Mrs. Leland (Nancy Gross) Hayward (the future 'Slim' Keith) embodying the "James Look", phot o by Fernand Fonssagrives, Town & Country, October 1949 Most strapless dresses are supported by an infrastructure of boning. James places the bare minimum to support the bodice: bones at the center front, at each side seam, and surprisingly, over the bust as a shaper. The skirt cut as one continuous panel, gathers up into a rosette in the back where it releases into a slight train.
