Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing
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ceil chapman

Prettiest 1950s Ceil Chapman Fitted Blue Dress w Hip Pockets & Pleated Bodice Detailing

Ceil Chapman was an American designer of classic cocktail and party dresses who successfully took the revered Christian Dior 'New Look' haute couture designs that most woman could not even hope to afford and reworked them into designs that American woman could attain. She won the Coty American Fashion Critic's Award in 1945, the John Wanamaker Award, Foley's 'Golden Year'Award, and the Strawbridge and Clothier seal of confidence for creative contribution in the area of American fashion. In 1955 she won the Mademoiselle Merit Award after a poll asking college girls to cite the country's most popular designer for the young. She won by a landslide. Her self-named label was launched in the mid-1940s and continued to the to the mid-sixties.

This beautifully constructed 1950s Ceil Chapman dress is made from a blue silk that almost has the feel of a mens suiting. There is a bit of a striping effect in it that is very fine and mixes the blue with a black. Chapman is best know these days for being one of Marilyn Monroe's favourite designers but she was also favoured by Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and Deborah Kerr to name just a few. Chapman's signature style was all about being a bombshell and her dresses were cut to show that. This dress is a beautiful example of Chapman's attention to detail and her fantastic seaming techniques. The front has panels of the fabric stacked on top of each other and set over the bust to give volume and enhance the bust area. If you look closely you can see that she set the grain of the fabric in opposite directions so you get this really subtle play on the pattern that is in the fabric. It is fantastic. The panels curve over the shoulder and are set across the back so that the detail goes all the way around you. I love the way this sits wider across the front so that you get a bit of skin showing there. It has pretty little cap sleeves and nips down to the seamed waist. The skirt is lean and fitted around the hips with angled pockets on each hip that add to the curve of the dress. At the back the skirt is cut in a modified mermaid style with a bit of extra fabric set in on an extended curve where there would normally be a vent. This allows you to walk and it also adds a pretty flaring detail to the back. The simple cut combined with the amazing blue fabric make it a stand out. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. Excellent condition

Sleeves: 12" around the opening
Shoulders: no true define seams
Bust:to 18 " flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 18.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15.5" from top of shoulder to waist
Total length: 42" from top of shoulder to hem with 2.5" turned under

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD4568

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Please review all measurements carefully. More often than not, vintage garments do not fit any size category exactly. If in doubt, measure a garment of your own that fits and is a similar cut and compare it's measurements to the listed measurements below.