Donald Brooks pieces are extremely well made and his main label pieces border on couture in the way that they are constructed. His main label pieces were all made to order and they are full of hand work and couture worthy details. Brooks launched his main line label in 1963 with a collection for the Spring 1964 season. He quickly became one of the most sought after of the American designers and his clients included Jaqueline Kennedy, Claudette Colbert and Faye Dunaway. The New York Times said that he was one of 'the three B's of fashion' alongside Bill Blass and Geoffrey Beene. He helped to launch the American Council of Fashion Designers and won three Cody Awards over the course of his career. He launched a secondary boutique line 1971 but by 1973 both of his self-named labels shuttered. So we have just ten short years of spectacular dresses like this one

This is one of the best dresses Donald Brooks that I have had in the shop. It is absolutely dreamy. This is the type of dress that you will only ever find in vintage. The cost to produce this level of fabric now would be sky-high. The fabric is an intricate combination of velvet chenille cording that has been coiled and hand stitched into place over a metallic black lace base. The cording is ultra-soft and adds a wonderful dimension and texture to the dress. The netted and embroidered lace that it sits on has a metallic finish at its edges and an open weave so that you see little glimpses of the nude lining and skin through it. Over all of that are glossy black sequins that have been hand sewn into place to follow the design. It dips into a V at the front and skims over the bust. The waist is seamed and set just above the bust for a slight empire feel. A silk satin ribbon is attached at the waist and wraps around you. The skirt falls from under there and widens out as it nears the hem. The sleeves are gorgeous. Each sleeve widens out and is very full by the time it reaches the cuff. I love how the ends are finished with a scalloping and how that same scalloped detailing also finishes the neckline and hem. The metallic detailing on the underlying lace that peeks out around all of the edges is just fantastic. This is a work of art. Excellent condition

The bodice is lined in a nude lingerie weight netting and the skirt is lined in an inner nude silk. The sleeves are unlined. The inner skirt closes with a zipper and the the outer skirt snaps over that. The back buttons to close with hand covered silk buttons and loops.

Sleeves: 21"
Shoulders: no true defined seam
Bust: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 13.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 23" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 14.5" from top of bodice to waist
Skirt: 37.5" from waist to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD3724

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

Madame Gres' work has had profound effects on Haute Couture and her influence still resonates to this day. Her attention to detail, master draping techniques and respect for the female form is unparalleled. She was known for designing and creating garments directly on her models and this became a signature of her work. She opened her first atelier, La Maison Alix in 1932. A partnership briefly changed the house's name to Alix Barton and then the label went to simply Alix. In 1942 she married, and the label made its last change to became Madame Gres, which was a partial anagram of Serge, her husband's first name. Her work spans over five full decades with the vast majority of it, with the exception of a short-lived RTW line begun in 1980, dedicated solely to creating Haute Couture. She is one of the greatest couturiers of our time and her pieces are very rare and hard to find. This skirt is exceptional.

This piece is unlabeled and comes to me directly from the family that the other recent Gres pieces have come from. Their family records indicate that this is also her work. Her son told me that 'Madame Grès would let her wear many dresses as she was size model and those she really liked she purchased afterwards.' This was one of those that she kept. Knowing when she had this relationship with Madame Gres dates this to sometime from about 1960 to the mid 60s.

The skirt is spectacular. It very light in weight. The top layer is made out of a printed silk chiffon that has a touch of transparency to it. This is layered over a beautiful silver coloured silk lining. This gives the print a beautiful depth. The abstract print is a deep blue that is softened by the transparency of the silk. The waist is banded and has loops for the original deep blue silk covered belt to slip through. I love the little flat bow at the front. It skims over the hips and then begins to flare out as it reaches the bottom. The entire lower skirt is finished with an elaborate ruffle. The ruffle is scooped higher at the front so when you walk you get a kick of silk around you. It curves down from there to the back where it is set longer for a slightly trailing effect behind you. The ruffle is made from five layers of the silk stacked on top of each other with the layers set at slightly different lengths to give it more volume. Incredibly, each layer of the ruffles is completely hand finished along their edges. The amount of hours to have done this many yards of silk like that is mind boggling. There is not a single zipper to be found on the skirt. It closes with hidden set hook & eye and snaps. It is entirely made by hand to Haute Couture standards. It is a remarkable and rare piece of fashion history. Excellent condition with a minor note below

Fully lined in silver silk and it closes at the side with a series of metal hook and eye. There is elastic around the inner waist held in place by individual cording. It is entirely made by hand to Haute Couture standards. Its original belt is included. The belt shows some stiffening of its backing and cracking but presents well from the front. There is the teeniest bit of stress to the fabric near the snaps. I see one spot on the back hem otherwise it looks like it's been worn very little if at all. Please see the final photo here.

Waist: 16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner hips: 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: approx 36" to the end of the ruffles at the front hem and 56" to the back hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# S987

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 gorgeous little Oscar de la Renta would be from the 1967-68 collection. I have had similar examples in this type of brocade that he favoured during this time period in the shop in the past and I've included a dress example here from a recent exhibit of his work that has the same similar fabric. He used this fabric freely throughout the 1967 and 1968 collections in particular and we often see his use of it in a couple of different colour ways. The label in the dress identifies it as being a part of his earliest main line. When Oscar De la Renta first started his career he began a partnership with the fashion house of Jane Derby in 1965. Jane Derby died shortly after and in 1966 the first labels that bore only the Oscar de la Renta name appeared. That makes this a very early example of his higher end work. It is gorgeous.

This jumpsuit is an absolute knock out once on. It is also very representative of his work during this time period. The fabric is quite exceptional and the silk metallic brocade forms a stunning design that runs from shoulder to hem. The fabric is lighter in weight then you would think at first glance. It is heavy enough to hold and retain the shape that he desired it to have but is still light enough so that it feels easy and comfortable to wear. It has a very refined feel to it but it feels youthful and fresh at the same time. It perfectly sums up Oscar's love of opulence mixed with the exuberance of the decade. The cut is kept simple to allow that stunning fabric to take center stage. The pants falls from the slightly high set waist. They skim over the hips and there are hidden set pockets on either side. They widen out to be extremely wide by the time they reach the hem. Each leg is a full 34 inches around by the time they hit the hem. The waist is seamed but left more on the open and easy feeling side rather than being severely cinched in. The sleeves are cut straight and wide to just pass the elbow. The bodice is cut to skim over the body. The fabric is a silk brocade that is a gorgeous mix of pink, corals and a soft yellow. Woven through that is a muted gold thread that adds a soft metallic shimmer over the entire dress. The thread is set in swirling designs that sit on top of the swirling pattern underneath. The effect is amazing. The bodice detail is spectacular. Bands of a gold metallic lace are laid over the bodice in vertical rows and then horizontally around the waist and collar. Large pink and orange crystal rhinestones are set onto that along with metallic embroidery. It closes down the front with hook and eye and then a zipper under the waist. It is gorgeous. Excellent condition with a minor note below

Fully lined in a bright yellow silk with ribbon finished interior seams. It closes in the front with hook and eye to the waist and a painted metal zipper under that. Pockets on each hip. There is a bit of a mark on the fabric on the back of one arm. It gets lost on the pattern but mentioned for accuracy. Please see the photo after the label shot. There are some minor repairs to the lining near the shoulder and neck and zipper sticks but is original and functional so I left it as is.

Sleeves: 17"
Shoulders: 14"
Bust: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 13.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 21" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 14" from shoulder to waist
Pants: 38" from waist to hem with 3" turned under
Inseam: 25"
Back neck to inner seam of legs: 31"
Back waist to inner seam of legs: 15.t"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4236

Reference Photo: Oscar de la Renta, Evening Dress, fall 1967, synthetic matelassé with rhinestone, bead, and sequin embroidery from the The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta Exhibit at The Museum of Fine Arts Houston in 2018.

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 exceptional dress is by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior and it is a wonderful example of his work during this time period. This best matches the work that he was doing from about 1969 to 1972 when he was doing these wonderful printed chiffon dresses. We found similar ones to this with variations on the print that this dress has and I have included them so that you can see how perfectly this will drape and fall on the body. I have had a dress with a similar print to this on the shop in the past from Fall 1970 which makes me even more certain that this one falls into that time period. It is a very easy and comfortable dress to wear but it also drop dead gorgeous. I feel that it perfectly represents this time period. His work was integral to the label's development over the decades that he headed the atelier and this is a stunning example of his vision. Beyond that it is just an extraordinarily beautiful dress. I have had this ion my archives for a long time and it is a beautiful piece.

This dress is incredible. I love this version even more then the ones we found for reference. The cut is extraordinary and those sleeves are pure magic. The dress is super light and very easy to wear. The outer layer of it is a fine silk chiffon that has an abstract dot print that covers the entire dress. The neckline is set high and is softly gathered to wrap around the neck. Under that the bodice is meant to skim over you to the seam that is set under the bust for a slight empire feel. It fall loose and easy over the natural waist and the skirt billows out from under that to the floor. It is lined through the body of the dress in a solid coloured burgundy silk to feel like heaven on the body. The sleeves are incredible. They are set into the shoulder with slight gathers along the upper shoulder for a subtle but very pretty detail. They are the full width from the should to that seam under the bust and this gives them incredible movement and drape over the arm. It is interesting to look at the dress from the interior because the inner bodice is almost like a bib shape and then the sleeves come out from the sides of that. Once on the body the entire dress has this stunning movement and yet feels minimalist and elegant. The fabric is so light that it will move with your slightest movement. I love the detailing of that wide band of the solid coloured chiffon that finishes each sleeve and the hem. It is very easy to wear but packs a tremendous amount of style with the that print combined with the lightness of the fabric and that cut. The tag is numbered and the dress made to demi-couture standards. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. Excellent condition

The dress is fully lined through the body in a deep burgundy silk chiffon. It closes with a back zipper. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. The tag is numbered and there is an additional hand numbered tag along an interior seam. Hand finishes throughout

Sleeves: 22" from shoulder to end and fall to 24" at their longest point
Shoulders: 15"
Bust: The inner lined bib covers to 13" across and then because of how the sleeves are set there are no true side seams
Seam under the bust: 15.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner hips: to 22" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 11" from top of shoulder to seam under the bust
Skirt: 47" from seam under the bust and including the 2.5" band there to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD4183

Reference Photos: (1) Model in Dior for British Vogue, March 1969.  /  (2) Model Kellie Wilson in gypsy-style Dior, wearing a long chiffon dress in lilac with white batik print, a ribbon belt and massive gold pendant Vogue October 01, 1969. Photo by Bert Stern.

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

Yves Saint Laurent opened his first ready-to-wear boutique on September 26, 1966 in Paris. For the opening he showcased his Fall 1966 Rive Gauche collection but what a lot of people don’t know is that he already had a rtw line. He created his first ready-to-wear collection for the Fall of 1964 with an in-house boutique collection of 35 designs including accessories. This dress is from one of those extremely rare collections that pre-dates the opening of the shop. It is from the Spring 1966 collection and represents one of the earliest ready-to-wear pieces he would have made. Because it pre-dates the actual boutique opening it would have only been made available to you if you were an existing couture client. Only a few of these would have been made. The numbers are probably along the same lines as the couture pieces as far as quantity. This one is extra special because it’s documented which is even more rare. We found a copy of the original sketch and fabric samples in one of the the Saint Laurent books and even they did not have the actual dress to show with that sketch. He did two pieces for the collection in this fabric. The first photo after the label shot here is the twin to this dress and the second is the other similar one that was a part of this collection. Finding a piece that was a forerunner to the boutique launch when that boutique concept went on to revolutionize the world of fashion is truly something truly special. This is a dress made valuable by its place in history.

The dress is beautiful in its simplicity. It is made out of a loose woven cotton feeling fabric that has a stunning and vivid floral print screen onto it. The print is the same that you see in the sketch fabric samples in the attached reference photo. It is a bright combination of blue, green, pinks, corals and yellows all done in an intricate floral pattern that covers the entire dress.The sleeves are cut to go to just past the elbow and are cuffed. On the cuff they have two sets of little snaps spaced close to each other so you can bring the cuff in a little bit to hold them in place in case you wear them pushed up higher on the arm. Above that they pouf out above the cuffs for a pretty fullness. The neckline is scooped at the front and at the back. At the back that scoop dips a little lower for a bit of skin to show. I love how it buttons to close above the zipper at the back with two matching fabric buttons. At the front there is a seam that is set just under the bust. You were meant to tie a ribbon under there as you can see in the sketch. I added a pretty blue grosgrain ribbon but you could add any colour ribbon that picks up on any of the colours of the dress or the accessories you choose to wear with the dress. The dress falls from there and widens out to be very loose and easy over the waist and hips before falling down to the floor. This beautiful A-line baby doll feel is a perfect representation of this era. It would have been the height of chic to wear this shape of dress at the time and its still a classic silhouette now. I photoed the dress without any ribbon so you could see how it looks that way and I also took a shot of it with the ribbon tied around the natural waist. The look of the dress changes completely depending on which of the three ways you wear it and I love the versatility that this adds. The simplicity of the cut lets that stunning floral design take center stage. This is a stunning museum worthy example of his earliest RTW work and it is fabulous. Excellent condition with one tiny note below

Fully lined in a black silk and closes at the back with a zipper and buttons above that. Each cuff has snaps as seen in the photo before the label shot. The hem is finished with a finished edged seam and may have been let down at some point. There is a tiny area on the bodice where a couple of the threads of the weave have broken. It is backed by the lining so only seen upon close inspection but I am pointing it out for accuracy. Please see the photo after the label shot

Sleeves: 23"
Shoulders: approx 15"
Bust: 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Seam under bust: 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Natural waist: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 22.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 9.5" from top of shoulder to seam under the bust
Skirt: 48" from seam under the bust to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD4171

Reference Photos: Drawings of the Fall 1966 Yves Saint Laurent Collection. From the book "Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Fashion Revolution."

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 dress with its matching stole lands somewhere in that time period between the end of Christian's reign, Yves Saint Laurent's time there, and Marc Bohan's appointment as the was head of the Dior atelier. The closest I have found was a 1958 piece by Yves and I have added that reference photo here for nothing else but to give you an idea of what it will look like on the body. Regardless of under whose directorship it falls, it is a beautiful and early example of the work being produced by Christian Dior in this time period. This is the Christian Dior - New York label and is considered to be demi-couture from this time period of Dior's history. These where made for the American market based on the runway designs and with many of the same high standard finishes that Haute Couture pieces incorporated. This would be an incredible dress for any collector and it might even make an amazing dress for the bride looking for a non-traditional choice or as an alternative dress in a more extended wedding celebration. It is seriously beautiful

This is a dress that makes you draw in your breath the first time that you see it. The dress is made out of a very high end ivory silk that feels like it has some weight to it. It's not so heavy that is unwearable it just is that fantastic earlier silk that has a richness to it that is hard to replicate in modern fabrics. The dress is strapless and the bodice is simple and perfect. It is boned and shaped but that is all hidden inside. This hidden interior shaping allows it to perfectly mold to your shape. The waist is seamed and nips in. The dress falls to the floor from there and here is where it really gets incredible. The upper portion of the skirt is the same silk as the bodice so you get this sleek feel from the waist to just about the knee. Below that the silk has been sewn into horizontal ribbing. Each individual section of ribbing has interior padding inside of it so that they stand out for an incredible 3-D feel. This gives it this incredible texture. Besides being a beautiful design detail it also weights the fabric so that it holds the shape once the dress is on you. These are techniques that you often see in older couture pieces that you just don't see as often anymore in modern design. Inside, the dress is lined in silk and silk organza and it is almost completely finished by hand. There's also a wide inner waist stay that hooks to close and acts as an inner support so that the dress stays perfectly in place once on. The dress comes with its original matching stole. The stole is finished with the flat silk on one side and the same puffed ribbing technique on the other. These were worn to cover the shoulders and act as a evening wrap against cooler nights. It is wonderful to have this original extra piece still with this dress. The stole is also an exact match to the bottom of the skirt so in theory you could also add all or part of it the bottom if you needed more length. The colour is a touch richer feeling in person than how it photoed. Incredible in person. There are endless couture level details put into this one and the workmanship throughout is perfectly and meticulously done. It is an amazing example of the fine workmanship and attention to detail of this time period and it is a true piece of fashion history. Excellent condition

The dress is fully interlined in an ivory silk organza and then lined again with an ivory silk. Hand set hidden and exposed boning in the bodice. A wide waist stay hooks to close. Hand finished to demi-couture standard throughout. It closes with a hand set, back zipper. I see a tiny repair on the inner lining of the bodice above the center boning.

Bust: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam with a A-B cup
Inner waist: 12" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 10" from to waist
Skirt: 41" from top of bodice to hem
Stole: 14.5" wide x 60"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4160

Reference Photo: A model poses for the presentation of the first Yves Saint-Laurent's Dior collection, 04 February 1958, Avenue Montaigne in Paris.

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