I am a great admirer of Madeleine Vionnet’s designs. Her garments may seem effortless and simple, but they are somewhat arcane and complex. I did not fully appreciate this until I attempted to recreate one of her designs. The “barrel” skirt or pattern 18 as it is identified in Betty Kirke’s book Madeleine Vionnet is truly unique.

The skirt looks like just a circle skirt but actually it is composed of several geometrically shaped pattern pieces, and one in particular made me curious – the spiral shaped hip yoke. 

Vionnet’s personal ideas about design were simple. She stated they were proportion, movement, balance and truth. I was used to seeing squares, circles and triangles in Vionnet’s garments but the spiral shape was a bit of a mystery to me. I wanted to know how this spiral shape expressed her design objectives. Was this spiral pattern piece just an artistic expression or was it a technical application, or was it both? To answer these questions I delved deeper into understanding Vionnet’s four objectives and entered a world where mathematics, science and art converged. 

The Spiral and the Golden Proportion 

Kirke noted that Vionnet was influenced by the artistic theory of dynamic symmetry, which I will explain more in a moment, and its basis was rooted in the golden ratio. So, what is the golden ratio? 

In Mario Livio’s book The Golden Ratio:The story of PHI, the World’s Most Astonishing Number, he eloquently explains the long history of this intriguing proportion and how it made its way into art.

 The golden ratio was probably first discovered by the Pythagoreans in the fifth century B.C. The Pythgoreans as well as many other ancient cultures and religious groups associated the pentagram (star) as a symbol for health and divinity. The pentagram is closely related to the pentagon, a shape with 5 equal sides. If you connect all the vertices of the pentagon by diagonals you get the pentagram, with a smaller pentagon in the middle. This progression of creating smaller and smaller pentagons and pentagrams can continue infinitely.

The interesting part is that the ratio of each smaller segment to its predecessor is always phi, or the irrational number 1.618…., or as it is called today the golden ratio. It was the famous Greek mathematician, Euclid, who was the first to actually define this ratio around 300 B.C. in his book, Elements. He called it the “extreme and mean ratio” and he showed how it could be used to construct a pentagon. In very simple geometric terms, if a line is divided by a point, the ratio of the larger segment to the smaller segment is equal to the whole line to the larger segment.

This ratio can be used to construct many other geometric figures, and has some very unique algebraic properties, which I won’t get into. Although the Greeks were enlightened by this discovery, it would take more than fifteen centuries before the scientific magnitude of this number was realized.

In 1202, Leonardo of Pisa or Fibonacci as we know him today came up with a sequence of numbers, whereby each number is the sum of the two numbers preceding it and he used it to explain the breeding of rabbits.

The Fibonacci Sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233…….

The application of this sequence had far greater significance than just counting rabbits. 

In the 1600s, Johannes Kepler discovered that the ratio of each Fibonnaci number to the one before it approaches the golden ratio the further it goes in the sequence. He also observed that the Fibonnaci numbers and the arrangement of leave patterns on certain plants, called phyllotaxis, in a spiral pattern were related. 

The study of spiral phyllotaxis eventually led to more scientific and mathematical discoveries and to the identification of other spiral occurrences in nature. We now know that Fibonnaci numbers and the golden ratio appear all around us. It not only explains the growth pattern of a pineapple and a rose, but also the spiral weather patterns, mollusk shells, the flight of a Peregrine falcon, and the systems of stars and galaxies to name a few. 

Similar to the never-ending star and pentagon relationship, a rectangle can be subdivided into squares ad infinitum and these squares are related to the Fibonnaci sequence. You can then obtain a logarithmic or equiangular spiral as it is called from these shapes by connecting the points of intersections. Each quadrant in the turn of the spiral approaches the golden ratio the further it gets from center. Interestingly, this spiral has been called the “eye of God”.  

The association of the golden ratio to perfection and the divine is the reason for its namesake. And, it wouldn’t take long especially in the Renaissance period for this “divine proportion” to be associated with art and architecture. Eventually, the golden ratio was considered by some, including probably Vionnet, as the most aesthetically pleasing of all proportions.

As I mentioned previously, Vionnet was influenced by dynamic symmetry, an artistic theory espoused by Jay Hambridge in the 1920s that centered around the merits of the golden ratio. Hambridge wrote several books about dynamic symmetry and some of his articles were published in Diagonales magazine, which Vionnet had in her personal library. Thayat, her close friend and an artist was also an admirer of Hambridge’s teaching and even travelled to Harvard to hear him speak. Hambridge believed there were two types of art – static and dynamic. He thought static art based on equilateral triangles and squares was lifeless, and the best and most beautiful art was created by using the golden ratio and logarithmic spiral as a guide. Dynamic art was active and had movement. 

Hambridge believed that a person “can direct his artistic fate only by learning nature’s ideal and going directly for that as a goal.” He was very Greek-centric and his ideas were in his own words a “design awakening” that looked mainly to the ancient Greeks as a source for inspiration for art and culture. Hambridge’s ideas now seem a bit overzealous, and maybe misguided in claiming that the Greeks used dynamic symmetry in their art and architecture and that only art with dynamic symmetry is beautiful.

Nevertheless, his theory was influential. It surfaced at a time when there was renewed interest in ancient Greece. There were some Cubist and Futurist artists in the 1920’s and 30’s that experimented with this theory of art, including the Parisian artist/architect Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier was part of the post-Cubist movement, Purism, which sought to express Greek Classicism in the modern industrial world. One could argue that what Le Corbusier was doing in the world of architecture and industrial design, Vionnet was doing in the world of fashion.

Le Corbusier chaise lounge and Greek chaise

Artistically, Vionnet certainly experimented with the golden proportion and dynamic symmetry. This is evidenced by other garments she made. Kirke noted one in particular that had a long sash that wrapped around the body and allowed the wearer to drop the waistline to proportionately accentuate the figure in golden sections. She also used spiral frets and spiral roses as surface decorations on dresses.

So it makes sense that she would have experimented with the spiral in other ways, such as the yoke on this barrel skirt. However, she had to approach clothing design from a mechanic’s point of view as well. The golden proportion may have provided a roadmap for creating this and other designs but she could not rely on it solely. She had to relate geometric shapes to the properties of fabric and gravity, and to the shape of individual bodies  Her art could never be considered “static” because it was always moving, the garment and the person wearing it. 

The Spiral and Movement

Vionnet’s application of movement in her designs related to how she manipulated the fabric. Fabric moves most dynamically when it is on the bias and Vionnet knew this better than anyone. Because parts of the spiral shape yoke of this skirt would be cut on the bias, the skirt would envelope and move with the wearer. Take for instance the ruffles on a Flamenco dancer’s dress, they are cut from a spiral shape. Also, think how a bias-cut nightgown spirals around and caresses the body and allows greater ease and movement. Woven fabric that is cut or placed on the bias has special qualities. It is malleable. It stretches and flows around the form without clinging to it. I think of woven fabric, especially silk, on the bias as almost liquid. This spiral shape definitely met Vionnet’s objective for movement, but controlling the fabric in its “liquid state” can be challenging. That is where balance comes into play.

“When one knows one’s craft, one takes a piece of fabric not only on the bias, but in every possible direction (warp, weft, and bias). But of course, you have to know the obedience of the fabric.”

The Spiral and Balance

Vionnet’s ability to create balance and harmony with this moving fabric and the pattern shapes themselves reveals her technical mastery as a couturiere and dressmaker. 

When making a typical full circle skirt, one cuts the apex of a quadrant of a circle in order to make a hole for the waist. This apex is based on an equidistant radius that relates to the waist circumference measurement. This cut-out (a circle) is concave. The response of the fabric along this curved edge is not the same at all points. Some areas stretch more than other areas, with the most stretch occurring along the true bias and no stretch occurring on grain along the warp yarns, and maybe slight stretch occurring along the grain of the weft yarns.

This stretching along the concave curve of the waistline directly affects what happens at the convex curve of the hemline, as the weight of the fabric and gravity pull on the waistline and stretch it to varying degrees. Thus the hem will not hang evenly over time. This is why some dressmakers will let a circular skirt hang on a dress form for a couple of days before trueing the hem and sewing it permanently, but eventually the hem will dip over time. Vionnet had a more precise way of preventing this unbalanced hem. Kirke noted that in some of Vionnet’s garments with waist seams, one side of the waistline was cut a little deeper. Kirke wrote in article for Threads Magazine:

“To control the ripples at the hemline, one must control the amount of fabric stretching into and collapsing under each point of the waistline above. The fabric must be cut and placed along the waistline according to its stretchability at each point. The warp grain side will be cut deeper than the weft side, and the bias, with the most ability to stretch, must be restrained from doing too much. At the true bias, I stretch the fabric horizontally and force some of the fabric into the area of less stretchability.

Theoretically, each ripple will then have the same number of yarns, the same weight, and the same degree of stretching. The even hemline should persist.”

The hip yoke pattern for this barrel skirt consists of two quadrants of a circle for the back of the yoke

 and three quadrants of a circle for the front of the yoke. 

When the front and back are sewn together it makes a spiral.  

Most full circle skirt designs consist of four quadrants (two in the front and two in the back) to complete a full circle. This spiral shape isn’t much different than a circle as far as stretching that will occur along the concave cut-out for the waist. However, the radii are different for the front and the back on the spiral, whereas it is equidistant on a circle. On the spiral the amount cut out for the waist at center front where true bias falls and there is the most stretch is less than the amount cut at center back where the warp/straight of grain falls and there is no stretch. The spiral shape allowed her to control the weight distribution of the fabric in a way that a circle would not have allowed.

 Vionnet often used triangular shaped gussets along the waistline of circular dresses to drop the waist at different angles so that the hemline would hang evenly along the different grains. This spiral shape is similar to these triangular gussets in the way in provides an even and balanced hem.

Vionnet further minimized distortion by the composition of the other pattern shapes of the skirt in relation to the spiral yoke. The fullest part of the skirt and hem is composed of two semi-circles sewn on grain to a rectangular “barrel” shape and therefore do not hang from a bias concave curve. Also, the spiral hip yoke meets a circular cut-out of this barrel. 

Because the cut-out on the barrel is a circle and not another spiral the distribution of the different grains at this seam controls distortion at the hem. It is a lot easier to let a yoke hang-out and the fabric relax, than it would be the hem of an entire circular skirt, where the circumference is much larger and there are more yarns to control.

By using the combination of all these unique pattern pieces, Vionnet reduced the amount of distortion one would normally need to manage in a typical full circle skirt and created a skirt that was balanced and aesthetically pleasing.

The Spiral and Truth

Vionnet once said “…in truth there is no fashion, and as for myself I detest fashion!”

To Vionnet, truth was purity of form, “garments stripped down to its simplest expression”. The spiral, a simple and pure form found in nature met Vionnet’s goal of providing a natural fit for her customers.

The waist is not a perfect circle. Anatomy not just geometry dictated the best shape for the waist.  For instance, one doesn’t cut perfect circles for the armscye of a coat. Bespoke tailors spend years mastering the right shape for the armscye of a coat, and even then that shape varies based on the shape of the individual. This spiral shape controlled the fullness of the fabric better at the waist and stomach and ensured a flattering fit for her clients. It wrapped around instead of just hanging from the waist, much like the wrapped and draped garments she so admired of ancient Greece. The spiral was not a fashion statement. It was anatomical and bestowed a comfortable and perfect fit that moved with the wearer. This is the truth that was so important to her.

“A couturier dresses human bodies not dreams.”

Vionnet at times was an artist and at times a technician, but she was always a purist. In her quest to bestow beauty, what could be a better guide than phi, the mysterious and ancient number that has a way of presenting itself in so many aspects of nature and the universe. As intriguing as this symmetry is, Vionnet did not rely on it alone.

Livio explained this beauty and math paradox best when he quoted Richard Buckminister Fuller (1895-1983), a mathematician and architect, who probably said exactly what Vionnet felt. 

“When I’m working on a problem, I never think of beauty. I think only of how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it’s wrong.”

This skirt with its spiral shape waist expressed all of her design objectives – proportion, movement, balance and truth in the most complete and natural way. Vionnet was an artist, scientist and mathematician. Her innovation, intelligence in geometry, intimate knowledge of fabric and gravity, and how it corresponded to the human anatomy resulted in designs that are as timeless as the golden ratio.

1. Kirke, Betty. A Dressmaker Extraordinaire: Discovering the Secrets of Madeleine Vionnet’s Creativity. (Taunton Press) http://www.bettykirke.com/articles/threads/threads.html
2. Kirke, Betty. Madeleine Vionnet. (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1998)
3. Livio, Mario. The Golden Ratio:PHI, the World’s Most Astonishing Number. (New York: Broadway Books, 2003)
4. Hambridge, Jay. The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry. (New York: Dover Publications,1920)
5. Golbin, Pamela. Madeleine Vionnet. (New York. Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 2009)