Cocktail dress
Brand
Christian Dior
(French, founded 1947)
Designer
Yves Saint Laurent
(1936 - 2008)
Fall 1959
Wool crepe
Gift of Robert Renfield
Object number2003.100.4
Saint Laurent’s earliest collections for the House of Dior were widely lauded for their youthfulness and invention. Yet the designer’s innovations could sometimes have unintended consequences – his fall 1959 collection included dramatically shorter hemlines that made fashionable women furious, as they worried it made their existing wardrobes appear obsolete.
DescriptionCocktail dress in black wool crepe; halter style sheath with narrow straps, draped at CF bustline and RF hem, for asymmetrical bubble skirt effect; bodice shaped with inverted V seam, over boned net longline bra; coutureExhibitions