• This is an original Givenchy Haute Couture gown whose number tag dates it to approximatelywho's number tag dates it to approximately 1985 to 1987.
• It was made under the creative direction of Hubert de Givenchy
  
• The dress would have been completely made by hand in the Paris atelier.
• If not for the tag inside and the number that seems to best place it in that time period we have assigned it to based on other Givenchy Couture pieces we've had in the shop, we would have absolutely thought this was a piece from the 1950s at first glance. It has all the beautiful lines you see in that golden era of Old Hollywood.
• It is made out of a deep blue matte silk that has a bit of a moire design running over its surface. It is a very unique fabric and because the dress is a couture piece it could very well have been specifically produced for this dress.
• The dress is strapless with a handmade built-in interior boned corset to hold it in place around you. It has a stay just under the bust and around the waist to hold it in place and it is lightly boned. I love the extensive hand work that you see inside that shows the high amount of detail that goes into a couture piece.
• The top of the bodice has a slate fullness to it with an added panel of fabric that wraps around the bodice that is gathered and stitched in place by hand to form soft curves and puffs.
• At the front of the bodice there is a large blue velvet bow that has been hand placed. Slightly smaller bows have been attached all the way around the skirt. The bows add a pretty and feminine detail and the contrast of the deeper blue of the velvet is the perfect highlight against the silk backdrop.
• The dress curves in at the waist and then flares out to be very full through the skirt as it falls to the floor.
• The shape through the upper portion of the dress has all been made from the immaculate piecing together of vertical panels. There are eight of them in total and each is shaped to create the curving feel over the bust and waist that you see.
• From there, the skirt curves back out over the hips to meet the first of two wide panels that make up the lower portion of the skirt and give it the volume that you see. 
• Each of those panels is set into a seam attached to the panel above, and they are slightly gathered all the way around you. This ties in the feel that the very top of the bodice has and also adds to the volume of the skirt.
• Underneath that gorgeous top layer is a built-in silk underskirt. It has multiple layers of panels built-in around the hem area and more built-in just past the knee. These fall softly under the exterior skirt to help to hold its shape. The inner construction of this underscored is quite extensive and again is a nod to the meticulous detailing that you find in a true Couture piece.
  
• It is incredibly well made as one would expect for a piece of Couture.
• The dress has weight to it because of all the internal layers but it is balanced perfectly once on the body.
• A full built in bodice closes with its own zipper and the inner stays hook to close. Handmade light padding cups are built in at the bust. The rest of the dress is lined in layers of silk. The dress closes with a hidden set side zipper. All the work is by hand and to Haute Couture standards. The dress has its proper couture label and handwritten tape underneath in place. It looks to have been worn very little if at all.
• There is no size tag present so please go by the measurements below.
  
• Excellent condition

Bust: 15-16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Total length: 50.5" from top of bodice to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5470

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 twin of this dress walked the Chanel 2010 Cruise runway for Look 33.
• It was made under the creative direction of Karl Lagerfeld
• The show was set on the boardwalk of the Venice Lido at dusk. "Coco at Lido" is how Karl Lagerfeld described this cruise collection. Vogue described the scene as Karl "reinstating the long-lost leisurely sensation of a fashion show as an exceptional one-off experience. The 350 guests reclining on sun beds in the famous white tented cabanas certainly felt privileged to be witnessing the extreme glamour of the designer's learned-but-light invocation of an important part of Coco Chanel's biography." The location was "one of Coco Chanel's favourite summer haunts—she visited Venice for almost ten years beginning in 1919 and met Diaghilev here".
• The inspiration behind much of the show was the twenties and thirties and you can see that in the lines of this dress.
• The dress is made out of a feather light ultra fine silk chiffon whose weave gives it the feel of a fine netting or mesh. 
• The silk is covered in a beautiful oversized floral print in dusky pastels done in a way that makes then look like they have been hand painted directly onto the fabric. The base colour is a deep blue-purple.
• The dress is sleeveless and the very upper portion of the bodice around the shoulders is a single layer of the chiffon so that it has a touch of transparency. It is cut to skim over the bodice down to the waist. An attached panel of the same fabric wraps around your waist and hooks into place at the back for added shape and subtle detailing.
• The dress falls from there in a swoop of feather light silk to the hem which widens out as it nears the floor. The back feels slightly fuller than the front so you get this pretty billowing effect around you when you walk. This is a signature Karl silhouette to give his dresses as much movement as possible.
• The famous double C logo is worked throughout the floral print of the dress making it clear that you are wearing Chanel. 
• The dress is lined with the same fabric through the bodice and the skirt is lined with a layer of a deep blue silk. It closes at the back with a hidden set zipper and has a hook and eye at the back of the neck with a keyhole between the two. The dress appears to have been worn very little if at all.
• Tagged a modern Chanel 36
• Excellent condition

Bust: 16-17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner hips: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15.25" from top of shoulder to waist
Total Length: 59" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5469

Reference Photos/Video: Resort 2010 Chanel, Look 33.

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 a beautiful example from Nina Ricci Haute Couture.
• It was made under the creative direction of Gerard Pipart.
• The Nina Ricci brand was founded in 1932 at 20 Rue de Capucines in Paris and quickly became one of the top couture ateliers in the world.
• In 1964 Gérard Pipart succeeded Jules-François Crahay, Nina Ricci's former designer assistant, as head of the brand. Pipart, who had previously worked for Balmain, Fath, and Patou, brought a wide range of experience in all aspects of fashion to the brand.
• Over the following three decades, Pipart's couture vision 'celebrated a flamboyant woman and his ready-to-wear found a loyal following among the most stylish women of the day.' He headed the Couture division until 1998 which makes this a dress from one of his final few seasons.
• This is an incredible and very beautiful piece of Haute Couture.
• It would have been made entirely by hand in the Paris ateliers.
• The dress is made out of layers of a deep blue bias cut silk chiffon that is feather light in weight. 
• The bodice is strapless and it has an inner shaped corset that is lightly boned and shaped for light support. The top is slightly rounded above each breast and then dips down and into the centre.
• The silk chiffon has been gathered and softly draped by hand over the body from the bust to the top of the hips. The draping goes all the way around you and adds to the hourglass feel the dress has.
• The waist cinches in and the dress comes with its original matching silk sash that you can tie and style around your shoulders or neck.
• The skirt flows out from under there and it is made up of yards and yards of weightless silk chiffon that is all cut on the bias. The layers of chiffon create the most phenomenal movement as they float over each other.
• I love that added bit of glamour from the beautiful band of glass crystals, silver tube beads and silver sequins that run from the centre of the bust and then curve down and over one hip. It is like an added bit of jewellery to the dress and just beautiful.
• The bodice of the dress is fully lined in a  hand set blue silk. The skirt has an inner layer of silk under the top layers of bias cut silk chiffon. The bodice is shaped and lightly boned inside with softly shaped cups. It closes with a hand set back zipper. The dress is entirely made by hand with its proper Haute Couture tag present. There are a couple of tiny repairs and tiny areas of thinning/pinholes here and there in the skirt. There is so much fabric you do not see them but this is mentioned for accuracy. Please see the photos after the label shot.
• There is no size tag present as it is true Haute Couture so please go by the measurements listed below.
• Excellent condition with the minor note above.

Bust: 14.5-15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 12" flat across from side seam to side seam
Seam at the top of the hips: 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 17" from top of bodice to the seam at the top of the hips
Total length: 44" from top of bodice to shortest point of the front hem and 56" to the back hem
Scarf: approx 20" x 80"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XXS-XS

Item# DD5468

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.