Valentino launched his ready-to-wear label in 1962 two years after opening his atelier in Rome. He eventually expanded and added other boutiques. His first New York boutique launched in the fall of 1970 and it caused a sensation. Traffic was backed up 3 blocks with everyone who was anyone trying to get in on opening night. More boutiques followed including one at Bergdorfs. He encouraged his couture clients to also shop in his boutiques. He wanted everyone to have the Valentino experience and noted that he often carried the lines he created for his Couture label into the boutique work. The fabric and construction details were still remarkably close in quality to his couture pieces at this point in time. The line between the two was often blurred and on this set you can see that in the hand finishing that is has. I absolutely love this set. It is gorgeous.

The dress is made out of a black silk that holds its shape and volume beautifully. This is a two piece set made up of a dress and its matching jacket. They are fantastically beautiful worn together but I also love that by having the two pieces it gives you more styling options and you can wear then separately and mix and match with other things you already own. The dress is suspended by two tiny straps that curve up and over each shoulder. A wide set V sits at the front and then it dips lower across at the back to leave a bare expanse of open skin. It is cut to be more fitted to the waist and then under that it is all volume. The skirt has an incredible amount of silk in it that really shows best when you move. The lightness of the silk causes the skirt to billow out and move around you as you move, yet it still has enough weight that it holds that full feeling when you stand still. When this is on and you are walking the effect that this creates is absolutely gorgeous. A full 13" ruffle circles the lower hem and it has been sewn is on top of the skirt and not simple seamed onto the edge. This is a clever technique that leaves fabric inside and behind the skirt and this helps to hold its shape. This uses extra fabric so it's not something you see as much anymore. And it has pockets. The jacket is a thing of beauty in its own right. It widens out from a soft shoulder and curves around and up from the hem to the neckline. I love the tiny ruffled finish that follows the edge. The sleeves are incredible and each is cut to be a wide bell shape. By their ends they are each a full 20" around and the ruffle that finishes each sleeve is a little more then that even. It is absolutely beautiful. This is a stunning Valentino from this time period. Excellent condition. 

Fully lined in a black silk. The dress closes with a back zipper and there are two hidden hook and eye at the base of the jacket at the front. Tagged a vintage Valentino size 6. 

Dress
Bust: to 16.25" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 14.5" from top of shoulder to waist
Skirt: 43" from waist to hem

Jacket
Slightly inset shoulders: 13"
Sleeves: 22.5" long and 14" around the top part of the arm
Bust: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 17.5" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4054

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

This is an incredible dress and it has the added provenance of having been worn by poet Rupi Kaur to the South Asian Excellence at the Oscars Event for the 2024 Oscars season. I love that this gives you the chance to see the dress on the body and how beautifully it falls. The dress was made for the shops and dates to the 1998-2002 era based on similar cuts that I have had in the shop and what was on the runways. he dress is exceptional and you only have to take one look at Rupi in the dress to see just how fabulous this is on an actual body

This is a gorgeous dress. I love its bareness at the top with the full open back and the low draped neckline. It is a little sexier then some of his work tends so be but it still manages to feel elegant and refined. It is a dress that really comes alive on the body. It is very light and easy to wear despite its extensive bead work and sequins. It is cut to perfectly fit and skim over the body. It is made from a  lightweight bias cut silk chiffon and a silk net that is then covered in thousands of little black sequins and various shaped beads. The bodice is cut into a halter with tiny little beaded straps that curve up and over the shoulders. At the back the straps cross over your bare back which then dips into a low curve across the small of your back. This leaves the back almost completely bare. The front also has a bare feel. The halter covers the breasts and then drapes low in between. There is no seam at the waist to break the line of the eye. The combination of wide bands of the sequin and beads highlight the curves and shape of the dress and those are separated by expanses of the black silk chiffon. The bias cut of the fabric simply curves it in and over you to create shape. The skirt flows to the floor and widens out just a touch as it nears the hem. I love the way that the skirt is cut a little longer at the back to give the feel of a slight train there. Mixed into the beaded pattern are little bits of black silk netting that add an extra bit of texture to the dress. It is a beautiful example of Mr Valentino's work with the added bonus of its recent red carpet provenance. Excellent condition with a minor note below

Fully lined in a black silk chiffon and closes with a back hidden zipper at the base of the scoop at the back. Hand finishes. There are some missing beads and some inner repairs / tiny beginnings of stress openings on the fabric near the ends of some of the lines of bead work on the train and bottom of the skirt. It was worn on the red carpet exactly as it is so these small flaws obviously have no impact when worn

Bust: 15-17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12-12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 63" from top of shoulder to front hem, 68" to back hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4632

Reference Photos: Rupi Kaur in this dress for the South Asian Excellence at the Oscars Event, 2024.

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

When hunting for the provenance of this dress we found its twin attributed as being from Spring 2007 but I feel like it could be from somewhere between that the 2004 collection where he used ties like this one has to hold the dresses onto the body. I know I have seen this one somewhere at some point so one day on the future I am sure I will send its new owner a reference photo. It is one of the pieces that would have been made in limited quantities and it is utterly spectacular. It also has the significance of being from the final few years that Mr. Valentino was still designing before he retired. It is incredibly beautiful and it might even make an amazing wedding dress for the bride looking for a non-traditional choice or as an alternative dress in a more extended wedding celebration. And of course it could also be worn to any event.

This soft romantic pink silk chiffon dress is stunning on the body. The layers of chiffon float over each other to allow it to drape beautifully over the body and highlight your every curve in a very flattering way. The bodice has a soft and romantic feel to it and it is finished with his signature tiny pleat work that follows the way the silk has been laid out. A panel wraps around the top of the bodice and then under that more panels are set on angles that cross each other. At the side it splits and extends into two long ties that open out into silk chiffon panels that you then wrap and tie across the back. Panels of chiffon extend out from the top of the bodice to tie behind the neck and then there is a final little tie at the small of your back. This leaves bits of your back exposed and bare. Despite the romantic feel the dress has this gives it a very sexy feel at the same time. It is just tremendously beautiful. The way that all of the panels and ties are set are done to perfectly emphasize your curves and add that signature Valentino femininity. The workmanship is exquisite. Under the bodice there is a little panel of chiffon that floats around the hips. The skirt skims over the hips under that and then falls to the floor in a beautiful drape of chiffon. The front centre of the skirt is split. This lets you see a mile of leg as you walk or sit and it also gives you a sense of the three layers of silk chiffon that make up the skirt. The split allows the air to catch the layers and float around you as you walk. The skirt extends down slightly longer at the back so that you get a pretty sweeping feel as you walk. The fabric is feather light. It is incredible and I love it. No matter how good it looks in the photos when this is on and moving it is even better. Excellent condition.

Fully lined with pink silk chiffon and closes with a hidden set zipper at the low back waist and ties in place above that. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. Tagged a vintage Valentino 8. The ties make it adjustable, so this should fit a range of sizes

Bust: 15-16" flat across from side seam to side seam and adjustable an inch or two from there with the back ties
Waist: adjustable with tie 
Seam at the top of the hip/ low waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam 
Hips: to 19 flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 62" from neck to front hem, 75" to the back hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD4602

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

The Valentino Roma label launched in 2000 to take the place of the Miss V line. It was sold at a price point that was a bit more accessible then their main line and was meant to be available in more shops then the main line would be. The pieces were still very well made. This one caught my eye simply because of how gorgeous and sexy it is. It is a stunning dress with a beautiful amount of detailing on it.

The dress is made out of a combination of a feather light deep mauve purple silk chiffon and a matching lace that is detailed with sequins. It is a combination that is instantly striking and sexy. The top is cut in a halter with lightly padded triangles over each breast. Silk straps in a matching colour curve up and over each shoulder and then cross over each other at the back. The back dips low for a bare expanse of skin to show. At the front the bodice is detailed with a panel of lace that runs down the centre and then a wider panel circles the waist all the way around. The lace down the front has no backing so you get a glimpse of skin underneath. I love that. All of the lace is detailed with glossy purple sequins and beads. Under that the skirt falls to the floor and there are many yards of fabric in it. At just about the knee it opens and flares out so you have tons of movement around you when you move. It is gorgeous and very sexy. Great condition with notes below

Fully lined in a matching silk and closes with a hidden set side zipper. Tagged a size 40/4. There is very minor marks along the edge of the seam near the arms and a couple light marks on the dress and one strap. Please see the photos after the label shot. All minor. 

Bust: 16" flat across the front from side seam to side seam
Waist: 14 " flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 17.5 " flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 15" from top of bodice to top seam at the waist
Skirt: 62" from top of the shoulder to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4597

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

This dress is the twin of Look 3 for the Pre-Fall 2020 collection. For this collection Pierpaolo paid homage to the Fall 1968 Haute Couture collection and I have included the reference photos of those original pieces here. This famous print was originally done by Mr Valentino and were inspired by the blue and white in Chinese Delft print vases. It is also very close in style to the 2013 Valentino dress that was a part of the in the Met Museums 2015 "China: Through the Looking Glass" exhibit. When speaking of this collection to Vogue Piccioli said; “I want to maintain couture’s values even in the pre-fall collection. I like the idea of breaking its rules and translating them into a modern, spontaneous wardrobe, making something historical become contemporary.” and they went on to mention this print in particular saying that 'he picked from the archives... a beautiful print of Delft blue vases from a sophisticated 1968 couture collection. “I want Valentino to be lively and joyous,” enthused Piccioli. “For me, beauty means life, emotion, something that vibrates and is full of energy—not something removed that you look at from afar, as if on a pedestal.” Mary Holland wore its twin to a premier that season as well. It is beautiful and very special.

The dress is pristine and utterly beautiful. It is made of a feather light silk organza that has been printed with that beautiful blue and white design that gives a nod do the 1968 couture collection as described above. It is magical. The colour combines the soft ivory backdrop with that dreamy blue floral print. The print is beautiful and intricate. I love how he has placed the print over the bodice and skirt to accentuate the design and flow of the dress. The silk is feather light in weight and just floats beautifully over the body once on. It will softly move with the slightest breeze or movement on your part. The dress has a second layer of organza through the bodice and skirt which gives it just a touch less transparency and also helps to add to the airy and light feel that it has. The sleeves are a single layer of silk so you see your arm through the pattern. The neckline has a small neat collar and it buttons to close done the bodice with hidden set buttons. Note how careful the patterns has been lined up across the panel there. The bodice lightly skims over you to the nipped in waist. Each sleeve ends in a beautiful ruffles cuff. The skirt is spectacular. It is lazy gathered through the waist scene and then opens up to be very full to the floor. Because of the layering of the organza with the outer layer in the inner layer, it just floats and moves around you spectacularly when you move. It a just gorgeous and even better in person as you get more of a sense of the lightness of that stunning printed silk. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. Excellent condition

Lined in silk organza as described above. I buttons down the front with hidden set buttons under that front panel and zines to close with a hidden set zipper down the back. Tagged a modern Valentino 40

Sleeves: 21.5"
Shoulders: 14.5"
Bust: 15.5-16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12,5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 15" from neck to waist
Total Length: 65" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4588

Reference Photos: (1) Pre-Fall 2020 Valentino, Look 3.  /  (2) Models in Valentino, British Vogue, September 1968.  /  (3) Valentino dresses at the MET Exhibition "China: Through the Looking Glass", 2015.  /  (4) Model in  Valentino Autumn 1968 Gown, photographed by Steven Meisel, 2015.  /  (5) Mary Holland in Valentino at the premiere of "Happiest Season", November 2020.

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

Jean Paul Gaultier's illustrious career spans decades. His first show was in 1976 and his avant garde designs quickly gained him the reputation of being fashion's 'l'enfant terrible'. His designs mixed cultures with abandon, gender norms were blurred through his pieces and the body was presented encased in ways unimaginable prior to his brilliant vision. In 1997 he entered the sanctified world of Haute Couture and for just over two decades produced stunning work cumulating with his final show for Spring 2020. His pieces of couture rarely come to market and I am very pleased to have this unbelievably beautiful ensemble. This was look 33 for the Fall 2001 Haute Couture presentation entitled 'China and Spain'. For this season Gaultier combined elements from those two countries in a beautiful homage. Pieces from this collection were featured in the The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk exhibit of 2013 and to have a piece available for purchase is almost as rare as being able to have bought it as a couture client in the first place. After the show Gaultier said of this collection “I wanted to do something more sensual than sexy. The idea was to bring together everything that you imagine when you think of China and Spain—theater, movement, color, history and richness.” The twin of this look was worn by Alec Wek on the runway with a huge red bib neckpiece over the top. We believe that this may have been the only piece ever produced beyond the runway set. 

It is extraordinary to think that Jean Paul Gaultier has only produced a Haute Couture line for two short decades given his long career. Like most Haute Couture, this is a set that only truly comes to life when it is on an actual body and the reference photos and video show you just how amazing it is on. The pants are a work of art. They are heavy and densely beaded with glass tube beads in tightly spaced rows to cover every inch of the pants. Worked in and among the sequins are brilliantly coloured hand embroidered flowers. These trail over the pants and wrap around the legs. The work to place each of these beads individually and do the embroidery would have taken hundreds of hours to complete. They are cut with a flat front and straight leg that gets a touch wider by the hem. When you the light catches the beads and the colours of the embroidered flowers is fantastic. The top is made out of a fine black silk jersey. It closes with a complex mix of a hidden zipper front and two separate areas of silk covered snaps and hooks. It wraps around the body and drapes down one side. The collar is high and you can see the nod to China within its shape. Each sleeve is incredibly long and they are meant to be pushed up to create a row of rounded gathers forming around the entire lower part of the arm. I love the long trailing panel of the silk jersey set on one hip. It falls over that pant on that side to the floor. It is meant to have a nod to the trade de luces cape, which is part of the traditional clothing that Spanish bullfighters wear. It is a brilliant piece of Haute Couture and is everything you want to see in a Haute Couture piece. It appears to have never been worn or worn very little. Excellent condition. 

The upper portion of the top is lined in silk and it zips to close at the inside front. A jersey panel wraps over this and closes with a series of silk covered snaps and hook & eye along the side near the neck. More hook & eye sits along the waist and hip area on that same side. The pants are fully lined in a silk and close with a hand set zipper. Made by hand to Haute Couture standards. Proper Couture tags on both pieces.

Top
Sleeves: 45.5" and push up to wear
Shoulders: 15"
Bust: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Interior waist: to 13" flat across from side seam to side seam, inner waist stay hooks at 14"
Hips: open
Length: 29" from neck to shortest point of the front side, 37" to longest point of the back
Hip swag: 47" from waist to longest point of the hem

Pant
Waist: 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 42" from top of bodice to waist
Inseam: 30" from inner seam to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD3581

Reference Photos/Video: Alek Wek for Fall 2001 Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Collection.

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

This dress is from the Cruise 2006 collection and it is extraordinary. For this show Karl Lagerfeld invited his guess to the Place de la Concorde. He had a fleet of green vintage buses adorned with Chanel logos and these transported his guests on a ride through Paris. Models paraded down the aisle among the passengers and at scheduled stops they would switch buses so that everyone saw the entire collection. Karl said at the time that he 'used to love riding the bus in Paris as a school boy' and that was the inspiration behind the idea of the show. Lagerfeld wanted the collection to be lighthearted and easy and to be a tribute to Paris. I love it.

The dress is feather light which almost feels like a surprise when you pick it up given the sheer amount of detailing on it. It is covered in hundreds of large iridescent paillettes but these are also feather light. It feels like you are wearing a cloud of silk once it is on the body. The silk tulle netting base is so light and so fine that it feels like magic. The tulle is a deep blue colour and the entire dress is made out of two layers of it with an inner silk chiffon layer. It falls from the shoulders with straps that curve up and around you. It is scooped at the front and again at the back for an almost tank tee style top. The bodice skims over you and there are built in rounded cups inside to add a touch of coverage over the breasts. The top layer of tulle on the bodice overlaps into place around the waist and a border of the sequins are placed stacked side by side all around the waist. The same dense sequin detail circles the neckline and covers the straps and goes around each arm. It flows past the waist and skims over the hips. On the lower part of the skirt there are built in long triangle shaped insets of the tulle that set all the way around the skirt. I love this nod to the old Hollywood dresses of the 1930s and they give the lower part of the dress tremendous movement and volume when you move. The paillettes that cover the dress are the most striking part of all. They are soft muted iridescent pastels that range from gold to pink. Each individual oversized sequin has a beautiful ombre effect and a muted metallic finish. Besides the borders around the waist and neck they cover the bodice and trail down and into the skirt to the hem between those inset panels. So when you move you get this fantastic contrast. The dress came with a matching shawl made of the same tulle. It's huge size lets you wear it almost like a cape over your shoulders. It is so light in weight and fine that you could also wrap it around your neck, use it as a head scarf, or as a turban. This is a phenomenal piece if Chanel. No matter how good it looks on the dress form nothing will prepare you for the way it feels when you have it in hand. Excellent condition

Fully lined in a blue silk chiffon and it closes with a back hidden set zipper. It appears to have been worn very little if at all.  The bias cut tulle does give it a bit of range in size. Current Chanel silk chiffon dresses with this level of added embellishments and detailing are retailing for $10000USD and over. Tagged is Chanel 40

Bust: 16-18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 23" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 60" from top of shoulder to hem
Scarf: 68" x 74"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD4385

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

This top is from the second last ready-to-wear collection that Thierry Mugler presented. It is from the Spring 2001 season and it is an absolutely outstanding piece. It's twin walked the runway that season and I am very happy to have photos and video for reference for you to be able to see how phenomenal this sits on the body. He experimented with materials that included leather and netting as you see in this piece and the appearance of these wide angel sleeves were of note. I've only ever seen one other piece of this available that was done in a different colour from the runway piece like this one is in it's a phenomenal collectors piece

The top is made out of a brown silk net that has those wonderful, leather pieces, hand sewn into place onto the netting. These are set to follow the design of the top. It wraps over itself at the front and ties at the waist, and you can tie it to the side, the back the front however you wish. The ties are extremely long and they are detailed with those little oblong pieces of leather in different sizes laid out to follow the cut of each tide. More leather curves down to follow the shape of the neckline at the front and go all the way across to the sides of the top. They curve up and over to the back where they come down in a little angled point there. The sleeves are as phenomenal as those long front ties. Each one ends in an extremely wide angel shape and is cut extra long. Again the little leather pieces have been applied to follow the shape of the sleeve and some go all the way up almost to the shoulder. I love how some are left to hang over the edge of the top on each sleeve. It just has that little extra bit of genius dimension. It is just outstanding. Excellent condition

Unlined and wraps to close. Tagged a vintage Mugler 38.

Sleeves: approx 27-28" and 13-16" around the upper arm
Shoulders: no defined seams
Bust: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam but can b adjusted up and down a but when tying
Waist-bottom seam: adjustable
Length: 19" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD4635

Reference Photos/Video: Spring 2001 Thierry Mugler.

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

This dress is not 100% perfect and that is why it is not double or triple the listed price. It is without a doubt one of the most iconic pieces ever created during Tom Ford's tenure at Gucci. I love it. Its twin was Look 40 on the runway and we have included runway photos and video for you to see how beautifully this moves once on the body. In Vogue's review of the show they said that "This season every major designer is talking about creating a "beauty" strong enough to defy our anxious times. Backstage that was the word Tom Ford used to characterize his Fall collection for Gucci—a collection in which beauty was personified as a power vixen extravagantly armoured to face down a troubled world" The evening pieces were mentioned specifically "For evening, there were gowns constructed with cutout zones of sparkling mesh and frilled bra tops; others snaked to the floor, held in place with complex asymmetric straps crossing the torso and shoulders. If Ford is treading the territory mapped out by Thierry Mugler and Azzedine Alaïa in the ’80s, it’s no surprise. Much of fashion is heading in that direction >anyway, and Ford, after all, bases Gucci’s entire brand proposition on finding new ways of upping the ante on sex season after season." This is a dress from one of the most incredible eras of Gucci.

The dress is made out of a pastel dusty pink silk with a matte satin finish. It is instantly recognizable as being a Gucci from this era. The bodice is heavily detailed. It has been top stitched across the corseted bodice and I love how this is all set on angles in between the grommet detailed edges that sit in between the top-stitched portions. It curves across the top of the bust and then there is boning and shaping and a built-in cupped corset inside to hold you in place. At the sides you have two wide panels of the silk that extend out and wrap around the neck and then crisscross over the bare upper back. The waist curves in and all of the shaping is created by the curved seaming that you see. A wide partial strap sits on each side of the waist and snaps into place to give the illusion of being buckled in even further. The grommets are all brass coloured and add the perfect contrast to that dusty pastel pink. The corset angles down deep in the front and back in that signature Tom Ford sexiness. From there the silk skims over the hips and then falls to the floor where it widens out beautifully. The back is cut longer than the front for a slight train effect at the back. The seaming that runs along the skirt picks up on the seaming of the bodice and again grommets detail all of that. All of the seams are set on curves that help to add to the curving of the body. It is astonishingly beautiful. It presents as great condition but does have some minor flaws. Please see the notes below.

The bodice is fully lined in the same silk fabric as the exterior with an added built-in wired cup piece at the inner front. It closes with the exposed zipper that you see at the back. The pieces that wrap around your shoulders slip on when you put the dress on. The skirt is unlined. The side pieces at the waist each snap into place at the back. I see grubbiness and marks on the interior edge of the bodice and a mark on the inner cup. The inner stuffing of the bodice has degraded so it feels like loose pieces inside the cups. I see a repair on the skirt at about mid thigh on the centre front, one on the side of the back at about the very top of the thigh and another invisible tape repair below the one on the front. There are some slight scuff and marks on the skirt here and there and I have photoed the ones that show the most. There is a mark near the arm on the bodice. It presents extremely well once on but does have these small flaws. Please see the photos after the label shot. Tagged a Gucci 42. The fabric of the skirt has some stretch and the dress is in its original uncut length.

Waist: to 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 14.5-19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 68" from top of bodice to front hem, 75" to the back hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD4626

Reference Photos/Video: Fall 2003 Gucci Runway, Look 40 (Adina Fohlin)

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

"I have chosen today to say goodbye to the craft that I have loved so much. The next show to which I invite you, on Tuesday, 22nd January at 6 PM, at the centre of George's Pompano, will predominantly be a retrospective of my work… Some designs from the currencies will also be shown." This was how Yves the announced his intention to retire and leave the world of Haute Couture. That final show was over an hour long and was presented to a room of 1500 hand picked guests. To tell the story of his decades long career there was a total of 371 garments shown that day. The presentation began at the beginning of his career and the show was a full retrospective of his work that showed a highlight of all of his creations through the decades. There were also a small group of 11 new items for the 2002 season included about 2/3rds of the way into the show created as the Spring 2002 couture collection. All were pieces that were based on dresses from the past but done in new colours. They were all made of weightless chiffons and were in a variety of colours. This blending of past and present further evoked the idea of his journey and how his designs are truly timeless no matter when they were made. The twin of this black dress was included in that grouping and it is based on the green dress we have included a reference photo of for you here from the Spring 1991 collection. I love it even more in its black version. The dress has its own special couture tag that commemorates it as being a part of this final show. It is an extremely rare and wonderful piece.

This dress is stunning. It has a strapless bodice that is fitted perfectly to hold the dress on the body and then it falls from there to the floor in layers of weightless black silk chiffon. The silk of the bodice is gathered and set vertically and inside the bodice there is a full inner built-in corset that is shaped and seamed so the dress stays perfectly in place once on. A wide band of silk wraps underneath the breasts to the waist and there is a sash that ties in a soft bow off to one side. The ends of the sash trail all the way down the side to the floor and this helps to add to the beautiful movement this dress has once on. Below the beautiful shape through the bodice the skirt falls to the floor in a soft cascade of silk chiffon. The. side of the skirt that opens is slightly longer than the other and this is a clever way to give that side of the skirt even more movement. These are the tiny details in Couture that make a dress move the exact perfect way. The innermost layer of silk chiffon is set all the way around you and then the other layers of the skirt are set over this and slit right up to where the waistband meets the top of the skirt on that side. So when you walk and move you are covered by that single layer of silk chiffon underneath but you are still bare underneath the transparency of the chiffon. You can see this clearly in the video as the model walks. It is very sexy. The layers and open side of the skirt combined with the trailing ties from the waist are then what allow the dress to move so beautifully around you when you move. It is  absolutely perfect in every way. The workmanship is beautiful and the dress appears to have never been worn or worn very little. What a joy to have such an important dress from Yves very last collection. Excellent condition.

Bust: 15.5-16" flat across from side seam to side seam with an A-B cup
Seam under the bust: 14.25" flat across from side seam to side seam 
Inner waist: 12-13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 4.75" from top of bodice to seam under the bodice
Total length: 51" from top of bodice to shortest part of the hem, 54" to the longest

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XXS-XS

Item# DD4624

Reference Photos/Video: (1-3) Spring 2002 Yves Saint Laurent Couture, Look 240.  /  (4) From the book “Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture: CATWALK”  /  (5-6) Spring 1991 Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture. 

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.