The Countess Greffulhe often chose clothing of a brilliant green color, because it complemented her auburn hair. Her audacious style is epitomized by this extremely elegant tea gown, simultaneously a reception dress and a robe d’intérieur, which she wore to receive intimate friends at home in the late afternoon. The large motifs on the gown are typical of the spectacular historicizing textiles commissioned by Jean-Philippe Worth, director of the era’s most famous couture house.

Proust’s Muse, The Countess Greffulhe runs through January 7, 2016 at The Museum at FIT in NYC.

Worth
Tea-gown, circa 1897
Blue cut velvet on a green satin ground, Valenciennes lace, lining in shot silk taffeta
GAL1964.20.4, gift if the Gramont family to the Palais Galliera