• The label on this dress gives us a date range of 1963 to 1977 for it to have been made in. 
• It was made under the creative direction of James Galanos.
• In 1951 Galanos was only 27 when he launched his first label called Galanos Originals. By 1954 he had won a Coty award and the Neiman Marcus award.
• His custom pieces were made close to couture standards and with a level of craftsmanship that was on par with the French couturiers. He was truly one of the great American designers and his work is held in all of the major museums around the world.
• This is a dress that is extremely well made with a very high level of construction techniques.
  
• The body of the dress is made from a yellow silk crepe that is cut on the bias and that has a slight texture to it. This is topped with a hand beaded bodice that is completely covered in a combination of yellow and blue glass tube beads.
• The straps are detailed with handset rows of the yellow beads set vertically and stacked side by side as they curve over the shoulders. 
• Over the bodice the beads are set horizontally to form stripes in different thicknesses. I love that they have mixed the deep royal blue beads with the yellow. These run all the way around the entire bodice from front to back.
• At the front, the fabric extends down at touch to attach into the waist and more beads are added there to form a thick band that runs all the way around the waist. Below the seam where they attach there is another inch of beadwork that wraps around you.
• At the front the bodice extends out into the straps and is meant to be more fitted to you. Starting at each side the fabric and beads split and this creates a full cut out open at the back so you get a strip of bare skin exposed. It is fantastic.
• The skirt skims over the hips and then flares out dramatically as it reaches the floor. The extra fabric in the skirt gives you beautiful movement as you move.
• As good as this dress looks in the photos, I think that it is so much better in person it is almost ridiculous. It is a really outstanding piece by him.
• The dress is fully lined in a handset yellow silk chiffon. There is elastic around the inner waist that just helps to hold it in place so it doesn't dip too much at the back. It closes with a side zipper on the bodice and then a second side zipper from the waist down. All of the bead work is done by hand and there are hand finishes throughout the dress. This is made to Demi Couture level.
• There is no size tag present.  Please go by the measurements below.
• Excellent condition

Bust: 16-16.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Seam under the bust: 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12-13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 21" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15" from top of shoulder to waist
Total length: 60" from top of shoulder to hem with 1.5" turned under the hem.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5623

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.

• Note that due to new customs regulations this piece can only ship to a Canadian address. If you need assistance with this please touch base.
• This is a gorgeous set that dates to the late 1950s - early 1960s.
• It has a Town and Travelwear label that tells us it was bought from the hotel Statler – Hilton in Dallas.
• Hotels in the 1950s and 1960s often had their own in-house label and teams of seamstresses on hand to fit their guests.
  
• Both the dress and cape are made out of a deep yellow embroidered cord and net lace that sits over a deeper yellow inner base.
• The lace is embellished with a little tiny faux seed pearls and glass tube beads. Iridescent sequins are sprinkled into the mix as are the occasional faceted bead and rainbow coloured prong set rhinestone.
• The cape and the dress are both highlighted with pale yellow feathers. On the dress the feathers are set in little tufts that circled the lower portion of the skirt and on the cape they edge the entire hem all the way around you.
  
• The dress has a sweetheart neckline at the front and I love how the embellishment is a bit heavier around the upper edge of the neckline. Inside it is formed and shaped though the bust. It has tiny piped straps that curve over the shoulders but it could also be worn strapless if you decided to tuck the straps in or remove them.
• The waist is shaped through the vertical seaming of the dress and then from there it curves out and over the hips. The skirt falls to the floor and narrows in slightly as it nears the hem. At the back there is slit to allow you to walk.
• The cape sits over the shoulders and is a single layer of the lace with no lining. I love that this lets you see the hand work at the back. All of the embellishment was applied by hand.
• It has a single clasp at the neck and the feathers have a pretty movement as you move.
• Its a gorgeous set and I always love when you have more than one piece because then you can mix and match things in your existing wardrobe.
• The dress has a yellow silky rayon structure behind the bust area and the rest of the dress is unlined. It closes with a back set zipper. The cape is a single layer of the lace with the feathers attached directly to it. It hooks to close at the collar. I see a small amount of fraying at the top of both straps the dress and some marks on the inner upper lining of the dress . Please see the photo after the label shot. 
• There are no size tags present. Please go by the listed measurements below.
• Excellent condition 

Dress
Bust: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 58" from top of shoulder to hem

Cape
Neck: 16" around
Total length: it falls to approximately 17" from the neck to the end of the feathers

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5622

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 walked the runway for Look 55 for the Fall 2019 runway show.
• It was made under the creative direction of Pierpaolo Piccioli
• The Vogue review for this collection touched on Pierpaolos's inspiration for the show saying; "(he is) a man on an intuitive mission to place fashion on a positive plane. 'I feel that people are looking for emotion and dreams—but not distant dreams,' he said today before his ready-to-wear show was about to take to the runway. 'I want to create a community for Valentino. I mean something different from ‘lifestyle,’ which is about owning objects. It’s about people who share values.'"
• I love that we have the runway reference photos and video so you can see just how spectacular this one moves once it is on the body. It is one of my favourite dresses he ever made.
• The dress is made out of yards and yards of a feather-light yellow silk chiffon that is an exceptionally pretty colour. This fabric choice keeps the dress extremely light in weight and easy to wear.
• The neckline is scooped wide across so that the straps sit more on the edges of the shoulders. 
• At the back it is scooped even lower to leave your back bare and exposed. 
• A wide ruffle follows the entire neckline and gives it the prettiest flounce all the way around you. It continues down to follow the scoop at the back and it creates a bit of a pretty caped feel to the upper part of the dress.
• Underneath the ruffle the bodice skims down to the more generously cut waist. These more generous waists became a signature of Piccioli's work and made his pieces exceptionally easy to wear and fit.
• I love that except for that very top ruffle that edges the neckline all of the other ruffles are set in long vertical ruffles that run the full length of the dress all the way to the hem.
• The ruffles start underneath that ruffle around the neckline and then fall in long rows that follow vertical seams set from there to the hem. As they run down the length of the dress they widen out both in how they are spaced apart and also in the width of the actual ruffles.
• The incredible amount of ruffles covering the skirt combined with the lightness of the fabric gives you the prettiest movement when you move. 
• The final perfect touch is that he extended the skirt out past the hem at the back. This gives you a beautiful sweeping effect behind you. 
• This is an absolutely stunning dress and this particular cut of dress is one of my favourites.
• The dress is fully lined in a marching coloured silk chiffon and closes with a hidden set back zipper. The main Valentino tag is missing but it still has its inner tag which I have included in the photos. It appears to have been worn very little if at all.
• Tagged a modern Valentino 38
• Excellent condition

Bust: the front bodice covers to 16" flat across from side to side
Waist: to 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Total length: 60" from top of shoulder to front hem and the back extends another 12" past that.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5621

Reference Photos/Video: Fall 2019 Valentino, Look 55. Model Kris Grikaite.

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.