Couturier Christian Lacroix developed his extensive knowledge of historic women’s fashion in the 1970s, while an aspiring curator and art history student. In this ensemble Lacroix evokes elite French fashions from the eighteenth century—in particular, robes à la française. Popular from about 1720 to 1780, these gowns were canvases for sumptuous woven textiles, with generous wide skirts requiring yards of fabric and supported by understructures of padding and hoops. The gowns were often left open at the front to reveal a petticoat and a decorative triangular panel called a stomacher. In Lacroix’s modernized version, the opening of the jacket reveals a comparatively simple knit dress with a beaded and embroidered embellishment on the chest.