Dressing the Woman in Gold

One of Klimt’s portraits of Flöge.
Who was the designer behind the dresses worn by the beautiful Viennese society women in Gustav Klimt’s paintings? She was a seamstress in turn-of-the-century Vienna, named Emilie Flöge, who worked at her elder sister’s dressmaking school. Together they opened a popular fashion house called the Schwestern Flöge (Flöge Sisters).




Gustav and Emilie met when she was just 18 years old and they became lifelong companions. Some say they were lovers and that the couple portrayed in Klimt’s The Kiss (above) is actually a self-portrait of him and Emilie. Her designs were influenced by the early feminist movement which proposed a more practical and comfortable style, but also inspired by Klimt’s bohemianism. Klimt also designed alongside her, for her, and vice versa.

Emelie and Gustav


Read entire story: Messy Nessy Chic

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