"Sylvie"
Design House House of Dior French
(a–d, f, g) Christian Dior French
(e) Elsa Schiaparelli Italian
Not on view
Dior frequently paired his strapless, halter, or in other ways very revealing dresses with evening jackets and coats. A simple and narrow underdress is hidden under a voluminous taffeta coat. The fashion designer may have been sovereign, but this balance between disclosing and covering was, in such instances, determined by the client.
The detail of the sleeve points out how the fabric is gathered into a doughnut shape with a separate knot at the cap and then stitched onto the arm's eye. The effect is to distinguish clearly between this ring of bunched fabric and the shoulder and to form a powerful biceplike mass above the bust.
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