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Here, LIFE.com not only offers a glimpse back at a seminal moment in fashion history, but presents picturessome that appeared in the magazine, many that were never publishedby some of LIFEs finest photographers, taken at a Dior show in Paris in 1948, when the New Look was all the rage and a timid, middle-aged, insignificant-looking little Frenchman astonished and thrilled the couture world

Matchy-matchy is more likely to make the photos look older in style than they actually are

Dress: BHLDN (also here), Shoes: Lulus (similar here, here, here) BHLDN has so many different styles at amazing price points

But, for some of us, the plunging necklines, clingy fabric, and side slits were a little too much like lingerie