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The Little Black Dress from Sabrina This dress is one of the three pieces Audrey Hepburn herself chose from Givenchy's 1953 spring/summer collection. It's a simple black cocktail dress with a bow on each shoulder and a front bateau neckline that would be later known as the décolleté Sabrina. Reference Photos Screen Captures A few caps to show the back of the dress. The original Givenchy model was made of black ribbed cotton pique but the movie version is definitely silk satin, probably duchesse. (When it is said that many Hepburn's film costumes are by Givenchy, it doesn't necessarily mean she wore the actual couture clothes on screen. As seems to be the case in Sabrina, Hepburn brought Givenchy's sketches with her from Paris and the execution was left to Paramount's Edith Head.) The dress consists of a fitted, princess-seamed bodice and a wide, umbrella-like skirt sewn from eight apparently identical pieces. Not all the seamlines of the bodice and the skirt match at the waist. The bodice princess seams curve to the armholes both front and back. The shoulder seam is moved to the front so that the back piece reaches over the shoulder to meet the bateau cut front neckline. The bodice is cut very low at the back and fastens with a row of white pearl buttons. The skirt probably fastens with snaps and/or hooks and eyes. The dress is supported by a very full white petticoat. The petticoat is most likely separate, although sometimes crinolines were sewn into dresses. The wide skirt may also have some additional support built into it, such as a stiff underlining or horsehair braid(s) sewn inside the skirt. Hepburn wears an undergarment typical to the era, a bullet bra corselette that cinches her waist. The bodice is very fitted through the waist. The bodice itself may be boned. Many times couture garments featured a built-in corselette that anchored the garment securely at the waist and made any other undergarments unnecessary. Here's an example of the inside construction of a 1950s Dior gown: The little bows are made of velvet ribbon, about 10 mm wide, and sewn onto the seam connecting the front piece and the back/shoulder piece.