American designers.
The Kansas City Museum's collection of First Lady dresses includes the same purple hosiery and dyed-to-match shoes that Mrs. Eisenhower wore with this dress.
Mamie Eisenhower wore this dress to several events at the White House.
A closeup of the bodice of the dress reveals extensive pleating.
This dress is one of the historically significant dresses from the First Lady and historical fashions collection in the Museum's Costume Institute.
This Margaret Truman Daniel dress is Kansas City Museum catalogue number 1960.104.1. She was the daughter of President Harry S Truman of Independence, Missouri.
According to the late Mrs. Daniel, who was the donor, it was the dress that she was wearing the night that Clifton Daniel proposed to her in 1955.
This dress was designed by Fontana, an Italian design house started in 1944 and run by three Fontana sisters in Milan.
The Fontana design house still exists, specializing in wedding dresses. In 1955, the designer was still relatively new and gaining a reputation for risque styles.
At the time, the Fontana design house was known primarily for dressing Hollywood actresses such as Ava Gardner, creating costumes for at least three of her movies, including The Barefoot Contessa.
Margaret Truman Daniels' dress originally had a matching stole.
The Fontana design house also created Margaret Truman Daniels' wedding gown. Wedding gowns have remained a feature of the Fontana couture.
It is likely that she wore dyed-to-match shoes. Although the Trumans were frugal, the shoes may have included the same sequins and beading that are on the dress.
The brilliant blue silk chiffon evening dress is Kansas City Museum catalogue number 1982.18.2. It was worn by Katherine King Miller (then of Pittsburgh, PA) to an inaugural ball of President Taft in January 1909. This was just a year before Corinthian Hall was completed in Kansas City, and representative of elaborate gowns of that era.
Rebecca Martz-Burley (left) and Lisa Shockley (right), both curators of collections at Union Station/Kansas City Museum, prepare Mrs. Miller's exquisite gown on a mannequin.
Katherine King Miller was either the grandmother or great-grandmother of Helen Boyer King.
Curators Martz-Burley and Shockley handle this fragile dress with great care. The dress is 100 years old and still quite vibrant in color.
Although this time period shows many dresses in vibrant jewel tones, this one is especially beautiful.
This gown has no dressmaker/designer label inside, although it is clearly the work of an artiste.
The quality of the fabrics alone make this dress a standout, let along the quality of the design & construction.
Unfortunately, those colors are probably part of the reason for the deterioration of the fabric itself. The dyes that were used to create these colors often contained metallic salts which weaken fabrics and cause them to basically fall apart. This isn’t always the case, but if the original processing of the fabric contained these metals/salts, the deterioration is inevitable and cannot be stopped.
While the blue overdress is still in relatively good condition, the cream underskirt is shattering into tiny pieces.
This yellow dress from Mrs. Irene Allis is Kansas City Museum catalogue number 1984.11.1. She was married to Mr. Barney Allis, owner of the Muehlebach Hotel, and she wore this gown to an inaugural ball of President John F. Kennedy in 1962.
It was designed by Helga, Inc. (which was really Helga Oppenheimer). The dress is very typical of Helga designs.
Helga, the dress designer, is known for close, tailor-fitted designs in bold colors. This stunning dress is one of the most distinctive dresses in the Museum's historical collection.
Lisa Shockley, Curatorial Specialist for 3-D Collections at Union Station/Kansas City Museum, considers this dress one of the treasures of the collection.
Mrs. Irene Allis' dress was purchased in Kansas City at Harzfeld's department store. She later wore it to the 1962 Jewel Ball.
Evening gowns from Helga designs were known for being both tight and flowing.
First Lady Betty Ford wore this vibrant green dress in the 1970s, and it was later donated to the Kansas City Museum courtesy of the White House Press Office.
This dress was worn by Agnes Hadley Haskell, First Lady of Missouri, to her husband's inauguration in 1909. Her husband, Herbert S. Hadley, was Governor of Missouri during the time that Corinthian Hall was built. She later married Henry J. Haskell, editor of the Kansas City Star.
