This is a gorgeous example of the work being done early on at the turn of the century. I have put this piece as being from the 1920s but it could be earlier as well. The material is a beautiful ultra fine very tight weave fine linen that may have some silk in its mix. This is the kind of fabric that you will never see outside of vintage and it is beautiful. The jacket has soft shoulders and the sleeves are cut on a curve in the proper tailoring manner. The collar is notched and runs all the way to the low set buttons at the front. It is loose and easy through the body and it flares out slightly under the waist. A band of there same fabric are attached at the back and sides and then extend around the front. I am not sure if I have actually closed it properly so you might have to play with it or move a button to have it sit where it suits you best. The buttons are phenomenal and appear to be hand carved. Larger one sit at the front and then a series of tightly spaced smaller versions run up each cuff of the sleeves. More buttons adorn the top set pocket that sit on each hip. Each sides extends down into a point. It's quite fabulous. Excellent condition for its age but please review the notes below

At some point it was relined and is now lined in a pale gold toned silk. It is in overall amazing condition given its age. I do see tiny pinhole in the fabric here and there and shot the worst of them. There are some tiny marks here and there as well. a bit of grubbiness across the top bar. Some of the buttons show chipping. Given that this is 100 years old or more it is in truly remarkable clean crisp condition and was obviously well taken care of and stored properly. Sold as found

Sleeves: 22.5"
Shoulders: 15"
Bust: 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Length: 31" from neck to shortest past of hem, 37" to the longest

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# S994

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

Azzedine Alaia pieces are always a delight to find. His knits were all self developed and are among the best out there. He started his career as a dressmakers assistant  and copied couture gown for wealthy Tunisian clients. In 1957 he moved to Paris and worked for Christian Dior for a grand total of five days. He then moved to Guy Laroche and quietly started to get private commissions on the side. By 1960 he was doing mainly private work and within a few years established a small salon on the Left Bank where he continued designing privately. He stayed at that salon until 1984. During this time period he also did private freelance work for other designers including Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler and even Yves Saint Laurent. It was not until 1981 that he launched his first official collection and by 1983 he had a boutique in Beverley Hills. The French Ministry of Culture honored him with the Designer of the Year award in 1985. In 1993 he decided that the established fashion show schedule was not for him and he eschewed producing a new collection every season. Instead he showed when his collections were ready and continued to do so until his death in 2017. 

This is an exceptionally beautiful example of his work and it is made to be oversized and easy to wear with an almost lounging robe feel to it in its cut. It is a piece that you can wear open and layered over other things or wrap and belt it to have to feel more like a coat or even wear it on its own. It is made out of a mixed knit that is worked to form the easy organic lines that you see. Everything about it is meant to convey ease and luxury. It has no closures and just slips on. The shoulders slope down and into those fabulously wide cut, extra, extra long sleeves that end with a ribbed cuff. You can push them up, wear them long or roll them. The body of the cardigan is loose and generously cut. I love the two big soft pockets that sit at the front of each hip. Slits up each side and the collar has a wide shawl feel to it. It is gorgeous and once on, you won't want to take it off. Excellent condition.

Unlined with no closures. Tagged a size SML but the loose and easy for will work on a large range of sizes. The smaller you are the more it will feel oversized. 

Sleeves: 27" from he dropped shoulders
Dropped shoulders: 26"
Bust- hips: 26" flat across from side to side
Length: 36" from neck to hem and hangs a bit longer once on the body

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-LRG

Item# S995

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

This is an incredible set that is extra special because it is from the debut Haute Couture collection of Marc Bohan. It has the added province of being documented which is sometimes not easy to find with these very early pieces. The book Dior, Catwalk talks about the reaction to this first collection by Bohan; "Thundering applause, led by the Duchess of Windsor, rolled through the elegant grey and white salons of the House of Dior, the happy ending to the suspense story of the fashion year. At stake was the future dominance of Dior, and the career of designer Mark Bohan. The Chicago Tribune hailed him as being "Mister Dior, the third". The New York Times stated "the shouting, clapping, surging mob at the press show cause chaos in the elegant salon. Bohan was pushed up against the boiserie, kissed, mauled and congratulated. Chairs were toppled. Champagne glasses were broken. People were knocked down. It was a complete triumph for the designer". The book goes on to state that; Bohan called the collection the "Slim Line". It was a streamlined take on the original "New Look". He revisited the day suit with wide cut jackets and low waisted flared skirts fitted at the hips. The Times declared it "a success from the appearance of the first model and worthy in the tradition of the great maestro himself. And Women's Wear Daily wrote three months after the collection was shown that "the Bohan flare is everywhere. Bohan has done the impossible. He is a big commercial success and respected by the fashion intellect." 

The set is exceptional and is an excellent investment piece as well. Dior prices continue to skyrocket and finding couture examples like this from such an important collection and in this condition is getting harder and harder. 

This suit is fantastic. It is actually two pieces. A flared skirt and then a top / jacket that goes over that. The top is fascinating in the way that it is cut and we were very happy to find and see in the reference photo of it that its construction is deliberate. The front only buttons at the bottom and then there is a snap just above that button to hold it closed. It is meant to stay open above that and the button holes that you see continuing up along the edge of the jacket are actually faux. They do not open all the way through. You can see in the photo that the model is wearing it the way that it's meant to be worn. The very bottom is closed and then she has a light top on underneath. This lets the jacket play on its volume that it has. You could certainly open the fabric and finish the buttonholes if you wish to wear it fully closed, but it is meant to be like this. The jacket has a lot of volume and is meant to skim over you and then the skirt is cut in a sleek little flare that skims over the hips and flares out with a series of flat pleats all the way around the skirt. Around the waist the silk lies flat and neat. It is very flattering once on the body. When you stand still the skirt lays flat and smooth but when you move you get an incredible burst of movement and volume. Over that goes the jacket with its wonderful to the elbow wide cut sleeves and oversized MOP buttons down the front. The shoulders are soft and there is no collar. The fabric is a very high end silk twill dyed to that pale tan mixed with white. Both pieces are entirely finished by hand to Haute Couture standards and I've shown some of the detailing inside. It is chic and elegant yet still feels edgy. An amazing find. Excellent condition

The jacket is lined in a fine silk in the same colour as the exterior tan and the skirt is interlined in a white silk organza. The jacket closes with the bottom button only and a hidden snap above that as described above. The skirt closes with hook & eye at the waist and hidden snaps below that.  Completely done by hand to Haute Couture Standards. Proper numbered couture label in place on the jacket. There are some natural, variations and lines in the silk that is inherent to this type of fabric and should not be considered a flaw. It is in remarkable condition.

Jacket
Slightly dropped shoulders: 16-17"
Bust: to 21" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bottom hem: 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 24.5" from neck to hem

Skirt
Waist: 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 21" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 27" from waist to hem with 2" turned under the hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD4484

Reference Photo: Christian Dior Haute Couture Printemps-Ete 1961. Photo Emerick Bronson. Model Nicole de Lamargé.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.