This design was created by Jules Helleu, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth. It is a good example of the creativity and inventiveness of mid-nineteenth century fancy dress costumes. The theme of the costume is a cherry tree, which has deliberately been inverted so that the trunk of the tree forms the bodice, and the branches extend down over the short white crinoline skirt. The skirt is trimmed with appliqué birds along with artificial cherries. A humorous touch is seen at one side of the skirt, where two of the birds are shown caught in a net.

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.