• This is the twin in ivory of the black Haute Couture dress that was presented for the Spring 1982 collection.
• Made under the creative direction of Yves Saint Laurent.
• The black version is very well documented and an iconic piece of his work. I would hazard to guess that this was a piece requested in this specific ivory and is perhaps the only one that exists.
• The dress would have been completely made by hand in the Paris Atelier.
• The dress is made from a rich creamy ivory silk that has the weight and feel of the vintage pieces from the 1930s and 1940s.
• The dress is cut to angle down from the wide strap of the shoulder. There is an inner chiffon strap that comes down from the shoulder and hooks into the stay that wraps and hooks around the inner waist. This little extra inner structure helps to hold the dress perfectly in place. I love these little extra Couture details.
• It is cut to drape down and into the waist on both the front and the back. The waist is seamed but cut slightly more generously and slightly dropped on one side in order to give the dress the shape that you see.
• The skirt falls from there and flares out around you. It wraps around the body and this creates a wrapped over opening down one side along with that gorgeous ruffled panel.
• Where the silk is gathered in up and into the hip and also into the top of the one shoulder there are very large rectangles that are covered in handset prong rhinestones in various shapes and sizes. Each one of those rectangles is just over 2" high and about 3" long.
• Because of the lightness of the fabric your slightest movement causes the skirt to move around you when you move.
  
• Inside everything has been done by hand to Couture standards.
• Unlined with all hand finished inner seams. It slips over the head and then you hook the inner waist stay to hold it in place around you. If you needed to make it fully open and hook/close around the waist to adjust the size more up or  down it could be done.
• There are no size tags so please go by the listed measurements below. It is all cut on the bias so there is some range of measurements.
• I had this specialty cleaned but there is a touch of darkening around the hem if I am being very picky. There is a very faint mark hidden mostly in the folds on the front bodice and there is a very faint mark on the back of the skirt and at the side just above the waist. The inner silk chiffon strap that attaches the shoulder to the waist has some fraying. All of these are very minor. Please see the photos after the label shot. It presents as near excellent condition.

Bust: 15-20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 14" flat across from side seam to side seam on the waist stay that hooks. You could easily move this up or down to make it fit your waist perfectly. Because of the bias cut the outer waist can accommodate from that up to 17" wide across.
Hips: open
Bodice: approx 15" from top of shoulder to inner waist stay
Total length: approx 61" from top of shoulder to longest point of the hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Reference Photos: (1) Spring 1982 Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture.  /  (2-6)Yves Saint Laurent Spring 1982 Couture Advance Preview.  /  (7) Credit Unknown. 

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.