john anthony
Fabulous 1980s John Anthony Couture Pink & Bronze Fully Sequinned Strapless Dress & Matching Jacket
John Anthony is an award-winning American fashion designer best known for simple, elegant clothing with a strong sense of chic. His work veers towards minimalism, with sharp tailoring, striking evening wear being his signature. He is renowned for his cutting and tailoring. From the day that he launched his atelier in 1971 his design philosophy is a fusion of function and purpose. The function is his logical, wearable approach; the purpose, his pared-down ideas. As a designer, he considers it his job to make things easy for the customer. He designs with focus and a narrow palette for both day and night, so items can easily intermingle. He uses natural fabrics and is noted for contradictory daywear fabrics in his evening collections. In the early 70’s he was one of the first designers to promote the idea of easy-to-travel clothes that resist wrinkling. By 1976, he was showing soft, liquid separates in muted colours that became his trademark and received 2 Coty awards, one in 1972 and one in 1976, as recognition. His business was all done on a made to order basis. That means the majority of pieces you will find are a one-off, or if there are similar pieces, very few of each piece exist. This personal attention to each dress is clearly seen in the workmanship of his pieces. His work is very expensive and beaded pieces did, and still do, retail for over $10,000. His work is a personal favourite of mine and I am thrilled to begin to offer this second round of a dozen exclusive pieces and samples that John pulled from his own archives
I love that both of the pieces in this dress set are strong enough to stand on their own which means you can wear them together as intended or you can mix and match them with pieces you already have in your closet. Both are amazing and both are densely sequinned with every inch of the surface covered. The jacket has a beautiful cit with string shoulders and it is meant to be more fitted through the body. The shoulders are padded for shape and the sleeves each end in an upturned cuff. The waist is brought in and shaped with vertical seaming and then the hips flare out just a touch. Flap pockets sit on each hip for added shape and detail. It closes down the front with a series of hidden hook & eye so that you don't break the lines of those beautiful sequins. The sequins completely cover the silk that the jacket is made from and are set on overlapping rows/ Setting sequins this way is far more costly and time consuming. The sequins combine a pink taupe with a deeper bronze and John has uses the two colours to highlight the back and front collar of the jacket and create a degrade effect with the sequins deepening in colour as they move down to the hem. Under that is a sexy little strapless dress. The dress is cut to hug and highlight every curve of your body. It is covered int he same sequin work as the jacket and he has also done a degrade colour so that the sequins are darker as they near the hem. When worn together this creates this beautiful line and when worn separately it adds a subtle detailing that is gorgeous. Those hundreds of thousands of sequins give the set a stunning shimmer and allow it to catch the light from every angle. Hand finished throughout and just a stunning set to see in person. Far better on the body then how it photoed. Made to demi-couture standards. Excellent condition with a minor note below.
Both pieces are dress is hand lined in silk. The dress closes with a hand set back zipper. The bodice has light boning and slight built in hidden padding on the bust. Interior waist stay hooks to close. The jacket hooks to close down the front as described above. Padding in each shoulder. I see some scuffing to the silk one the inner lining of the jacket where the sequins of the dress have rubbed on it. It looks like the silk lining of the jacket was reset at some point along the hem. Please see the last photo after the label shot. This is minor and of course cannot be seen when on.
Dress
Bust: 16.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 13.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 27.5" from top of bodice to hem
Jacket
Sleeves: 22"
Shoulders: 14"
Bust: to 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 18.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 21" from neck to hem, including the feathers
Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML
Item# DD4006
This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.
Setting up a layaway is super easy and we are happy to provide this service!
Here's how deposits work on a standard layaway:
- We require three equal payments of the layaway total. You will be invoiced for the first amount upon request
- payment two of the remaining balance will be billed two weeks from the date of the initial deposit.
- The final payment is due two weeks after the second payment and shipping will be billed on this invoice as well.
- items less then $500, or that are on sale, require a 50% deposit with the final payment due in two weeks from the date of deposit
We offer flat rate Standard UPS shipping worldwide. All shipping options are displayed at checkout in the pull down menus provided.
Want it faster?
We offer flat rates for expedited and express shipping options - these will also display at check out and can be selected with the drop down menu during the checkout process.
SIZE GUIDE
Please review all measurements carefully. More often than not, vintage garments do not fit any size category exactly. If in doubt, measure a garment of your own that fits and is a similar cut and compare it's measurements to the listed measurements below.