• The dress dates to the 1959 Balenciaga Couture collection. Based on the information provided by the Balenciaga archives there is a possibility that it was made in 1960.
• It was made under the creative direction of Cristobal Balenciaga. 
• I was able to date this dress after speaking with the Balenciaga archives and they confirmed that this was 1959–1960. They hold its twin in yellow. They do not allow sharing of photos from their archives but I have seen the photos so know they exist with them.
• The dress would have been made completely by hand and the Paris atelier. 
• The bodice is strapless and completely embroidered and covered in silver thread and prong set glass rhinestones.
• All of the embroidery and embellishment covering the bodice was done by hand.
• The skirt is made from a fine silk organza and falls outward from the waist on a pretty curvy line to the floor. Soft fold, gather it in around the waist and hope to hold the volume exactly Cristobal intended.
• Underneath the top silk layer is an attached silk underskirt that helps hold the shape and make the skirt opaque enough to wear. If you wanted to add even more fullness, you could add an additional underskirt for added support.
• Built inside the bodice is a cupped and boned inner corset that holds the dress in place. This is all perfectly done to couture standards. 
• The dress is fully lined in silk and closes with two back zippers and snaps. There is an inner waist stay that hooks to close. The dress has its proper Haute Couture and numbered tag. I see some faint marks on the skirt and some minor fraying of the metal threads on the bodice here and there. On the interior bodice, the silk ribbon that goes around the edge of the neckline has started to fray. Please see the photos after the label shot and know that the dress is in good great condition, but it is not perfect.
• There is no size tag present because it is true Couture. Please go by the measurements listed below.
• Good condition with the notes above.

Bust: 16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12-13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner hips: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 9" from top of bodice to waist
Total length: 50" from top of bodice to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5557

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 is an incredible and rare true Haute Couture dress whose pattern remarkably resembles a sketch we found from his 1953 collection.
• It was made under the creative direction of couturier Jaques Fath.
• Jacques Fath showed his first collection of just twenty garments in the spring of 1937. It was well received and he steadily built a strong clientele to become of of the busiest ateliers in Paris.
• Fath is considered to be part of the 'big three' post-war Parisian designers, along with Dior and Balmain. The Fath label was shuttered in 1957 after Fath's death three years earlier. One of his signature looks was a strapless hourglass silhouette. The dress is gorgeous and a beautiful and rare example of his work during this time period. 
• It would have been completely made by hand in the Paris atelier.
• The fabric is a stunning silk that has a pattern suggested of an animal print running over its entire surface. This has been done in an ivory with shades of charcoal grey. Worked into the pattern is a subtle muted gold metallic thread.
• The dress is strapless and curves up on the bodice. There is a black silk inner panel that is set behind the front panels that you see here. This let those front panels sit slightly off of the body and create the illusion of more bust.
  
• The fabric is gathered in along an angled seam under that to a wide band that defines the waist. I love how there is a bit of the same black silk that peeks out along one edge to tie all of the elements of the bodice together.
• The waist is cinched in and to achieve that beautiful hour glass silhouette there is a full built-in boned couture corset attached to the inside of the bodice. I have taken photos so you can see how beautifully and intricately this is constructed.
• From there the skirt expands outward over the hips and curves beautifully down to the floor. The front has a slightly more sleek feel to it and then the back has added fabric built into it down the centre so that you get a beautiful soft fullness there. It is cut slightly longer at the back to help to add to that feel of more fullness there. If you really wanted the skirt to be very full you could add an underskirt. There is more than enough room.
• It is an absolute extraordinarily beautiful early Couture peace from the most magical era of Couture.
• The skirt is backed with a netting and there is a built-in boned corset. It closes with a back zipper and an inner waist stay hooks to close. There is light discolouration to the inner corset. At some point, someone added fabric tape over some small holes in the netting of the interior skirt and I see some tiny ones without tape. None of this shows on the exterior. There is light fraying on part of the front hem. Please see the photos after the label shot. All of the interior work is done completely by hand to Couture standards.
  
• No size tag is present so please go by the measurements listed below.
• Excellent overall condition
  

Bust: to 16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 10.5" from top of bodice to bottom seam of the 3.25" waist band
Total length: 51" from top of bodice to front hem and the back hand extends another 6" past that

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5531

Reference Photo: Spring 1953 Jacques Fath Haute Couture. Illustration by Pierre Simon.

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 is original dress from the 1950s, maybe the 1940s that is completely made by hand.
• It is an absolutely incredible example of the high level of hand work being done during that time period and you would be hard pressed to find anything modern done to this degree outside of true Couture pieces.
• I have no formal history on the dress but it does have a handwritten tag with the name Edith that sits inside the hem. The possibility of this being the name of the owner is fascinating and one wonders if it belonged to perhaps a showgirl, dancer or perhaps an actress who would have worn the dress. Having the name added like that certainly does imply that it was more of a stage piece as this was common in stage pieces from the era.
• The dress has hundreds of thousands of sequins and beads hand applied over every inch of its surface. The sequins are incredibly dense in the way that they have been applied. They are set so that they overlap each other to the point where they stand up and off the dress slightly. The black sequins were done in a swirling burst design and this lets it catch the light differently and creates the most amazing effect.
• Added to that is a floral design in pale pink, gold and greens that is also done in sequins. This wraps around the bodice and then runs down the entire skirt of the dress with the density of the design getting heavier as it near the hem.
• Then over all of that are over-sized faceted beads in a variety of colours that have been applied by hand to add an extra bit of detail and sparkle to the dress. They are all jewel tones mixed with gold and copper and it is just incredible to see.
• The dress does have weight to it but it is perfectly balanced once it is on the body. 
• It has straps but can also be worn strapless. Inside there is a full built-in boned and cupped corset that holds the dress in place and adds shape. The waist is brought in by this corset and then the dress skims over the hips. As it falls to the floor it narrows down. There is an overlapping curved slit at the back that allows you to be able to walk in it.
• The dress is fully lined in a black silky rayon. The dress has an inner corset that hooks into place with a double row of metal lingerie hooks. The inner corset is boned and cupped. It is lightly tacked into the dress. I see some wear on the inside of the corset here and there. The dress zips to close over that. It is completely made by hand. 
• There is no size tag present so please go by the measurements below
• Excellent condition with the note above

Bust: to 16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 53" from top of bodice to hem
Back slit: 26" from hem up

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5524

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 was sourced from France and it was noted as being from the from the 1950s or earlier and into the 1930s or 1940s.
• The entire dress and its huge matching veil have been entirely made by hand and the lace itself is also handmade.
• Both of the veil and dress have been meticulously pieced together from larger sections of lace to create the shape of both pieces. That means all of the lace would have had to have been made and planned out ahead of time.
• The dress has higher neck and I love the soft scalloping around the edge.
• The shoulders are sloped and soft and extended into long sleeves that narrow at the cuff. Five little lace covered buttons and loops sit at the end of each sleeve.
• It is meant to to be more fitted over the bust and then comes in at the waist.
• From there it expands outward over the hips and is very full and open over the hips.
• The skirt is lovely and very full. It falls in beautiful soft rounded folds around you. There is enough room underneath that if you wanted it to feel very full, you could add a crinoline and/or additional under-skirting.
• The dress is made from a single layer of the lace so it does have transparency through the lace. This allows you to wear as little or as much of an undergarment underneath to be either daring or more conservative.
• The matching lace veil is two long continuous pieces of lace pieced perfectly together. It is narrow at one end and then opens up to be very wide by the other. A bride would have draped this over her head and then she could pin it into place or add flowers or some other decorations around the head to frame the face and hold the veil.
• This is an absolutely beautiful piece of history and an extremely rare thing of beauty. 
• The amount of hours and work to have made this is staggering to think about. 
• Both pieces are an excellent condition with perhaps a touch of very minor age related patina here and there on the lace. The colour in person is slightly more ivory.
• The dress is unlined and closes with a back zipper. Buttons and loops are at the end of each sleeve. I see a slight darkening to the fabric here and there but it is very minor. It makes it feel authentically vintage and does not detract in any way.
• There is no size tag present because it is a one off.
• Excellent condition

Dress
Sleeves: approx 22"
Shoulders: no defined seams
Bust: to 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 12" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Total length: 58" from neck to hem

Veil
14" at the narrowest point at one end and 55" at its widest width at the other
It is 9 feet from end to end

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XXS-XS

Item# DD5514

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• Irish designer Sybil Connolly had her first major US fashion show in 1953. The American press dubbed her the 'Dublin's Dior'. Jacqueline Kennedy wore Connolly for her official White House portrait and Connolly was a particular favorite of Carmen Snow, the editor of Harper's Bazaar.
• It was made under the creative direction of Sybil Connolly
• The dress would've been made entirely by hand in her atelier in Ireland.
• In 1957 she launched her couture label. She created Haute Couture pieces made from Irish textiles and in particular she became famous for her distinctive use of  pleated handkerchief linen.
• This excerpt from the FDIM Museum explains Sybil Connolly's techniques: "Sybil Connolly's trademark gowns required a tremendous amount of fabric. To construct one pleated evening dress required between 72 and 90 yards of Irish handkerchief linen. After undergoing a secret pleating process, this initial yardage became 7 to 10 yards of slightly irregular, narrow linen pleats. Like the early 20th century designer Mario Fortuny, Sybil Connolly was very protective of her pleating process, swearing that it was a secret she would "carry to the grave." In her designs, Connolly usually oriented the pleats horizontally, covering the seams with self-fabric cording. The cords also lengthen the overall line of the garment, providing a counterbalance to the horizontal pleats. As Connolly tended towards solid colors, the stiff cording also provides a necessary visual contrast to the soft linen pleats."
• She worked directly with the cloth on a model and rarely sketched beforehand.
  
•  I found a quote that referred to the Irish linen she used to be 'of a quality so fine it was almost chiffon-like in weight' and that description is very accurate.
• The dress has a fairly simple line so that the pleating technique takes centre stage. The bodice is strapless and fitted and the pleated linen runs horizontally across the dress.
• The waist cinches in under that for shape and has a wide attached band done in a matching pale purple silk for added detailing.
• The skirt billows out from there and is very full. To help create the volume that you see the skirt has been set in and around the waist in soft cleats that open up into the fullness that you see as it falls to the floor. An incredible amount of fabric would have been used to create the skirt. 
  
• The dress comes with its original matching shawl. This is cut into a simple triangle with loops set just inside the outer edges to slip your arms through and hold it in place.
• This is a wonderful and very rare example of her work. Most pieces are held in museums.
• The dress is fully lined in an ivory silk and boned through the bodice. It closes with a back zipper on the inner corset and then a second zipper closes over that on the outer layer of the dress. There are areas throughout where the fabric has faded. There are also areas where the it has slightly discoloured. Please see the photos after the label shot. The dress is sold as found and is not sold as perfect. A video can be sent upon request if needed.
• There is no size tag present because it is Couture. Please go by the measurements listed below.
• Overall great condition with the note aboce.

Bust: 16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 8.5" from top of bodice to the bottom of the 2" band at the waist
Total length: 53" from top of bodice to hem with 2" turned under
Shawl: 41" across the widest point and 25" from the point to the top of the shawl.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XXS-XS

Item# DD5499

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.