Embellished Wool Dress

Two reference points govern this dress. The first is the Yoruba beaded prestige cap — an object in which the embellishment and the object are inseparable, each bead placed in knowledge of every bead already placed, the craft constituting the thing rather than decorating it. The second is the Egungun masquerade figure at its most densely worked: sequin covering sequin, appliqué over appliqué, the surface so complete that the cloth beneath it is entirely secondary.

In wool twill — warm, substantial, a cloth that holds its line — the embellishment across the halter front and running the body's length adds iridescence to that weight. The sequined work catches light in a way the wool cannot. The result is a dress that reads as formal from across a room and becomes more intricate with proximity. It is designed to be looked at twice.

Edition of 15.