• A version with a pant walked the runway for the Spring 2000 Balmain Haute Couture collection.
• It was made under the creative direction of Oscar de la Renta.
• In 1993 Oscar de la Renta took over as Creative Director at Balmain where he designed the Haute Couture collections until 2002. The house had been floundering at that point and he had a huge impact on the reviving the sales of the couture pieces, mainly by catering to private clients, much like Balmain had originally.
• It is extraordinary to think that Oscar never produced a Haute Couture line under his own label and these few short years at Balmain gives us a chance to see just how talented he really was at all levels.
• Both pieces would have been completely made by hand in the Paris atelier.
• The jacket especially is a dream and I feel like the photos do not fully convey how beautiful and elaborate it feels in real life.
• The fabric used on the jacket is outstanding. The base is a handmade woven yarn and silk mix. Onto that are designs made from natural twine cording that has been embellished with a tiny hand carved round pieces that appear to be mother of pearl.
• The added yarn circles and flowers sit slightly up and off the base and you can clearly see the hand work done to apply them to the base fabric.
• The tiny little circles that are mixed into the design seem at first glance to be sequins but when you take a closer look at them you can clearly see each one is an individually cut iridescent circle with a tiny hole drilled through their centres. They appear to be mother of pearl.
•  The skirt is made out a fabric that looks to be a handwoven silk linen mix. I love how it is cut in a simple silhouette so that the jacket shines.
  
• The jacket has no collar and the shoulders have some padding built in for some structure but still have a more soft feel.
• The sleeves fall from there and each ends with an elaborate addition of four handmade buttons that decorate, and hold closed, a slit set vertically along each cuff.
• The front buttons to close with six more of those same handmade buttons. Tiny faux pockets sit on either side of the button just above the flare that curves over the hips. Each pocket is detailed with its own design of corded circles that matches the borders of the jacket.
• The skirt has a simple long pencil silhouette with a slit at one side to allow ease of walking. It is a slightly paler shade then the jacket and has a very pretty woven texture running through it.
• The waist has no band. It simply curves out and over the hips and then falls in a fairly straight line to the hem.
• I love that this is two separate pieces so that you have the added versatility of being able to mix a match the jacket and skirt with existing things you already own.
• The jacket is fully lined in a very high end hand set silk and closes with hooks set behind the buttons at the front. The buttons on the cuffs are decorative. The skirt closes with a hidden set zipper and hook and eye behind the top of the zipper at the inner waist. All of the work is done completely by hand to couture standards. The proper Haute Couture tag is present inside the jacket. The set appears to have been worn very little if at all. 
• There is no size tag present because it is true Couture. Please go by the measurements listed below.
• Excellent condition

Jacket
Sleeves: 24" and they are just under 12" around the upper arm
Shoulders: 15"
Bust: 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bottom hem: 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 21" from neck to hem

Skirt
Waist: 13.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 40" from waist to hem and the slit is 12" from hem up.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5744

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 with a more pink base was presented as Look 5 for the Resort 2008 Prada collection.
• It was made under the creative direction of Miuccia Prada.
• This was one of the most famous of all Miuccia's collections and the pieces sold out world-wide shortly after being released. Resort pieces are produced in more limited quantities making everything from this collection even more special. 
• Vogue's review of the show said that "The collection, full of colourful prints and polka dots, can only be described as pretty" and took special note of the one shoulder pieces.
• The runway version dress was also photoed for an editorial that season.
• It is made out of one of Prada's beautiful fabrics meant to mimic the silky rays of the 1940s. It was then printed with one of Miuccia's proprietary floral prints that she used for this collection. These florals were defining look for the season and they incorporated the word Prada in the print.
• The dress curves up and around the bust and over the shoulder. The shoulder is soft and extends down into a sleeve that ends just past the elbow. The sleeve has elastic around the bottom which lets it puff up above.
• The bodice is cut to skim over you and it is gathered in from the front and the back into the side of the waist opposite to a sleeve. She then added a swag very reminiscent of the 1940s runs down that same side. These nights to the 1940s are a common theme seen in her work.
• The angle the back is set on is cut slightly more dramatically then the front and the two angles give you a deep and unexpected plunge right to the waist.
• The skirt appears to wrap around you and falls to mid-calf depending on your height.
• Set at the base of the plunge is a panel that extends out to create that beautiful draping that you see running down that side to just past the hem. ore silk has been set in panels above that so that entire side has that incredible detailing.
• The floral print combines pinks with a brown that has a touch of pinky-purple undertone to it.
• One of my favourite details about this dress is that the inner hem has been finished with a 3" panel of the same pink that is in the print. You do not see the panel when you are standing still, but when you walk or move, you get a tiny flash of that unexpected colour.
• The dress is fully lined in black and closes at the side with a zipper and then the swag snaps to close over that. The end of the sleeve has elastic. I see a tiny catch on the shoulder and a small very faint watermark on the skirt that gets hidden in the folds. Please see the photo after the label shot.
• Tagged a vintage Prada 44
• Great condition with the minor note above.

Sleeve: 21.5" and it is 15" around the upper arm
Waist: to 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 21.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15" from top of shoulder to waist
Total length: 53" from top of shoulder to hem and the side panel extends another 2" past that at its longest point.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5745

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 unlabelled piece that dates to the 1970s.
• The ribbon silk fabric that it is made out of it extremely similar to the fabric used in the ivory Resort 1976 Halston jumpsuit that I have had in the shop before. Halston did not typically add rhinestones to his pieces but I feel fairly confident in dating it to around the same time period just based on the fabric.
• This is a set that pairs a wide leg easy cut pant with a caped top that slips over the head and extends down at the back.
• Both pieces have a soft and flowing feel to them and they are made of an graduated taupe silk chiffon with a ribbon effect that is fused directly into the silk. This gives the fabric the double texture that you see and it really plays on it transparent feel.
• Where the cape part of the top is unlined on the sides that fall over your arms you really see how you will get a glimpse of the skin under the silk. The main part of the bodice and the pants are hand lined in a deeper nude silk chiffon so that they are not completely transparent.
• The top is a caped shape that slips over the head with a keyhole at the front. The keyhole ties with a tie.Set all the way around the neckline is a gorgeous pattern made out of tiny little rhinestones hand sewn into place.
• The rest of the top sits loosened easy around you with an inner lining through the body of the top that has closed inner sides.
• The silk drapes over your arms like a cape and I love how it graduates in colour from a darker taupe on one side, changing into a light caramel tone on the other.
• The bottom hem of the cape top is finished with a row of attached rhinestones.
• The back is incredible. It falls from the shoulders and goes to past the calf in length depending on your height. It is a single layer of the silk so the lightest bit of air causes it to float and billow out around you as you move.
• The pants are equally incredible. The waist is a simple band and then from there the pants flow to the floor. They skim over the hips and then fall in a very full and open wide cut pant. 
•  It is very well made and finished by hand and even better in person and on an actual body where the fabric can really move and flow as it was meant to.
• The body of the top and the pants are lined in a hand set nude silk chiffon. Hand finished throughout. The top slipped over the head to wear with a tie at the neck. The pants have a flat hook & eye at the waist and snap to close under that.  I see the occasional little scuff on the satin ribbon parts which is normal vintage patina.It looks like a repair was made along the edge of the neck line at the top of the shoulder on one side at some point and I see another repair on a senior near the ham on my dress form the front inner lining seems to extend slightly past the top. I think it will fall properly once on a body, but it's priced knowing that might have to be adjusted. I see a tiny spot on the top. These are all minor but mentioned for accuracy. Please see the final three photos.
• There is no size tag present. Please go by the measurements below.
• Excellent condition with the minor notes above.

Top
Inner bust: to 19.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner waist: to 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner bottom hem: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 22" from shoulder to front hem, 56" to the longest draped point of the back.

Pants
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam and you can cinch it in with the sash as much as you wish
Hips: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 41" from waist to hem. The inseam is 28" and the gusset is 15" from the back waist to inner seam.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5746

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.