Excerpt from the Met Costume Institute
Evening dress
fall/winter 1955–56
House of Dior French
Exemplifying Dior's faultless minimalism of 1955, this simple black column, contrasting matte velvet against satin, anticipates a form of evening dress that has continued to the present. The stability of the off-the-shoulder neckline is accomplished by the hand shaping of the fabric rather than by any rigid understructure.