Ashift dress is a dress in which the cloth falls straight from the shoulders and hasdarts around the bust. It frequently features a highscoop orboat neck.[3] The shift dress is often confused with thesheath dress, which is form-fitting and shaped by tucks on the waist area. Shift dresses became popular in western fashion in the 1920s and were revived in the 1960s.
The shift dress gained popularity during the Westernflapper movement in the1920s.[2] Changing social norms meant that young women could choose a style of dress that was easier to move and dance in, and the shift dress marked a departure from previously fashionablecorset designs, which exaggerated the bust and waist while restricting movement.[4][5]
It went out of fashion during wartime, and the post war era, where Western women's fashion was typified byChristian Dior's"New Look", which again featured an exaggerated bust, hips and waist at the expense of comfort.[2][6]
The shift dress made a comeback in the1960s, popularised byHubert de Givenchy's design forAudrey Hepburn'sBreakfast at Tiffany's dress, andLilly Pulitzer's designs forJacqueline Kennedy. This coincided with the start ofsecond wave feminism which brought in a renewed desire for freedom and versatility.[2]
