In 1951 James Galanos launched his label in 1951 at the age of 27. In 1954, at 30 years of age, he won both the Coty award and the Neiman Marcus award. His clothing ranged in price from $200 to $3000 which for the time was an astronomical price. His work was made-to-order and done to couture standards on par with the French ateliers. Grace Kelly was a fan and his work is now held in all of the major museums around the world. He is one of my personal favourites and this dress is a stunning example of his work. It is one of those dresses that really needs to be on an actual body to come to life but once it is on a body it is even better than what you see here.

This dress is spectacular. It is made with a bright blue based orange silk crepe that flows and drapes beautifully over the body. The bodice is cut to skim and blouse over the body to the waist. The waist is cut with a more generous feel and has a softened elastic running through it. You could add a belt if you wanted to cinch it in more and give it more shape. The skirt falls from there in a beautiful column of that silk. It has a bit of an old Hollywood feel to it that I love. The dress wraps to close. You wrap it over itself at the front and it hooks under itself and then hooks and ties on the other side of that gorgeous ruffled collar. At the waist, there are both inner hooks and snaps to hold it in place and that is it. Its simplicity hides the high skill level that having this all lay so perfectly in this type of fabric and with so little closures. It is so well made that I think that you could actually wear the dress either way around. The sleeves are spectacular and each one is cut to be a full wide balloon sleeve above the banded wrist. A little knotted button closes each cuff. The ruffle that circles around the neck is made from the same fabric placed in two stacked layers. It is the perfect little extra embellishment for the dress. Excellent condition with a minor note below.

Fully lined through the bodice with a matching coloured self chiffon and the skirt is unlined. It closes as described above. The elastic at the waist has softened a touch. Hand finishes throughout. If wrapped and belted this would accommodate a smaller size as well.

Sleeves: 26.5"
Slightly inset shoulders: 14"
Bust: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 16-17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 21" flat across from side seam to side seam and the wrap will allow it to go a few more inches if needed
Bodice: 17" from neck to waist
Total length: 58" from neck to front hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-LRG

Item# DD4881

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.