Chanel haute couture, fall 2008
Amazing Chanel
Glamour girl Vikki Dougan in backless evening gown, photo by Ralph Crane, 1958
Nicknamed “The Back” because of her dresses that were more than backless - they were cut down to just above the gluteal cleft, causing quite a commotion. The Limeliters wrote a song titled “Vikki Dougan” to commemorate this phenomenon, in which they sing of her “callipygian cleft” (“callipygian” meaning “having shapely buttocks”) and beg her, “Vikki, turn your back on me”.
Marie-Hélène Arnaud at the Hotel Eden Roc, Cap d’Antibes, photo by Georges Dambier, ELLE, June 10, 1957









