The skirt is black on black: ornamental panels mirrored down the centre, filled with scroll, boss and fine chased line, resolving only where light moves across them. Dark grey and gunmetal are the whole palette, and they sit so close to the ground that the pattern reads as relief rather than as print. The bodice carries real openwork lace instead, flowered and unlined. It is a mourning gown’s ornament: cut jet, ash and tracery.

The dress has a halter neck, a plunging lace bodice, an open tie back and a slit to the hip on each side. It runs 138cm from the shoulder at S and 152cm at 5XL. The cloth is 95% polyester with 5% spandex mesh at 110gsm, which is very light and genuinely sheer, and the bodice lace is open by construction rather than lined. It washes cold by machine, and sizes run from S to 5XL.