yves saint laurent

Fantastic Spring 1982 Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture Runway Unlabeled Black & White Print Plunge Dress

  • A magnificent dress that is the twin of the one that walked the runway for the It was made under the creative direction of Yves Saint Laurent
  • The dress would have been completely made by hand in the Paris atelier.
  • The famous socialite Nan Kempner owned its twin and we have included photos here so you can see how fabulous this is on the body.
  • The dress is made out of a printed silk that has a black abstract pattern covering it from head to toe.
  • In the book Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture: Catwalk they tell us that for the show Yves celebrated the 20th anniversary of his Couture house. The collection emphasize small waists counterbalance by wide shoulders that accentuated narrow hips. Many of the pieces were inspired by India and the craftsmanship that was available there. You can see the inspiration in the front set crystals. He used glass crystal rhinestones that were cut specifically to mimic the type of diamonds called Polki Diamonds that often seen in Indian jewellery and have a more raw cut feel to them.
  • The dress is gathered at the shoulder but the gathers are brought down more towards the front. The shoulders are soft.
  • The sleeves are extremely generous through the upper arm and are set into the top of the shoulder with a series of soft pleats that give them height and volume. They narrow down to the cuff where they close with a zipper.
  • The entire front of the bodice is brought down into the centre waist in a series of soft pleats with a plunge that is fairly low but not too low.
  • Set in the middle of the waist is that fantastic diamond shaped applique that has the glass crystal stones mixed with black stones and black glass tube beads. This catches the light fantastically.
  • The skirt is gathered up and into that diamond to mimic what is happening on the bodice. It falls to the floor from there. There is a lot of fabric in the skirt because of the front pleating but it feels like it narrows in a bit to keep the silhouette long and narrow.
  • At the back it falls in a simple sheath from shoulder to hem.
  • All of the inner seams are finished by hand and the entire dress is made by hand to Haute Couture standards
  • The dress is unlined and closes with a side set zipper. Zipper sit at each cuff. There is some evidence that the seams at the side of the waist were let out slightly. They could easily be brought back in. The piece is unlabelled.
  • No size tag is present so please go by the listed measurements below. 
  • Excellent condition

Sleeves: 28" and are 14" around the upper arm. They are 7" around the wrist.
Slightly inset shoulders: 14"
Bust: 16-17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 61" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5533

Reference Photos: (1) Spring 1982 Yves Saint Laurent Couture.  /  (2-6) Spring 1982 Yves Saint Laurent Couture Advance Preview. /  (7) Nan Kempner in Yves Saint Laurent.

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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.

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