Cocktail dress

Yves Saint Laurent|House of Dior

spring/summer 1958 · silk, nylon · Costume Institute

Part of Yves Saint Laurent's challenge in taking over as the head designer at Dior involved maintaining the feminine designs for the house was known, while simultaneously looking ahead. With this day dress, Saint Laurent referenced the New Look silhouette with a belt to emphasize the waist, but the dress itself is smock-like, much looser than Dior's designs. The use of a printed chiffon makes the dress even softer. Saint Laurent later used the peasant-blouse bodice paired with a wide cummerbund belt to acclaim for his own label in the 1970s.

Artist

Yves Saint Laurent|House of Dior

Date

spring/summer 1958

Medium

silk, nylon

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Henry Rogers Benjamin, 1965