Top Cocktail Dresses

Browse a vast assortment of top cocktail dresses for sale on 1stDibs. Many people prefer black top cocktail dresses, but fashion is all about individuality — you can find gray, beige and more options on these pages. Making the right choice when shopping for these accessories may mean looking at versions that date from different eras — you can find early iterations from the 20th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 21st Century, all of which have proven very popular over the years. Top cocktail dresses such as these have likely been a part of the legacy of many fashion designers, but those produced by Dolce & Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli and Gucci are consistently popular. If you’re browsing our inventory for these accessories, you’ll find that many are available today for women, but there are still pieces to choose from for men and unisex.

Prices for top cocktail dresses can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these accessories begin at $170 and can go as high as $15,750, while these items, on average, fetch $788.

With entire museum exhibitions dedicated to examining fashion designers and their creations, we’re finally recognizing that costuming is art. Evening dresses over time have conveyed specific statements about social class, position and beliefs. Fashion is a powerful means of self-expression, and sophisticated vintage evening dresses and gowns by our favorite couturier play no small role in making us feel wonderful but, perhaps more importantly, making us feel like ourselves.

In the 16th century, dresses and gowns were so important that England's Queen Elizabeth I defined rules about what dresses women could wear — guidance included long skirts and fitted bodices. Forward-thinking designers have responded to this history.

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel reimagined traditionally masculine garments for feminine shapes, and her elegant evening dresses and gowns promoted comfort and grace in women’s wear that had been dominated in the previous century by layers of fabric. Christian Dior's gowns celebrated luxury and femininity in the late 1940s — and gave to women the gift of glamour they’d lost in the miserable years of the war. French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent introduced innovative and highly coveted dress designs in the 1960s while at the same time challenging sexist stereotypes about which members of society could wear tuxedos.

Works by unconventional British designer John Galliano — featured in houses like Givenchy and Dior — redefined limits that dressmakers faced in terms of material, construction and vision during the late 20th century. From his embroidered absinthe-green Oscars gown for actress Nicole Kidman to the iconic sleeveless Dior newspaper dress that Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw made famous, Galliano’s intricate and multifaceted work is reliably collectible and newsworthy

Today’s designers target an increasingly broad audience with their boundary-crossing work, and their tendency to play off of each other’s ideas means that every walk down the runway is also a walk through an entire history of fashion design and dress craftsmanship.

Whether you gravitate toward backless maxi dresses or silk charmeuse gowns by Alexander McQueen or embellished, ruffled floral-print designs by Chloe or Versace, there is an extraordinary collection of vintage and designer evening dresses and gowns waiting for you on 1stDibs.