backless maxi black dress The Halter Bowknot Cutout %20The%20product%20images%20(without%20model)%20are%20closest%20to%20the%20true%20color%20of%20the%20item ABYOVRT Women Sexy Backless Dress

Clean Chantilly lace, a sculpted strapless bodice, and a dramatic mermaid silhouette create a look that feels poetic yet powerful

Read next Amanda Krause is a Senior Reporter at Business Insider covering a variety of lifestyle topics.Her work at BI includes profiles of beauty moguls, analyses of celebrity fashion, reviews of trending products, expert interviews across topics, features about booming small businesses and lucrative side hustles, and live coverage of award shows, pageants, and other events

(This is such a common dressed-down alternative to full business attire that it's sometimes called the California suit.) If the word casual is on the invitation, a fair amount of flexibility is permitted

The name was adapted from the phrase sexy gunny sack or sexy burlap. In 1969 Jessica McClintock invested $5,000 in Gunne Sax, she reminisced: "My grandmother was a fabulous pattern maker and designer, and from 5 years old on I was sitting at her sewing machine, and I would make anything I could get my hands on." In 1974, thanks to the popular TV show Little House on the Prairie, based on the 1930s book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the quaint prairie dress went mainstream

The top is fully smocked

Long sleeve velvet gown with a sleek mock neck and dramatic open back