fairy tales
from fortuny
LYNN YAEGER EXPLORES THE
ENCHANTED WORLD OF
ISABELLE DE BORCHGRAVE’S
PAPER ILLUSIONS—
AND THE EVER-ELUSIVE GOWN
text: lynn yaeger
I ALWAYS WANTED A FORTUNY DRESS.
Even when costume curators informed me that
these sinuous pleated tubes are usually far too
fragile to survive a gala evening—if I managed
to procure one, I’d have to stand up all night—I
harbored fantasies of arriving at the Met Ball
encased in 100 year old silken folds held together