Sleeveless Dress Worn by Patsy Cline

This peach-colored dress was worn by Patsy Cline (1932-1963) and handsewn by her mother, Hilda Hensley, who frequently made clothes for her daughter.  

Cline was a country and pop artist whose performances started gaining attention in the early 1950s. This led to her eventually becoming a regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts from Nashville, Tennessee, which was largely responsible for defining the mid-20th century country music genre. Her 1961 single, "I Fall to Pieces," would become her first song to top the Billboard country chart and she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973. 

Cline’s musical style connected traditional country music lyrics with more pop-oriented orchestrations, allowing her songs to crossover from the country charts to the Billboard Hot 100, gaining her a larger audience.