Haute Couture does not always have to be an elaborate, over the top piece. Sometimes the beauty of couture lies in the restraint of line and a certain chic  simplicity that hides the hours of handwork put into each piece. This dress is a numbered Haute Couture piece and would have been made by hand in the Paris atelier. The attention to detail shown in every stitch is fabulous. It is a gorgeous dress.

The dress is made from deep burgundy red silk crepe that is an exceptional high end quality and it is this choice of this very high end fabric that helps to give the dress its beautiful lines. The top is cut into a V at the front with slight gathers where it inserts into the shoulders. It is constructed to look like a separate top that floats over the skirt below but it is actually all one piece. Each sleeves is long and poufs out slightly above the fitted cuffs. I love how each cuff is pleated to pick up the pleat work on the skirt. The three silk covered buttons adorn each cuff and each one sits perfectly in the center of each of those pleats. This detail alone is fabulous. The skirt falls from under the edge of the top and it is attached to its own inner silk bodice. This is the proper way to attach a skirt in couture and this helps it to stay perfectly in place once it's on the body. The skirt is fantastic. Each individual pleat is perfectly matched to its neighbor with meticulous precision. When you stand still the dress falls straight and then when you move you get incredible movement and fullness because of the pleats. It is a brilliantly cut dress. Every stitch has been done by hand. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. Excellent condition.

Fully lined in a matching red silk and closes with an inner handset back painted metal zipper and then closes with a second zipper on the outer bodice layer over that. The cuffs snap into place under three silk covered decorative buttons. The Haute Couture label is present with couture tape under the tag numbered 157888. Hand finished to couture standards throughout. It appears to have been worn very little if at all.

Sleeves: 27"
Shoulders: no true defined seams
Bust: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips at inner lining: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 55.5" from shoulder to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: MED-LRG

Item# DD2913

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

In 1993 Oscar de la Renta took over as Creative Director at Balmain where he designed the Haute Couture collections until 2002. The house had been floundering at that point and he had a huge impact on the reviving the sales of the couture pieces, mainly by catering to private clients, much like Balmain had originally. It is extraordinary to think that Oscar never produced a Haute Couture line under his own label and these few short years at Balmain gives us a chance to see just how talented he really was at all levels. I was very pleased to be able to fully document this dress with its photo on the runway and we even found one that shows the twin of this dress just behind Oscar for the finale of the show.

Like most Haute Couture, this is a dress that only truly comes to life when it is on an actual body. No matter how good it looks in the photos, the impact it has in real life and how it moves once on is undeniably beautiful. You can see in the runway shots that the dress sits lower on the sides of shoulders then where it sits on the dress form and this simple difference changes the look of it tremendously. The fabric is a fine silk in a pale baby blue that gives it the weight it needs to perfectly hold and to shape you through the bodice. The dress is sleeveless with wide straps that curve up and off the shoulder. It is fitted to be like a corset with built in boning and seaming to shape you. The neckline is scooped at the front and dips into a V at the back. There are attached underskirts to hold the volume of the skirt and if you wanted even more there is room to add a crinoline. The bodice is shaped with long vertical seaming that curves into the dipped waist seam. At the back it closes with a corset detailing and matching coloured ties. The skirt is set along the waist seam in a series of big soft inverted pleats that give you this lovely curve around the top of the hips. Then as they open out the volume of the skirt is achieved to give it the incredible volume that you see. Each layer of the fabric is light but when all the layers, and the sheer volume of fabric that has been used, is combined the overall weight of the dress is substantial and it feels like a couture piece. You can see how stupendous this is one in the runway photos and the massive sweep that the skirt has. This comes to me from one of his the original couture clients. This dress is definitely a dress that could walk a carpet and it would also make an amazing dress for the bride looking for a non-traditional choice or as an alternative dress in a more extended wedding celebration. Excellent condition with a minor note below

Fully hand lined in a pale blue silk through the bodice. The skirt has an inner silk lining and then two layer of tulle over that and a partial layer around the inner hips. Hidden boning and corseting through the bodice. It closes with a hidden inner zipper, a half zipper at the exterior waist and then laces to close over that. A waist stay inside that hooks to close and a second hooked stay above that this sits just under the bust. Hand finished through out to Haute Couture standards. Proper couture tag present Couture tape #172438. I see some teeny marks on the grommets which would be a natural part of normal use. One yellowish mark near the seam above the hem. A couple of very faint marks here and there near the hem. A small lightened spot on the front edge of the center fold. All of which you only see if you lay it out flat and look for them. Please see the photos after the label shot

Bust: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner corset waist: 13-14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 14.5" from top of shoulder to side waist
Skirt: 44" from side waist to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD4136

Reference Photos: Spring 1994 Pierre Balmain Haute Couture Runway.

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

When this Balmain debuted it was sold exclusively through Farfetch. That means that very few were produced and it was a very hard dress to get. It immediately sold out and there as only one production run released which has made it a very rare dress to find.  'Welcome to my jungle' said Olivier Rousteing to Vogue that season and went on to say that this was his most personal collection ever. It's twin was worn by supermodel Karlie Kloss to the Balmain after party that season which give you an amazing glimpse of how it looks like once on. It is a very special piece and I love it.

The dress is made from a leopard print silk jersey that is cut supermodel long. The fabric has some weight to it because of the sheer amount of it that there is and this helps to keep the drape and flow of the skirt perfectly in place once on the body. It is cut in a high set halterneck at the front and the fabric there is gathered in vertical folds so that it skims over you. A wide band of black curves around the neck and then down the sides. At the waist it forms a criss cross pattern around the waist that curves around to the sides. At the side of the waist between the black the fabric is again gathered in for detailing. The black bands gives the illusion of a waist cinching corset belt and draws the eye while highlighting the curves between the bodice and that amazing skirt. At the back the dress closes at the nape of the neck with two snaps and both are topped on the exterior of the strap with a gold raised lion head. It scoops into a low curve under that to leave your entire upper back bare. The signature chunky, exposed Balmain zipper sits low at the back. The skirt falls to the floor from there and there are yards and yards of fabric in it. The hem is cut longer at the back so that you have a bit of a train and at the center of the front it is split to the thigh. So when you walk you have this flash of leg showing and when you walk away it is equally as dramatic. It is amazing. It was never worn and is like new. Excellent condition

The dress has a full black stretch jersey inner lining. It closes at the back of the neck with snaps and at the low back waist with a zipper. Tagged a modern Balmain 42.

Bust: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: approx 16 " from top of bodice to waist
Skirt: 48" from waist to shortest part of the front hem, 65" to the longest part of the back hem
Front slit: 33" from hem to top of slit

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD2970

Reference Photos: Karlie Kloss at the Balmain After Party on September 25, 2014 in Paris, France.

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