Fifty Dresses That Changed the World

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Fifty Dresses That Changed the World

Yes, really. These 50 dresses are the best of what we wear today

There is no doubt that certain iconic dresses form a lasting visual memory. The dress and its wearer become our personal muse in helping to define our own individual style, or its unique design represents a breakthrough in fashion from that point forward.

Then again, we may have simply fallen in love with the style. And love can have no explanation.

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Topless Dresses- Rudy Gernreich 1970

Consider The Goddess Dress by Madeline Vionnet in 1931. Derivatives of its floaty draping are still grazing the red carpet today.

A new era of defiance, resilience, and hope was seen in the full skirts and tiny waist of Christian Dior’s The New Look of dresses in 1947.

The Chanel suit was introduced in the late 1950′s and it goes without saying how covetable it still is today. The uber iconic Hubert de Givenchy Little Black Dress on Audrey Hepburn in 1961 is a fashion imprint like no other. When you’re not wearing a Minidress that Mary Quant first put on the fashion map in 1965.

Design Museum Fifty Dresses That Changed the World- book

There’s my favorite Yves Saint Laurent Safari Dress in 1968. The daring Topless Dress from Rudy Gernreich in 1970 was a fashion breakthrough and still looks modern, with perhaps a layer underneath.

How many of us have a Diane Von Furstenberg Wrap Dress in our closets? It was a fashion breakthrough in 1973.

These and 42 other iconic dresses are catalogued in The Design Museum Fifty Dresses That Changed The World.
The book is like a walking tour of the world’s most fabulous closet that may also have a Roland Mouret Galaxy Dress (2005), Herve Leger Bandage Dress (1989), Halston Halterneck Dress (1977), or some crazy Metal Disc Dress inspired from the 1966 Paco Rabanne style.

Fifty Dresses That Changed the World is full of fun fashion factoids, great photos, and even has a sister version for shoe freaks in Fifty Shoes That Changed the World.

>> Available at Amazon.com, click here.

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Published on December 17, 2009

Sharon Haver

Resident fashion expert- With just about 20 years experience in the glamour industry as a New York-based photography fashion stylist, syndicated columnist, contributing editor, lecturer, on-air television/radio fashion expert, and founder / editor in chief of FocusOnStyle.com. Sharon Haver knows the modern-thinking woman wants easygoing style that suits her individual needs, spiced with just the right amount of flip and wit to make it personal.

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