Arianna Sleeveless Tiered Cotton Maxi Dress – BB DAKOTA BY STEVE MADDEN

Cotton (from Arabic al-qutn) is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor percentages of waxes, fats, pectins, and water. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.

The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, Egypt and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds.

The fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable, and durable textile. The use of cotton for fabric is known to date to prehistoric times; fragments of cotton fabric dated to the fifth millennium BC have been found in the Indus Valley civilization, as well as fabric remnants dated back to 4200 BC in Peru. Although cultivated since antiquity, it was the invention of the cotton gin that lowered the cost of production that led to its widespread use, and it is the most widely used natural fiber cloth in clothing today.

Current estimates for world production are about 25 million tonnes or 110 million bales annually, accounting for 2.5% of the world's arable land. India is the world's largest producer of cotton. The United States has been the largest exporter for many years.

A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a one-piece outer garment that is worn on the torso and hangs down over the legs and is primarily worn by women or girls. Dresses often consist of a bodice attached to a skirt.

Dress shapes and silhouettes, textiles, and colors vary. Dresses can have sleeves of any length or can be sleeveless, and dresses can have any neckline. Similarly, dresses can have skirts of any length or hemline. These variances may be based on considerations such as fashion trends, modesty, weather, and personal taste. Dresses are generally suitable for both formal wear and casual wear in the West.

Historically, foundation garments and other structural garments—including items such as corsets, partlets, petticoats, panniers, bustles—were used to achieve the desired silhouette.

STEVE (backronym for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that appears as a purple and green light ribbon in the night sky, named in late 2016 by aurora watchers from Alberta, Canada. According to analysis of satellite data from the European Space Agency's Swarm mission, the phenomenon is caused by a 25 km (16 mi) wide ribbon of hot plasma at an altitude of 450 km (280 mi), with a temperature of 3,000 °C (3,270 K; 5,430 °F) and flowing at a speed of 6 km/s (3.7 mi/s) (compared to 10 m/s (33 ft/s) outside the ribbon). The phenomenon is not rare, but had not been investigated and described scientifically prior to that time.