This watercolour shows a mannequin from the Théâtre de la Mode show of early 1945. She wears a very tailored grey skirt suit by Roger Worth for Worth Paris. The jacket has chevron seaming at the nipped-in waist, a deep peplum, and a knee length skirt, with a deep wine and white scarf worn underneath, the fringe of the scarf hanging below the waist of the jacket. A large grey hat trimmed with wine flowers and grey peep-toe slingback shoes complete the very smart outfit. The illustration is by Jean de Haramboure, also known as J.C. Haramboure, a prolific French fashion illustrator from the 1920s to the 1950s. The original design is in the Worth design books which are also held by the V&A (see item number E.19064-1957), and shows that the scarf is part of a blouse made in the same wine-and-white patterned fabric.

During the Second World War, from 1940 to 1944, France was occupied by enemy German forces. Paris was liberated in August 1944. Soon afterwards, the haute couture fashion industry in Paris, which had been heavily suppressed by the Nazis, put together the first Théâtre de la Mode. This was a travelling exhibition of wire mannequins with plaster heads which were dressed in fully accessorised outfits by Paris fashion designers, milliners, shoe-, bag- and glove-makers to perfect one-third scale. The dolls were placed within elaborate stage sets and toured around Europe and North America in order to demonstrate that the Paris fashion industry had survived Nazi occupation. These designs are for the first run of the show, which opened in Paris in March 1945, and toured London, Leeds, Barcelona, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Vienna. After this, the dolls were completely re-outfitted for 1946, and sent to the United States, where they were displayed in New York and San Francisco. In 1952, the Maryhill Museum in Washington D.C. acquired the mannequins, which had been left in San Francisco after the final show, with only the jewellery returned to Paris. The Théâtre de la Mode dolls can still be seen at the Maryhill Museum.