Christian Dior made masterful use of surface embellishments for his evening dresses of the early 1950s. In this example from the 1952-1953 collection, complex beading and applied ruffles create a lively and varied surface for the dress. Pealescent sequins and paillettes of four different shapes and sizes are interspersed with narrow ruffled bands of pale pink horsehair, creating a subtle tone-on-tone pattern that swirls across the skirt and bodice. The pale color palette and strapless neckline makes the garment a prime example of Dior's more revealing looks for 1952, a connection made by Richard Martin in reference to another version of the same dress in the collection of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
