• This gorgeous Pierre Cardin dress is from the 1978 Haute Couture season. 
• It was made under the creative direction of Pierre Cardin.
• The dress would have been made completely by hand in the Paris atelier. 
  
• This is a fantastic Haute Couture dress by Pierre Cardin that shows the breadth and depth of his talent. It is also an interesting insight on the volume and play on proportion being done during this time period.
• The dress is made out of a very black silk chiffon that is feather light in weight. It gives the dress phenomenal movement around you once on the body.
  
• The design is simple and has a minimalist feel but is still striking and dramatic. As good as it looks even in these photos it will only truly come to life once on the body.
• The neckline is squared off on both sides with the back dipped slightly lower. It is cut wide across to show the collarbone and if you want the sleeves worn up on the shoulder it will sit right on the outer edge. If you choose to wear it off of the shoulders, the top of the sleeves drape down the arm and leave your shoulders completely bare.
• I love that you have the option of wearing the sleeves either way as it really changes how sensual and bare the dress will feel.
• Inside the bodice of the dress there is a strapless soft cupped bra made out of nude stretch lingerie fabric. 
• The silk chiffon falls from the shoulders and skims over the bust, flows past the waist and hips and then it widens out a touch as it nears the floor.
• The easy flowing cut of the dress makes it easy to fit and wear.
• Under the top layer of black silk chiffon there is a layer of a dark brown silk chiffon. This keeps the dress from being fully transparent and at the same time it creates the illusion that the dress is more transparency than it actually is as the two colours play against each other. 
  
• The sleeves are phenomenal. They are cut on a curve and are gathered into a silk piped wrist finished with a little bow made of the same piping.
• Once on they balloon out fantastically above your wrists. They are one of the most exaggerated balloon sleeves that I have ever actually seen. They are quite brilliantly executed.
• It is an incredible dress and a rare example of his couture work from this era.
• It is remarkable piece of Haute Couture and a true piece of fashion history.
• The dress is fully lined with a layer of dark brown silk chiffon. It slips on to wear and the inner bra hooks to close. It appears that a extension piece was added to the bra at some point and it would be easy to adjust the fit on that if needed. I have included the measurements of the outer dress for you as well as the inner bra. It appears to have been worn very little if at all.
• The dress has no size tag since it is true couture. Please go by the measurements below.
• Excellent condition

Sleeves: 24" to the actual wrist and then the sleeve extends another 10" past that when hanging loose. They are 17" around the upper arm.
Inner bra: tagged 34-35B and is 15-17" flat across from side seam to side seam, the outer dress is to 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19-20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 58" from top of shoulder to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD5684

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