Charles James, Ballgown, 1953. Pink silk taffeta, silk satin, and boning. Museum Purchase. Object Number: P77.1.7. ©2010 Fashion Institute of Technology

The Museum at FIT has one of the world's finest collections of dresses by Charles James, the great couturier whose explorations of shape arguably raised fashion to the status of art. Many of his greatest creations, like the Four Leaf Clover Ballgown, utilize an elaborate infrastructure to create the appearance of dynamic, fluid form. In shocking pink silk taffeta and pale pink silk satin, this ballbown features a fitted, boned bodice and a draped "polonaise" swag. The wide, floor-length skirt is shaped with four "cloverleaf" lobes over a stiffened understructure composed of millinery wire, interfacing, and boning.