john anthony
Romantic Early 2000s John Anthony Couture Blue Lace & Multi Layer Silk Chiffon Dress
John Anthony is an award-winning American fashion designer best known for simple, elegant clothing with a strong sense of chic. His work veers towards minimalism, with sharp tailoring, striking evening wear being his signature. He is renowned for his cutting and tailoring. From the day that he launched his atelier in 1971 his design philosophy is a fusion of function and purpose. The function is his logical, wearable approach; the purpose, his pared-down ideas. As a designer, he considers it his job to make things easy for the customer. He designs with focus and a narrow palette for both day and night, so items can easily intermingle. He uses natural fabrics and is noted for contradictory daywear fabrics in his evening collections. In the early 70’s he was one of the first designers to promote the idea of easy-to-travel clothes that resist wrinkling. By 1976, he was showing soft, liquid separates in muted colours that became his trademark and received 2 Coty awards, one in 1972 and one in 1976, as recognition. His business was all done on a made to order basis. That means the majority of pieces you will find are a one-off, or if there are similar pieces, very few of each piece exist. This personal attention to each dress is clearly seen in the workmanship of his pieces. His work is very expensive and beaded pieces did, and still do, retail for over $10,000. His work is a personal favourite of mine and I am thrilled to begin to offer this second round of a dozen exclusive pieces and samples that John pulled from his own archives.
This silk chiffon and lace dress is insanely sexy on the body. It has a definite nod to a lingerie piece and it is extremely beautiful. The dress somehow manages to be very sexy and yet very feminine and romantic at the same time. It is made from a deep blue silk chiffon with a dark brown layer of silk that lines the bodice behind the lace and is layered into the skirt. This choice of fabric gives the dress a beautifully lightness as it floats over the body and highlights your curves. The silk chiffon that the skirt is made from is topped by a fine lace used for the bodice. The bodice is cut in a halter at the front that glides over you and then curves over your shoulders and down the back. The front plunges almost to the waist but you have full coverage with the width of the fabric across the bust. The sides are the same lace and this gives you more support despite the low plunge of the dress. At the back it plunges right to the waist to leave a bare expanse of skin showing. All of the edges follow the natural pattern of the lace and this adds to the feminine feel that it gives. The lace is fully lined on this one in a dark chocolate silk chiffon. It is just tremendously beautiful. The lace and chiffon has just a slight touch of stretch so it conforms to your bodice. The lace is set over the fabric of the skirt and the workmanship is exquisite where they meet. Under that the skirt is made up of multiple layers of silk chiffon. There is an inner layer of the blue and then a brown layer followed by another blue layer. Each of the layers has a slight transparency but when overlapped they make it opaque enough to wear. The top two layers are split up the center and curve up to the waist from the hem. This allows them to have incredible movement and lets you see that brown layer peaking out between the other two. There is a little bit of hidden sexiness there as well since as you move you do get glimpses of that innermost layer and its touch of transparency. It feels very naughty. Bias cut silk chiffon is incredibly difficult to work with and layering it like this and having it all fall so perfectly is an achievement. The skirt has a tremendous amount of fabric in it so when you move it will float and move around you. It is cut supermodel long in length and is just gorgeous to see in person. The photos cannot capture the lightness and movement of the fabric that it will have once on the body. It is made to demi-couture standards. Excellent condition.
Fully lined as described above and closes with a hidden set low back zipper. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. Hand finished throughout.
Bust: 16-18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12.5-13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 15" from shoulder to waist
Skirt: 52" from waist to hem
Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED
Item# DD4011
This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.
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SIZE GUIDE
Please review all measurements carefully. More often than not, vintage garments do not fit any size category exactly. If in doubt, measure a garment of your own that fits and is a similar cut and compare it's measurements to the listed measurements below.
