Cocktail dress
Design House House of Dior French
Designer Christian Dior French
Not on view
A classic sheath from Christian Dior's 1955 fall collection, this cocktail dress illustrates the designer's subtle appropriation of menswear styling. The glossy black satin recalls the lapel facing of a man's tuxedo, as does the double-breasted effect created by the self covered decorative buttons. Dior never forgets his client's femininity, however. The silhouette hugs her curves, with the boatneck calling attention to her neck and collarbone. Yves Saint Laurent returned to this notion of a tuxedo for women in 1959 with two dresses for Dior now in the Brooklyn Museum collection (2009.300.362a–d and 2009.300.20a, b) and again in the 1970s with his well-known "le smoking" ensembles.
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