Dress with Puffed Sleeves

anonymous, c. 1935 - c. 1940

From the mid-1930s emphasis came to lie on the wide shoulders, which helped give the illusion of a smaller waist and hips. The large ‘puffed sleeves’ (sleeves gathered at the top) of the dress were stiffened with a band. The bodice is cut low at the back, creating to the so-called back decolleté.