This design was created by Jules Marre, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth. It represents Erato, the Muse of Lyric Poetry from Greek mythology. The design is dated 1868, and although based upon the draperies of neoclassical Greek dress, the silhouette retains the fashionable full-skirted form of the year. It can often be tricky to identify the Muses, but the clues to Erato's identity are in the cithara (an early Greek lyre-like instrument) which forms part of her bodice front, and a blue sash draped around her skirt which bears the names of famous poets through history such as Homer, Virgil, and Dante. Typically for mid-Victorian French fashion, the initial simplicity of white drapery is offset with elaborate golden embroidery and garlands and festoons of flowers.

During the 1860s, Empress Eugenie of France threw a number of extravagant masquerade balls which required the guests to wear elaborate and inventive costumes that were made up by Worth and other Paris dressmakers. Worth, a relative newcomer, became the Empress's favoured couturier at the end of the 1850s. This made him extremely fashionable, and the rest of the ladies of Eugenie's court also bought gowns from him - and so too did their husbands' mistresses, and anyone wealthy enough to afford Worth's very high prices. As a result, Worth was under great pressure to produce vast numbers of unique, one of a kind costumes and gowns, often at very short notice. This is one of a large number of similar designs and sketches that were given to the V&A as part of the archive and reference collection of the House of Worth, making it extremely likely that it was originally designed for a guest to wear to one of the Empress's magnificent balls.