The Electric Light dress was a masquerade gown made of gold and silver thread that was designed by Charles Frederick Worth for Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt. It was made for a masquerade ball that was held in New York City on March 26, 1883. The ball was hosted by Alice Vanderbilt's sister-in-law, Alva Vanderbilt, as a housewarming party for Alva and William K. Vanderbilt's new mansion at 660 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.[1]
The dress was made of yellow satin, decorated with glass pearls and beads in a lightning-bolt pattern. A built-in battery lit a light bulb she carried, which she could raise over her head like the Statue of Liberty.[2] [3]
This dress was one of several spectacular gowns that served to make the event the official start of Alva Vanderbilt's role as a leading socialite in New York.[4] The dress is preserved at the Museum of the City of New York,[5] having been donated in 1951 by Vanderbilt's youngest daughter Gladys, Countess Laszlo Szechenyi.