The Shrimpton Couture Archives

• This is a gorgeous Couture dress from 1970s Lanvin.
• It was made under the creative direction of Jules-Francois Crahay
• Jules-Francois headed the Lanvin ateliers from 1964-1984. He has been noted as one of fashion’s'great colorists with his colorful patterns making his 1970s Lanvin designs hugely desirable and influential.'His time at the Lanvin label&is one of my personal favourites for the house.
• The dress would have been completely made by hand in the Paris Atelier.
• The fabric is a light weight lace that creates a pretty floral print that covers the dress from head to toe. 
• The bodice of the dress is fantastic. It is cut halter style and you simply slip your head through the opening so that it sits behind the neck. Each halter is cut on a slight curve so even though it is plunged to the band under the bust, it feels very safe when you are wearing it.
• It still has a sexy element though. Each panel is made out of two layers of the lace and the lace is placed to give you coverage so that it can be safely worn.  But you still do see a teeny bit of skin underneath between the more covered lace parts. It is sexy but in a subtle way that is very clever.
• I love that the halter front leaves the entire upper back left bare and exposed.
• A wide 4.5" band wraps around the waist starting just under the bust and at the centre it peaks downwards to be a full 8 inches wide. It is made in the same way as the halter top with two layers of lace so that it also has a slight bit of transparency through the layers.
• The skirt falls to the floor from there widening out as it nears the hem.
  
• Inside everything has been done by hand to Couture standards.
• The panels at the front, as well as the band around the waist, are made of two layers of the lace as described above. The skirt is fully lined in a matching coloured silky rayon. It closes at the back with a hand set zipper. All of the inner seams are done by hand. The skirt was let down at some point and you can see a very faint line on the lining of where it was turned under. The outer layer of lace has a small turned under hem and the edge of the inner lining is raw. It has been left as found for the added length.
• There are no size tags present since it is Couture so please go by the listed measurements below. 
• Excellent condition

Bust: each triangle covers 8.5" flat across from side to side
Seam under the bust: to 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 23" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: approx 11.5" from neck to seam under the bust
Total length: 60" from neck to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

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