Cocktail dress

Cocktail dress in a shop window in Southampton 2007

Cocktail dress from Balenciaga , 1951

A cocktail dress is less elaborate than an evening dress , but more festive and feminine than daywear.

The cocktail dress (French: robe de cocktail ) owes its name to Christian Dior at the end of the 1940s for an elegant dress that is worn in the early evening at the hour of the cocktail or aperitif . The Duden defines it as a “dress for smaller, festive occasions” such as “casual receptions or cocktail parties ”. It reaches up to the calves and often has a subtle cleavage . Overall, it is cut close to the body. It can be combined with a short jacket . The " little black dress " is a classic .

Web links

• Elyssa da Cruz: Dressing for the Cocktail Hour (essay), The Costume Institute , The Metropolitan Museum of Art , October 2004 (accessed July 12, 2017)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Duden.de cocktail dress, accessed on 11 December 2013
2. ↑ Stil.de dinner dress and cocktail dress, accessed on December 11, 2013