This design was created by Jules Helleu, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth. It represents a Bird of Paradise. more specifically the Raggiana Bird of Paradise from New Guinea. The brown velvet corsage with three dimensional brown wings attached to the bodice back and train bordered with real Raggiana feathers are designed to suggest the colours of the bird. The headdress, which is also trimmed with Raggiana feathers, is shaped like the bird. The skirt of the dress is designed to represent a field of wildflowers against a blue sky, which, although not authentically New Guinean, emphasises the paradise theme.

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.