Volume 20: Women's wear and society fashion , 1957 - 1958

Volume 20 includes coverage of four of Mainbocher's biannual collections, as well as his designs for prominent socialites like Mrs. William Paley and Mrs. Winston Guest (Babe Paley and C.Z. Guest, respectively). Both ladies were repeatedly on the annual list of the World's Best Dressed Women, put out by the Couture Group of the New York Dress Institute. His Spring 1957 collection was his seventieth to date and he showed long, sheer evening gowns with trains; morning cotton coats over formal clothes; and a variety of prints on cotton and chiffon. For fall 1957, there are photos of his showroom from the September 28 opening. For spring 1958 he showed colorful clothes with both fitted waistlines and fuller sihouettes with barely any waist at all. His suits jackets and skirts were a bit shorter but intrinsically the same. For his Fall 1958 collection he placed emphasis on the top of the silhouette, achieved by the slightly raised waistline and longer line skirt.

Loose items in folders include a typed contents page and an article from the New Yorker from April 6, 1957.