• The dress is from the Spring 2007 John Galliano collection.
• It was made under the creative direction of John Galliano.
• During John Galliano's years at his own label he arguably produced some of the most amazing bias cut and glamourous dresses in fashion history. 
• His work often has a feeling of the decadence and abandonment of the twenties and thirties with their beautiful cuts. They marry Old Hollywood with the minimalist spirit of the nineties and early 2000s and the results are stunning.
• This is an amazing example of his work from his Spring 2007 collection. This is the second time I have had one of these dresses in the shop. I was very pleased to find another after so much time has gone by since the last.
• A shorter silver version was worn by Drew Barrymore and she appears in a video where she notes that the dress was custom made for her. A printed version was also worn by her in the cover of Paris Vogue.
• A version was also worn by Kylie Minogue at Paris Fashion Week Fall that year. I love that having those photos and video give you an idea of the insane cut of the dress. This one in its full length is even more glamorous I think.
• The dress is made from an exterior layer of black lace. Set under that top lace layer is an inner base fabric that has a very subtle silver thread worked through it. You barely see it through the lace but it does add a subtle shimmer like a little hidden secret. It is fantastic.
• The dress is strapless and cut to follow the curves of the body. Inner cups add support and lift with built in underwire.
• It nips in at the waist and then curves back out and over the hips. The hourglass shape is created by intricate seam work that pieces the dress together. I took shots of it to show you the amount of seaming that has gone into the dress.
• The top edge of the dress is amazing. It has three folded over fabric panels that sit on each side of the sweetheart neckline. They add this delicious Old Hollywood feel to the dress.
• A curved vertical seam runs subtly down the front between the two cups and then at the back there is a series of horizontal pleats from one side that wraps into the zipper. The zipper is set offside to be hidden into a seam.
• The lace dips down and into the zipper and this allows the underlying inner black silk corset to peak out above the dip. This feels very sexy.
  
• Curved seams shape the skirt around you to emphasize the shape of the hips. The skirt is shaped to come back in slightly around the knees and then it flares out quite dramatically for the bottom part of the skirt.
• The phenomenal seaming set around the very bottom portion of the skirt opens into pleats off to one side at the front. Another series of pleats does the same at the back. This gives the dress a dramatic flaring out in shape along with a kick of fabric when you move.
  
• The dress has an inner cupped and shaped bodice made of black silk satin that is lightly boned and has underwired formed cups. The rest of the dress is lined in a black silk. The inner corset closes with hook and eye at the back under the outer zipper and then the dress closes over that with hidden set zipper at the back that follows a seam.
• Tagged a vintage Galliano FR42 GB14 US8
• Excellent condition

Bust: can accommodate up to a total of 37.5" all the way around the interior
Waist: to 14.75" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 10.5" from top of bodice to waist
Total length: 60" from the top of the bodice to the hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: MED-LRG

Item# DD5853

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

• This dress is from the 1970s Mr. Blackwell label.
• It was made under the creative direction of Richard Blackwell.
• Blackwell launched his label in the late 1950s and even at that time his dresses sold for between $800 and $1000 (up to $10,000 in modern dollars).
• He dressed many of the big stars of the day including Jane Russell, Dorothy Lamour and Jayne Mansfield. 
• His pieces were often one of a kind pieces that were fitted to a specific client in the couture tradition.
• This dress is a wonderful example of his work. Rarely do such fine examples of this time period, and with this level of glamour, come to market anymore.
• The dress is made of a combination of a nude net, glossy black hand applied sequins and a bias cut jersey skirt.
• The cut is simple but dramatic because of the amazing way that the bodice is constructed with it heavily applied sequin embellishments.
• The dress is cut to skim over you to the waist which is brought in for a touch of shape. I have added a black ribbon that is not original to the dress to cinch it in even more. That will be sent with the dress. You could also add a belt if you wanted a more structured feel.
• The bodice of the dress is made from a transparent nude net that gives the illusion that you are not wearing anything but sequins from a distance.
• A densely applied pattern done in glossy black sequins wraps around you. It goes all the way around just above the waist and then the bodice breaks apart into two separate designs on either side to cover the breasts. 
• It curves around the sides and angles low into the waist at the back. This gives the illusion that your back is completely bare and exposed.
• The effect that the somewhat scandalous design has once on a body is very sexy.
• The sequins have all been hand placed and they mix being placed flat on the net with being placed on their sides and stacked against their neighbour. This gives part of the pattern a raised 3D effect. 
• The skirt falls under that and is made from a jersey that reminds me of 1970s Danskin jersey in its weight and the way it falls. It curves out over the hips and then is quite wide by the time it reaches the hem. 
• The dress is unlined and closes with a back zipper. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. The ribbon belt added will be sent with the dress. Hand finishes throughout.
• There is no size tag present. Please go by the measurements below.
• Excellent condition.

Bust: to 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 24" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15" from top of shoulder to waist
Total length: 55.5" from top of shoulder to hem with 1.75" turned under

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5852

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

• The twin of this dress in red walked the Spring 2008 Christian Dior runway for Look 53.
• It was made under the creative direction of John Galliano. 
  
• This collection marked Dior's 60th anniversary and it was also John's 10th year with the label. He celebrated those milestones with a show that was a nod to both the archives and Old Hollywood glamour. Pieces were wait-listed worldwide and both the red and the black versions of this dress were produced in very limited quantities. Given how many red I have seen I suspect there were less made in the black.
• The red has been seen on multiple red carpets and we have included both runway and carpet photos here so you can see just how fantastic it is on the body.
• To help visualize what this dress looks like in black we changed the runway dress to black on the last two photos added here to show you what it looks like on.
• The dress is made out of a black silk that is completely cut on the bias. John often chose this particular weight of silk because of the control it gave him to be able to drape and apply the level of seam work that he loved to do.
  
• The bodice is strapless with an inner boned and cupped corset that holds the dress in place around you.
• Silk panels have been draped, gathered and hand stitched into place to create the dramatic sweeping detailing you see at the front.
• At the back he gathered all of the fabric down and into the centre line to meet in a little peak at the centre of the back waist.
• From there his signature bias cut lets the dress skim and drape over you so that is shows every curve. As in many of his pieces the seaming has the feel  of couture pieces you would see from the twenties and thirties.
• The fabric has been pieced together with low dropped angled panels to create the widening of the lower skirt. It flares out at the bottom and at the back it is cut longer so that you get a sweeping feel behind you as you walk.
• A row of his signature tightly spaced buttons & loops in the same silk run up one side.
• This is an incredible and rare example of his work.
• The dress is fully lined in a black silk and closes at the side with a series of silk covered buttons. The inner boned and cupped corset hooks to close with two rows of lingerie hooks to choose from. The bias cut gives it some give in the measurements and I have given the comfortable range when the dress is laying flat below. It appears to have been worn very little if at all.
• There is no size tag present. Please go by the measurements listed below.
• Excellent condition

Inner bust: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner waist: 13-15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 56" from the top of the bodice to the front hem and the back hem extends to a total length of 78"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: MED-LRG

Item# DD5851

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.