Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1958

  • Work on this object began.

2021

2023

2025

  • You found it!

Skirt, Evening Skirt

This is a Skirt. It was designed by Dorothy Wright Liebes and Bonnie Cashin and made for (as the client) Gypsy Rose Lee.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes.

It is dated 1958. Its medium is handwoven wool and synthetic. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.


This skirt’s bias cut and cascading fringe maximize the impact of an oversized mohair plaid by Liebes in her signature color combination of blue and green. Included in Bonnie Cashin’s Skirtings Collection for 1958, it was worn by burlesque legend and Cashin client Gypsy Rose Lee (1911–1970).

It is credited Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Gypsy Rose Lee, 1961.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318808154/ |title=Skirt, Evening Skirt |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=30 May 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>