• The twin of this jacket walked the runway as Look 31 for the Fall 2004 Cavalli collection.
• It was made under the creative direction of Roberto Cavalli.
• Vogue proclaimed that "Roberto Cavalli's runway, wrapped in gilded purple brocade, and his spectacular set – suggesting a Renaissance palazzo with its four poster bed smothered in spotted fur and flanked by sculpted elephants – could only hint at the fabulous excesses to come. This season dressing à la Cavalli involves an enticing melting pot of influences, from the lush fabrics favoured by the princely merchants of 16th century Venice to the Hapsburg splendours of Sissi, the beautiful 19th century Empress of Austria– all leavened with a dash of piractical swagger."
• You can easily see that pirate 'great coat' cut influence in this jacket in both how it was styled on the runway and also in its lines.
• My client told me that these were only available through special order and she ordered this one directly from the flagship Cavalli shop in Milan.
• The jacket is made of a four separate layers of printed and patterned silk chiffon that have been stacked over each other. With it using the lightest possible chiffon the jacket is still extremely light in weight even with the four layers.
• The very top layer is a soft green that has a slightly iridescent feel. This is then detailed with a print set to highlight the cut and design of the jacket. Set within that print is delicate gold that has been set on top of the silk. I love that the back of this fabric has a completely different print to it. It has a more purple undertone and a more intricate design.
• The next layer under that is a classic Cavalli leopard print and then the next is a chiffon that combines purple with a floral pattern and has more gold fused onto it. The final inner print is the same print as the second layer.
• The shoulders are soft and the sleeves extend out fairly wide and they are cut slightly on a curve. I love how there is a little snap that holds up the cuff of the sleeve so that you see the innermost leopard print inside. You can also choose to undo that snap and wear it long. If you wear it that way it has a slit up the side of the cuff as it falls over the hand.
• The collar is soft and the edges have been left raw cut. The collar flips over slightly and then it falls with the four layers of silk separated down the front with the same raw edge finish to all the layers. There are three sets of ties inside near the waist that you can use to close the jacket.
• The fit is more loose and easy as it glides over the body and then the lower portion of the jacket flares out. The back is split and there is extra fabric all the way around the lower part of the jacket. This is what give the fullness to the lower part of the jacket that you see and creates its sweep around you. 
• Parts of the back are cut longer to give a nod to the tails of a great coat. The extra fabric also gives you wonderful movement as you walk. 
• Pockets sit along each hip and they have ribbon finished edges on the part that sits inside the jacket.
• Many of the outer seams have been folded back to expose the raw edged layers of silk chiffon. They are held in place and defined by a thin black grosgrain ribbon. The attention to detail on this jacket is fantastic.
• The layers serve as the lining and it closes with the ties at the front as described above. I see some extremely minor marks on the front near the shoulder. Because you see the pattern from underneath these can barely be seen but they are mentioned for accuracy. There is a pull on one sleeve. Please see the photos after the label shot. The fabrics are signed throughout. The easy cut should allow it to fit a range of sizes. It will just drape more on a smaller frame.
• Tagged a modern Cavalli M
• Excellent overall condition with the note above.

Sleeves: approximately 24" when the cough is snapped up and 27" if it's left to hang down. It is 13" around the upper arm.
Slightly dropped shoulders: 16.5"
Bust: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: approximately 14.5" flat across from side seam to side seam but can be left looser with the ties or worn open.
Hips: open
Total length: 49" from neck to the longest points of the back hem.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD5812

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 a well documented butterfly print Thea Porter dress from Spring 1970.
• It was made under the creative direction Thea Porter. 
• Thea Porter combined exoticism, embellished ornamentation and luxurious fabrics in her pieces and her work was a phenomenon during her day.
• This style of dress is one of her most well known dresses and it has been one of her most loved styles since it was first created in 1968. At the time they were referred to as 'Gipsy' dresses although our modern sensibilities no longer refer it to them as that. The Thea Porter book that accompanied the 2015 Fashion and Textile Museum exhibit "Thea Porter 70s Bohemian Chic" (for which over a dozen pieces were pulled from my archives) has many example of stars from that time period wearing their versions. Kate Moss is perhaps the most notable of modern girls who have one and she caused a sensation when she wore her blue version for her wedding rehearsal in 2011. This is almost certainly a one of a kind, or a version of very few that would have been made.
• The butterfly print was by Sheila Hudson and we found references of variations of it on several items. A 1970 evening suit is a part of the V&A Collection. Talitha Getty wore a dress over green trousers to the Paris Casino for a night out with Rudolf Nureyev in 1970 and that photo can be seen in the book 'Thea Porter: Bohemian Chic by Laura McLaws Helms and Venetia Porter.'. Joan Collins and Jackie Collins both wore the print attending the West End premiere of the musical 1776 in London in June 1970 and a dress with the print was shot for British Vogue that June. In modern times, Nicole Ritchie wore a very similar version in 2006. 
• The Thea Porter book states that this style of dress were 'generally made out of a combination of three different fabrics, which give it an enduring variety. If the skirt was in plain cloth cotton, the bodice was usually in brocade… We made the dress in every conceivable fabric, from embroidered chiffon to liberty cotton‘s to velvet…. The silhouette of a slimmer torso combined with a full skirt (composed of 4.5 m of fabric) and sleeves became the basis for Porter‘s 'gypsy or gipsy' dress'. (note that this is historically what the dress was called at the time and this is a direct quote from the book). The book goes on to talk about the cut and design of these dresses saying that 'the bust became an integrated part of the body, ending directly below the breasts to create an empire line. The cut is such that the bust is held in securely, yet pushed up, removing the necessity of wearing a bra. The uneven hem of the dress evolved as a form of collaboration between Thea and one of her first seamstresses, Meg Lake, who was self taught and didn’t realize that a circle of fabric cut on the bias would fall irregularly and need to be trimmed. Porter love that effect and the mistake became a design signature.'
• I love that although this is a classic Thea dress it still kind of 'breaks the rules' for these dresses and uses only the one fabric for the entirety of the piece. Which also illustrates the importance that Thea held Sheila's designs in.
• The neckline scoops down in that curved squared off cut these dresses have. A green velvet ribbon details the cut of the bodice and more velvet defines the waist. 
• The sleeves are a single layer of the butterfly printed silk chiffon and have a touch of transparency to them. They are magnificently full and each one puffs out above an elastic cuff.
• The skirt is two layers, an inner green layer and then floating over that is a bias cut of the same butterfly printed silk chiffon that the sleeves are made out of.
• The silk of the skirt starts just under the velvet band at the waist and it flares out in yards of silk. It has that perfectly imperfect hem described above with the sides falling slightly longer then the centre. 
• The sleeves are unlined and the skirt is lined as described above. It closes with a back set zipper and each sleeve has elastic at the cuffs. The dress is unlabelled. I see slight overall patina to the velvet ribbon. It is an incredible dress
• There is no size tag present. Please go by the measurements listed below.
• Excellent condition with the note above. 

Sleeves: approx 25" and they are full and open through the upper arm.
Shoulders: no true seam since they are inset
Bust: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Velvet ribbon under the bust: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 13.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 11" from shoulder to the top of the velvet ribbon under the bust, 16.25" to waist seam
Total length: 48" from shoulder to longest points of hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5813

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 set is from the Fall 1966 Chanel Haute Couture collection.
• It was made under the creative direction of Coco Chanel.
• We found a reference photo of a suit that has the same cut and similar detailing from Fall 1966 but we have also included reference photos of some similar pieces. Coco particularly favoured this type of cut with these metallic fabrics between approximately 1965 and 1969. Seen after the photo of the suit that is the closest to this one is a Fall 1965 suit shown in the book 'Gabrielle Chanel Fashion Manifesto by Thames & Hudson', followed by similar pieces featured in Vogue in 1968 and 1969 respectively.
• The set would have been made by hand in the Paris atelier.
• Both pieces are made from a light in weight metallic silk lame that has a silver thread woven through it.
• This is a gorgeous set with a more box cut jacket and a matching sleeveless dress. It is always nice to have multiple pieces because the opportunity to mix a match with things that you already own just makes it that much more versatile.
• The edges of the jacket are finished with a thick edging of silver metallic thread that has been braided. A band of the green silk is looped and woven through the braiding.
• That braided detail runs around the neck, down the front of the jacket and around the hem with pieces going up the sides to create faux side vents. They also circle each cuff and run up partway above the wrist.
• The dress is cut in a sleek and simple shift that skims over the body and flares out as it nears the hem. It skims over bust and it is generously cut through the waist with a slightly dropped seam.
• A long vertical seam runs from the top of the shoulder to the hem on each side of the front. A bow sits on the top of one side. The long seams on that side hides where the dress closes with a series of hooks and snaps.
• On both sides the seams have a panel of fabric on either side of that creates an opening and inside that opening there is a wide braiding of the same silver that is seen on the jacket.
• The vent of the dress is very clever. It is hidden along one side of those vertical seams and there is one in the front and one on the back on opposite side at the back.
• The jacket slips over the dress with long sleeves and a collarless neckline. It has no closures and is meant to just float over the inner dress.
• There is a signature Chanel chain in gold set around the inner hem of the jacket. 
• Both pieces are fully lined in an early slightly textured silk jersey feeling fabric that is completely handset. The dress closes with a front series of hook and eye under one of the the front vertical seams as described above. The jacket has no closures. A gold chain is hand set around the inner hem of the jacket. You can see tiny round circles of hand stitching where the lining has been lightly tacked to the exterior to hold it perfectly in place. An amazing little Couture detail. I see some slight grubbiness and very faint marks on the inside of the jacket near one side and around the inner collar and there is evidence that the dress was let out on the seams of the upper bodice on the back of the dress. Please see the photos after the label shot. These are all minor but mentioned for accuracy.
• There is no size tag present because it is true Couture. Please go by the measurements listed below.
• Excellent overall condition with the minor notes above.

Jacket
Sleeves: 19.5"
Shoulders: 15"
Bust-hem: to 21" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 20.5" from neck to hem

Dress
Bust: 18.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 18.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 39" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5814

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.