Throughout her career Gabrielle Chanel challenged dominant modes of women’s dress by producing garments that emphasize comfort and ease of movement through perfection of fit and simplicity of line. By the 1930s her silhouettes had softened into romantic forms inspired by lingerie, evidenced by this gown, which resembles a slip. The sheer overlay is embroidered with stars, a recurring motif in Chanel designs that scholars have variously attributed to mosaic tiling Chanel saw at an abbey in France and popular interest in astrology during the thirties.