English: Silk machine-made lace over silk chiffon backed by silk plain weave, rayon satin ribbon

Cristóbal Balenciaga’s “baby-doll” dresses of 1957 and 1958 illustrate his experiments with abstraction and exaggeration of form. A see-through lace dress swings from the shoulders, revealing a slim sheath beneath. The loose overdress, slightly shorter in front, is held away from the body by deep, layered ruffles around the bottom. To ensure the ruffles spring outward, they are tightly gathered and supported underneath by stiff gathered net and openwork bands of nylon horsehair.