• This is a stunning black chiffon dress from the Spring 2006 Christian Dior collection 
• It was made under the creative direction of John Galliano
• This dress feels magical. This is in part because of the perfect bias cut of the black chiffon that is such a signature of John's time at the label.
• As with many Galliano pieces it is meant to be on an actual body and not a mere dress form.
• The way the fabric is cut and draped allow it to hug the body and skim over you from the bust to past the hip.
• The dress has a wide set V plunging front that meets in the centre and twists into a knot. I love the angles this creates on the neckline and the nod to the 1940s that it gives the feel of the bodice.
• The sleeves are gathered in along the shoulder and then they are gathered back in above where they go around the arm. This is another strong detail that is a nod to the thirties and forties, decades that you often see referenced in the best of his work.
• Angled seams run under the bust to the sides of the waist and the fabric curves in there to give shape through the waist. From there it curves back out over the hips and falls to the floor in a widening expanse of chiffon. This helps to create its hourglass shape.
• As the skirt near the floor it widens out considerably and this gives the dress extra volume there and also creates a gorgeous bit of movement around the lower skirts.
• The perfect finishing touch is a high slit that runs up one side of the dress so you get a bare flash of leg as you move.
• The entire dress is made out of a single layer of the black chiffon so it has a touch of transparency. This allows you to go as covered or bare underneath as you dare. It is so pretty and special.
• The dress is unlined and closes with a hidden set zipper at the side. It appears to have been worn very little if at all.
• Tagged a vintage Dior FR36, GB8, IT40, US4
• Excellent condition

Sleeves: 8.5" and are just under 12" around the arm opening
Inset shoulders: 13"
Bust: to 16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 16-19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: approximately 12.5" from top of shoulder to waist
Total length: 66.5" from top of shoulder to hem
Slit: 32.5" from hem up

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5441

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 Spring 2004 Valentino collection
• It was made under the creative direction of the original, Mr. Valentino
• We have included some photos from the Spring 2004 Valentino collection of dresses with similar elements to this one. This is a dress that was produced for the shops and it is absolutely gorgeous.
• The dress is made out of a feather light black silk chiffon and the lightness of this fabric choice creates a soft and romantic feel as it floats over your body.
• The entire dress is cut to allow it to drape beautifully over the body and highlight your curves.
• The bodice is finished with tiny and precise pleats that wrap all the way around to the back. The top of the bodice is gathered into a sweetheart and the back sits on a slight curve to leave the upper back bare and exposed.
• A ruffled panel of black silk chiffon is set along straps that are meant to sit off the shoulder. Once this is on a body, it will sit around the upper arm. I think, depending on the space between the shoulder and bodice you might also be able to wear this on the top of the shoulder.
• The waist is cinched and seamed to follow the curve of the body.
• From there it curves out and over the hips and the panels of chiffon that make up the skirt float around you as the skirt falls to the floor.
• The skirt is a little masterpiece in its own right. It is actually made of a series of panels that are all set in around the waist. They are attached together to just under the hip and sat in a way so that they overlap each other as they fall to the floor.
• Each panel is a long rectangle that widen out to their curved ends. Each of the individual panels are finished with a ruffle of a matching black silk chiffon that runs all the way around the entire panel. I love how the ruffle is smaller near the top of the hip and then also widen out as it circles around the bottom of each panel.
• The panels overlap each other as they curve around you but there is no inner lining. It is the overlapping and the multiple layers of the panels that make it opaque enough to wear.  Besides making it wearable, the separation of the panels once they get past the hip area is what allows the extraordinary amount of movement that the skirt has when you move. 
• The silk chiffon that was used is feather light and the dress is a dream in person.
• The dress is fully lined in a black silk chiffon through the bodice and the skirt is constructed as described above. It closes with a hidden set side zipper.  It is in its original uncut length. I see a tiny repair near the hem and along the hem. Both extremely minor. It otherwise.appears to have been worn very little if at all.
• Tagged a vintage Valentino 6
• Excellent condition.

Bust: to 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to "20 flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: approx 16" from the top of the shoulder to the waist and the bodice on its own is about 9.5" from the top edge to the waist
Length: 64" from top of the shoulder to the hem, 

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5442

Reference Photos: Spring 2004 Valentino.

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 2010 Alexander McQueen season.
• It was made under the creative direction of Alexander McQueen.
• A copy of this dress that was re-issued in an ivory for the 2011 wedding collection and versions were also made in 2007. 
• I love having this version. It has that same bias cut draped feel as the McQueen that Elle Fanning borrowed and wore recently so we have added a photo of that to give you an idea of it on.
• The dress is made from a beautifully weighted silk that has that same liquid feel that the best of the 1930s pieces did that were made from this similar fabrics.
• The colour is fascinating. It is a black in most lights, but in certain bright lights it has a blue undertone that comes out and gives it the appearance of an almost deep deep blue black.
• Like those dresses of the thirties this is also cut on the bias but with a more shaped silhouette. I love that the fabric is heavy enough and that the dress is lined so that it will not highlight 'flaws' underneath like some bias cut pieces can.
• It is cut to flow over the body and skims over the bust, waist and hips to the floor.
• The neckline drops into a V at the front. It glides over the bust and there is a soft curving seam that starts at the bust and runs down into the side seam. This not only helps to add a little shape but it also becomes this interesting design feature and a subtle way for him to work in one of his signature angled seams.
• The skirt continues past and over the hips and then flares out as it reaches the hem. At the back there is extra fabric worked around the centre seam to give you a trained effect behind you.
• This flaring out at the bottom and the extra bit at the back give you fabulous movement when you walk or move.
• The sleeves are incredible. They are set in these soft loops around each arm. They leave the sides of the shoulders bare and really add to the thirties feel of the dress.
• The dress is fully lined in a black silk mix and closes with a hidden set back zipper. The bias cut fabric has some stretch so should allow it to fit a range of sizes. The measurements below give you the comfortable range the fabric has when lying flat. It is in its original length. 
• Tagged a McQueen 40.
• Excellent condition

Bust: 16-19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 61" from top of shoulder to front hem and it extends another 13" past that at the back

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5443

Reference Photo: Elle Fanning in Spring 2008 Alexander McQueen, from our archives, at the Critics Choice After Party, January 2023.

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.