The Shrimpton Couture Archives

True Haute couture and it has been completely made by hand. It's twin walk the runway for the spring 1988 show.

This exceptional dress is by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior. It is from the Spring 1988 collection. The evening portion of the collection focussed on short dresses that had course to waste and bust and wrapping techniques that gave the feel of a sarong. The dress is a wonderful example of that feel he was after and it is fantastic. We found a teeny slice of it or a very similar piece on the runway and even though the photo shows the model on an angle, it does give you an idea of how wonderful this will be on the body. It is an exceptional dress and unearthing these couture treasures of the past is always so thrilling

The fabric of this dress is fantastic and no matter how great it looks in the photos you will love it even more in person. It is made out of a black silk organza that has been gathered so it has a slight 3D puffed effect. This creates an incredible texture over the dress. The fabric is light in weight and despite the elaborate construction of the dress is not at all heavy once it is on. Inside the dress has a full proper corset with boning through the bodice to give you some support and built in cups. A wide program ribbon hooks in place around the inner waist to hold everything perfectly in place. All of the seams are finished by hand and it is incredible to see. It really is a nod back to the early couture days in terms of it's construction. The bodice is cut with a curving sweetheart neckline and it is meant to hug the body. It is elaborately gathered and fitted around the bust with all of the gathered folds coming in to the seams that run over the bodice. This is all done to emphasize your curves and it make the dress very flattering once on. It nips in at the waist and there is a large and elaborate bow that sets at the base of an angle seem coming from the bust. I love how this is set to curve around the hip to the back. It instantly adds to the hourglass field the dress has. From under the bow, the skirt curves down and over with to wrap around you and then come back in and under that panel to give it that wrapped sarong feel. It is absolutely gorgeous. The dress appears to have been worn very little if at all. Excellent condition with a minor note below.

Fully lined in a black silk and closes with a side set zipper. The interior of the bodice is boned and cupped for support. The inner corset closes with its own zipper and a wide band on the interior waist hooks to close. There is a tiny bit of lightning to some of the edges on the fabric. This is a natural aging of this type of fabric and I don't consider it to be a flaw, but it is mentioned for accuracy.. It otherwise appears to have never been worn, or worn very little.

Bust: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Interior waist: 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: qpprox 10" from top of bodice to waist
Total length: 29.5" from top of bodice to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Reference Photos: Spring 1988 Christian Dior Haute Couture.

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