The Brit behind the Met Ball: How forgotten Fifties designer inspired the fashion world

CHARLES JAMES was the creative genius who dressed New York's high society and inspired the extravagant red carpet at last night's Costume Institute Gala, so was who America's 'first couturier'?

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charles james, coutureCecil Beaton photographed these Charles James ball gowns in 1948[METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART]

Last night every A-list name and red carpet regular in Britain and the US stalked up the steps of New York City's Metropolitan Museum for the most glamorous night of the year - the annual Costume Institute Gala.

Each year Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour hosts the "Met Ball", which charges between $10,000 and $25,000 a ticket.

And this year's event paid tribute to an almost forgotten figure in fashion: Charles James, the British-born designer who dressed American high society, inspired Christian Dior and formed a life long friendship with Cecil Beaton yet is little known in his home country.

butterfly gown, charles jamesCecil Beaton pictures of Charles James's Butterfly gown in 1954 [METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART]

The son of a British Army officer and a wealthy Chicagoan, James, who was born in 1906, was sent to Illinois in his teams after his expulsion from Harrow for a "sexual escapade".

He opened a millinery business in 1926 and for the next few years bounced between the US and London and Paris, where he studied line and construction in the early 1930s.

James's experience with hats and his knowledge of steaming and moulding fabrics was the backbone of his almost architectural approach to dresses, some of which were tricky to wear.

metropolitan, Charles James with a model in 1948, shot by Cecil Beaton [METROPOLITAN MUSEUM]

One client Anne, Countess of Rosse, once said: "There could be a mystery as how to get into the clothes when they arrived or to work out which was the front or the back."

When Lytton Strachey's cousin Mary Hutchinson sat for Henri Matisse in 1936, the artists asked her to wear a Charles James blouse.

Although James had no formal training he was adept with complex cuts and seaming and created wrap-over trousers, figure-eight skirts, body-hugging sheaths, ribbon cape and dresses as well as a series of iconic ball gowns.

charles james, cecil beatonNancy James in a Swan gown photographed by Cecil Beaton in 1955 [METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART]

In 1940 James moved to New York where he made his name with lavish, sculptural ball gowns that were beloved by mid-century society figures such as Millicent Rogers, Gloria Vanderbilt, Babe Paley and Austine Hearst who could afford his $1,500 gowns.

His Four Leaf Clover ball gown was created in 1953 and is a 15lb triumph of engineering, including a mixture of fabrics and textures such as the shiny cream satin and black velvet in its huge skirts. 

austine hearst, charles james, cecil beatonSocialite Austine Hearst in Charles James's clover leaf gown, 1953 [METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART]

His contribution to the fashion world, however, extended beyond these Upper East Side matrons. He created the first "puffa" jacket (a cocoon-like white silk jacket created in the 1930s and now owned by the V&A), worked out a system for standardised sizing and invented the idea of licensing.

From 1964 until his death in 1978, including a year in the early Seventies working with disco-era designer Halston, James lived and worked in New York's Chelsea Hotel.

Despite his huge influence and wealthy clientelle, without royal patronage James never achieved the fame of his contemporaries Norman Hartnell or Hardy Amies. 

charles james, cecil beatonCharles James by Cecil Beaton in 1936 [METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART]

But with last night's tribute gala, the stunning exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum and reports that Harvey Weinstein and his wife Georgina Chapman, the designer behind Marchesa, are reported to be in talks to revive the Charles James label, America's "first couturier" is back in pole position.

Charles James: Beyond Fashion is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from 8 May to 10 August. Visit for details.