This dress comes to me from a client whose aunt was buying pieces from Louis Mies along with the French couture houses. Mies was a small independent couturier who did custom work for his clients to haute couture standards. He designed many pieces for the Queen of Belgium. He was one of the independent ateliers that bought the fabric directly from the couture houses for his own work and he also sold couture pieces through his salon, something certain retailers could do during this time period as long as they were authorized. We do not have any family records as to what designer this might be but the dress bears a striking similarity to some of the 1977 Valentino couture collection pieces. 

The level that this dress is made to is incredible. The fabric is a black silk taffeta and the edging is all beautiful French Chantilly lace. There are many yards of fabric used in the construction of this dress but once on the body it is all perfectly balanced. It sits off the shoulder to leave a bare expanse of skin showing. A 6" ruffle of silk wraps all the way around your shoulders and it is edged with 3.5" of lace. Hidden under that are these incredible extra wide sleeves that are also edged in lace. The bodice skims over you and the waist nips in for shape. I have added a grosgrain ribbon to add more shape and you could also wear a more structured belt. The skirt falls to the floor from there and widens out to the fullness that you see. The skirt has three layers. There is a full built-in black silk under-skirt that has wide bands of stiffened netting at the hem and then again part way up the skirt. The next layer is a black silk with two ruffled tiers at the hem edged with black lace. The final top layer sits over those and curves up at the front to meet the seam at the waist. You can tell the level of construction on the dress by some of the small details in it like the fact that there are these little ruffles that run along the seams of the inner layer even no one would ever see them. I love that. The dress is completely made by hand and I have included a couple of shots of the inner seams for you to see the amazing handwork. Excellent condition with a note below

Fully lined through the bodice in a black silk and the skirt is constructed as described above. It closes with a painted metal zipper at the back. Made by hand to couture standards. There are a couple small repairs / tiny holes on the ruffle on the neckline. There is so much fabric they get lost in the folds. Please see the final shot after the label. It otherwise looks unworn 

Bust: to 19.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 15" from top of natural shoulder to waist
Skirt: 43" from waist to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD3882

Reference photos: Valentino campaign 1977 shot by Deborah Turbeville

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.

Loris Azzaro launched his label in 1967 and quickly defined his trademark looks by his avant garde way of defining the body. His work was shockingly sexy for the times. Some of the most beautiful women in the world wore his clothing including Marisa Berenson, Raquel Welch, Jane Birkin, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot and Tina Turner. The label had a certain French flare that women world-wide loved. By the seventies and eighties he was experimenting with volume and proportions and new fabrics that at the time were all cutting edge. This is a stunning example of his work during the mid-seventies. When researching we found several examples of dresses from 1973 that combined the same jagged flame cuts with sequins. I have included some of those so you can get an idea of how great this looks on the body. 

This is a gorgeous dress and it is a dress that will really come to life once on an actual body. The body of the dress is covered with densely applied black sequins. They make the dress shimmer beautifully as they catch the light. The sequins start at the shoulder run down the sleeves, over the bodice, waist and hips and then stop about mid-thigh depending on your height. The skirt is set into the sequins in pointed angled that reflects the points of the hem. The skirt part is made from 12 individual panels that are set side by side all the way around. Each panel is a single layer of black silk chiffon that is incredibly light in weight. When you move they move around you. Each panel has only been attached at the top so you also get glimpses of your legs between each panel as you move. It is incredibly sexy. The same silk chiffon is set into the upper bodice and then the back has a huge cut out that is filled with the silk chiffon that dips into a low scoop. It buttons down the back can you see a hint of skin between each button. I love the pointed finished all around the scoop at the back. It is fantastic once on. Excellent condition

Fully lined through the body in a black silk. It closes with buttons down the back and each sleeve has a zipper at the wrist. One of his signature strapless bras is attached inside the bodice which could be easily removed if you wish.

Sleeves: 23" and are 12" around the upper arm
Shoulders: no defined seam
Bust: 16-18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 59" from top of shoulder to the longest point of hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD4347

Reference Photos: (1-3) Marisa Berenson in a Loris Azzaro. October 1973. Photo: Michael Holtz.   /   (4) The cover of the book "Azzaro" for Assouline - Marisa Berenson and Loris Azzaro photographed in 1973, for issue 604 of L'Officiel de la Couture et de la Mode de Paris, by Roland Bianchini.  /  (5) Image from the book "Azzaro: Fifty Sparkling Years"  /  (6) Magazine spread featuring a model in Azzaro, 1973.

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 Spring 1977 Bill Gibb collection. In the book, 'Bill Gibb: Fashion and Fantasy' they quote him as saying "for next season, I am going to do semi-sport, separates like a little boy with shorts, something I've never done before... women want to get into pretty clothes" It goes on to describe the invitation for the show as 'a barefooted girl, wearing a simple empire line dress in a garden, surrounded by a garland of flowers' and of the show itself...'Gibb presented one of his most delicate looking collections, combining his cute boyish styles with pastoral illusions… embroidered cheesecloth and broderie anglaise. Even though he called this his flowers and lace collection, Gibbs discerning eye insured the look never became two sugary sweet by punctuating the collection with splashes of black. He said "I like a dress to have great richness. There are many ways to do this like a black cat printed on the hem of a starkly white dress, or I use black and white next to a coloured pattern fabric... It is incredibly effective". We are also very pleased to have found a photo of the dress on the runway. It is an incredibly rare and gorgeous little dress.

Bill Gibb is one of my favourite designers and I am always extremely pleased to be able offer an item from him as they are very hard to find. The really good ones especially, never mind when one is documented like this one is. It is also a gorgeous dress in its own right. I love that this showcases exactly what he said above about using black as a means to contrast and add "richness". It is a dress that in someways is simple but it has huge impact. The halter is made out of a black silk that has a pink ribbon defining all of the seams and edges. The ribbon extends out from the side of the bust to curve up and over your shoulder attaching at the edge at the back. Where the front scoops down into a V ribbon also extends out from there and these ones tie behind the back so that the ends trail down against your bare skin. Using the ribbon to define the seams visually creates six panels around you. Each of those has been hand detailed with tiny silver pink beading, opaque white beads and pink embroidery to form little flowers to perfectly fit into the theme of the collection. It is the prettiest detailing. The halter falls into a V at the front and then the ribbons cross over themselves and there is a open keyhole under that to the waist. At the back, the vertical edges sit several inches apart from each other to add even more to the bare and open feeling it has. The skirt is equally as amazing. It is made out of a white cotton inner skirt and then has an attached over skirt that does not fully meet at the front. The interior skirt is finished with a wide layer of cotton lace at the hem and then the attached top layer starts with a ruffle at the waist. It has five more layers of ruffles as it travels to the hem. The skirt is incredibly full. An interesting little detail is that the inner skirt has pockets and this allows you to put your hands into those pockets and hold the outer skirt away to the sides. This will give you more of the feel that you see on the runway photo. This is an extraordinary little piece and could not be more rare. Excellent condition.

The inner skirt acts as the lining and the halter is lined in an ivory silky rayon. It closes with the tie at the back of the neck and then hook at the back of the waist and has a zipper below that. Pockets on the inner skirt. Sized a vintage Bill Gibb UK 10. 

Bust: 15-16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12-12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 15" from top of shoulder to top of the band at the waist
Total length: 48" from top of shoulder to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4850

Reference Photos: Spring 1977 Bill Gibb.

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.

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. 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. These dresses were made between 1969 up to about 1975 and we've included some various reference photos of similar pieces so you can get an idea of how gorgeous it is on the body.

This would make a phenomenal dress for the bride, looking for something nontraditional or as a part of a wedding weekend and of course it would be a stand-out piece in any Thea Porter collection.

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 is mentioned for historical accuracy). 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.'

This is a classic Thea dress that follows all of those design philosophies. The bodice of her dresses were often crafted in antique brocade or silks and I suspect that is what we are seeing that with the beautiful and delicate gold metal thread on a feather like silk organza that we see on this front and back of the bodice on the dress. I love the little piece of silk chiffon that sits at the top of each shoulder and has the little embroidered 3D rose there. An ivory velvet ribbon details the cut of the bodice and also defines the highly detailed wide band around the waist. The sleeves are a single layer of an ivory silk chiffon and have a touch of transparency to them. They are magnificently full and each one puffs out above an elastic cuff. A little velvet bow and another embroidered 3D flower sit on the end of each sleeve. The skirt is two layers, an inner silk layer that is cut on the bias and then floating over that is a bias cut of the same ivory silk organza that the sleeves are made out of. The silk of the skirt starts just under the wide band at the waist and it flares out in yards of silk. It has that perfectly imperfect asymmetrical hem described above so that one side falls slightly longer then the other. This one is extra special because of the extreme detailing that is done by an abundance of hand embroidered flowers that run all the way around the band of the waist. More flowers run all the way around the skirt in beautiful curving patterns in a beautiful curving pattern on both the back and the front. Placed within the highly detailed embroidered leaves are little flowers formed by scalloped ribbon. The final finish is a perfect little ivory bow at the waist. It is just wildly gorgeous. Excellent condition with a minor note below

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. I see some lifting and wear in and around the gold medallions around the shoulders. It looks like there have been some stitches put into help hold them down at some point but some are lifting and there are areas of the organza in between that is missing. Please see the photos after the label shot. It is an incredible dress

Sleeves: 18"
Shoulders: no true seam since they are inset
Bust: 17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Seam at the top of the waist band: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist at bottom of the band: 12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 10" from shoulder to seam at top of waist band, 15" to waist seam
Total length: 56" from shoulder to longest points of hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4852

Reference Photos: (1-2) Kate Moss in Thea Porter, for her wedding rehearsal, 2011.  /  (3) 1970 Thea Porter Dress from The MET Collection Online.  /  (4) Jane Fonda in Thea Porter.  /  (5) Model in Thea Porter, credit unknown.  /  (6) Joan Colins in a Gipsy Dress, with her sister Jackie in a robe with trailing sleeves over trousers, in two versions of Sheila Hudson's butterfly print, at the opening of the musical "1776" in 1970. From the book "Thea Porter: Bohemian Chic" by Laura McLaws Helms and Venetia Porter.  /  (7) Floral cotton voila Gipsy dress, 1969. Photography by Willie Christie. From the book "Thea Porter: Bohemian Chic" by Laura McLaws Helms and Venetia Porter.  /  (8) Actress Sharon Tate arriving at a party with Peter Sellers. She wears a Gipsy dress with moire bodice and polka-dot chiffon skirt and sleeves. London, July 1, 1969. From the book "Thea Porter: Bohemian Chic" by Laura McLaws Helms and Venetia Porter.  /  (9) Charlotte Rampling in Thea Porter, 1970s.  /  (10) Scanned from Vogue, Autumn/Winter 1970 by Liz Eggleston.  /  (11) Scanned from Vogue, April 1975 by Liz Eggleston.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

In 1952, Givenchy founded his namesake house on Rue Alfred de Vigny in Paris and quickly rose to fame as one of the grand couturiers. 16 years later for the 1968-69 season, he added a ready-to-wear line of clothing and accessories called 'Givenchy Nouvelle Boutique'. The line was initially sold in the United States exclusively through Bergdorf Goodman stores and was eventually available at other retailers as well. The line was high end and extremely well made. He launched this line to expand his customer base and it made to appeal specifically to his non-couture clients. This label continued until 1992. This dress is a gorgeous from that time period.

I love the unusual lines that this dress has especially in the way that the bodice is cut. It is made of a black silk gazaar that has just enough weight to hold the shape that you see, but still feels light on the body. The neckline is set straight across with just the slightest of curves. A panel comes up from the waist and is attached on the front and the back to curve up and over one shoulder. The panel is done in the same fabric as the rest of the dress and it is set so that it sits slightly off of the body for a really pretty effect. The top of the bodice is covered in a inch and a half thick band of prong set rhinestones, sequins and beads that wrap around the bodice except for the area at the back that is covered by the back panel. The panel is also edged on both sides with the same design. These catch the light and add so much drama to the dress. It skims over the bodice to the waist and then the skirt flounces out to about about the knee depending on your height. The skirt is gathered in around the waist with a series of soft gathers that give it a nice bit of fullness. The silk gazaar has a touch of transparency but there is an inner silk lining that keeps it wearable. I love how the back of the skirt is cut longer then the front. This gives it the prettiest curve from the side. I have added a ribbon around the waist to cinch it in a little bit and you could also add a belt of your own to create even more shape. The silk is light in weight and yet has enough structure to hold the shape so it does not collapse around you once you move. It is so good. Excellent condition with a minor note below.

Fully lined in a hand set black silk and closes with a side metal zipper on the exterior and then there is a second zipper on the inside from the waist down. An inner waist stay and a stay under the bust both hook to close. Light boning and extra structure inside the bodice. It looks like it was let out a touch at the sides at some point. The ribbon is not original to the dress but will be sent with it. Hand work throughout. 

Bust: 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 15.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner hips: to 21" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15.5" from top of shoulder to  waist
Total length: 38" from top of shoulder to front hem,43" to the longest point of the back hem with 2" turned under the hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: MED-LRG

Item# DD4836

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 wrap dresses and jumpsuits by Diane Von Furstenberg have become an iconic staple and this is one of the originals. Diane moved to New York with her husband, Prince Eduard Egon Von Furstenberg in 1969. She had design aspirations and in 1970 showed her first collection. It was in 1972 that she first debuted her now-iconic 'wrap dress' for the working woman, revolutionizing American women's apparel. By 1976, she had sold 5 million wrap dresses, landed covers of Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal and was a regular within the pages of Vogue. This is an early and rare jumpsuit from the Fall of 1975. The runway pics we found allowed us to identify the print and it shows you similar pieces on the body. We also added some reference photos from 1976 of similar pieces so you can see how her jumpsuits fit. Plus Farrah!

Girls bought these jumpsuits in droves and wore them to travel, dance in, and pretty much everything else. You do see Diane's dress versions of these pieces from this time period pop up more often then the jumpsuits do but I am always on the lookout for her jumpsuits. They are harder to find but worth the hunt. This one, with its graphic print in soft taupes and ivory wonderful. The print is screened onto a soft stretch jersey that has the feel of a modern super soft T-short but thicker. The design covers the jumpsuit from head to toe. It has long, lean lines and makes you look and feel supermodel tall in it. The colour is high, but the front is a zip so you can wear it zipped all the way up or as low as you dare. Each sleeve is long and has a buttoned cuff at its end. I love the two flap and buttoned tops at pockets that sit on each side of the bodice. The waist is seemed and you can wear it as is so it has a bit more of a loose and easy feel or add a belt if you want it to be really cinched in. From there the legs are cut straight and long with the slightest bit of flair by the time they reached hem. The final result is one long, lean, supermodel silhouette. Excellent condition.

The jumpsuit is unlined, slips on and then has a front zipper to close. The fabric is a soft jersey that has an almost heavy T-shirt feeling finish to it. The fabric does have some stretch and the measurements below are the comfortable stretch when laying flat. It appears to have been worn very little if at all.

Sleeve: 24"
Shoulder: 15"
Bust: to approx 18" flat across from side seam to side seam and can be adjusted
Waist: 12-14.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to approx 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Torso: 31" from top of shoulder to top of inseam
Length: 63" from shoulder to hem
Inseam: 35.5"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD4834

Reference Photos: (1-3) Fall 1975 Diane Von Furstenberg.  /  (4) Diane Von Furstenberg Ad in Vogue US, April 1976.  /  (5) Farrah Fawcett in DVF, 1976.

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.