I was browsing the Met Museum’s fashion archives, and I came across a Mainbocher gown that I adore. Main Rousseau Bocher (Main was his mother’s maiden name) was born in Chicago in 1890 and is known as America’s first true couturier. A career that spanned 41 years, saw him creating gowns for the country’s elite, from Diana Vreeland to Gloria Vanderbilt and Babe Paley. It was Mainbocher who designed the custom wedding dress Wallis Simpson wore to marry Prince Edward VIII. Take a look at some of the frocks on display at the Met’s Making Mainbocher exhibition. The sleeves on Mrs. Clive Runnells’ ivory 1940s gown will take your breath away.