Yves Saint Laurent vintage 1980s tulle trimmed strapless dress and bolero set
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: French 40 (EU)Bust: 29 in (73.66 cm)Waist: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Antwerp, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4478251302
Yves Saint Laurent
French designer Yves Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture.
Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, Saint Laurent also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear.
By blurring gender-specific design, Saint Laurent empowered individual style while creating a scissor-sharp fashion aesthetic of sensual ease and beauty. Many of his designs are today considered timeless classics. Saint Laurent also consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
Born to French parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1936, Saint Laurent went to Paris at age 17 to study fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Just two years later, in 1955, his remarkable sketches were shown to Christian Dior, then the world’s reigning couturier, who hired him immediately.
Surprisingly soon thereafter, Dior publicly chose Saint Laurent as his successor, which sadly proved prescient when the fashion legend died unexpectedly, in 1957. A mere slip of a youth, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was nevertheless up to the challenge. He shook the traditional couture clientele to its core with youthful silhouettes and styles like the A-line trapeze dress that hung with seeming effortlessness from the shoulders, the antithesis of the pinched waists and molded skirts that had been all the rage after the deprivations of World War II.
After a mandated spell in the torturous French military, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown and was dismissed by Dior in 1962. Out of the ashes rose the Age of Yves. With Pierre Bergé, his then-lover who became his lifelong business partner and friend, the designer founded Yves Saint Laurent YSL to encompass prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear. In 1966, they opened the first YSL Rive Gauche women’s boutique in Paris, followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand.
His revolutionary Mondrian mini dress from 1965 is a core element of his fashion biography. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso, Ingres to Matisse, for inspiration.
With its pure lines and hues, Mondrian’s ground-breaking 1935 color-block painting Composition C transmutes beautifully into a dress that is highly valued by collectors of contemporary fashion and widely copied commercially to this day. The design is the epitome of Saint Laurent’s aesthetic, requiring a meticulous hand-piecing of each color block so that, despite the body’s curves, the visual plane is as flat as a canvas when the garment is worn. Mondrian’s purity met its match in Saint Laurent.
“I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style,” Saint Laurent said four years before retiring, in 2002. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Yves Saint Laurent evening dresses, shirts, handbags and other clothing and accessories today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Antwerp, Belgium
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Courreges 1960s vintage black 100% silk smock boned bustier dressBy Courrèges, André CourrègesLocated in Antwerp, BEBeautiful vintage black silk boned bustier dress by Courreges Lined, Courrèges size 0 Measurements are taken flat Ua to Ua 15inch/38cm(x2) - Waist 12inch/30,5cm(x2) - Hip17inch/43cm...Category
1960s French Cocktail Dresses
- Versace Versus vintage early 2000 open back purple crushed silk velvet dressBy Versace, Gianni VersaceLocated in Antwerp, BEVersace Versus vintage early 2000 open back purple crushed velvet long dress. The fabric, deep violet crushed silk velvet (mix 75% viscose 25% silk) of ...Category
1990s Italian Maxi Dress
- Vintage 1970s Lanvin black crepe/velvet and rhinestone buttons elegant dressBy Lanvin ParisLocated in Antwerp, BEBlack wool crepe with velvet & rhinestones button at the front + cuffs. French size 38 in excellent condition. Measurements taken flat: Sh to Sh 16inch/41cm - Ua to Ua 18inch/46cm(x2...Category
1970s French Cocktail Dresses
- Loris Azzaro couture 1970s black satin & strass embellished silk jersey dressBy Loris AzzaroLocated in Antwerp, BEVerlaine Vintage is thrilled to present an exquisite 1970s open-back vintage dress by Loris Azzaro. Crafted from a luxuriously soft black silk and vis...Category
1970s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Leonard Paris 1970s vintage signed 100% silk jersey floral print maxi dressBy Leonard of Paris, LeonardLocated in Antwerp, BESigned Leonard Paris 1970s vintage maxi dress featuring bell sleeves and made in a botanical printed 100% silk jersey. The dress is labeled size 4 but can accommodate a variety of si...Category
1970s Maxi Dress
- Dolce & Gabbana spring summer 2015 one sleeve black jersey & tassel dressBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Antwerp, BEDolce & Gabbana spring summer 2015 one-sleeve black jersey & tassel dress Unfortunately, all the labels are missing on this dress. (Priced accordingly) M...Category
2010s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Badgley Mischka Beaded Black Silk Lace Evening Gown Size US 10By Badgley MischkaLocated in New York, NYBadgley Mischka glamorous black silk lace evening gown, size US 10. Gown features hand beaded and embroidered lace with glass jet beading, and neckline with glass jet beads along cu...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Black Silk Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with matte frosted colored glass beads threaded through the cordin...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Peplos
- Mariano Fortuny Black Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Black Delphos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
Named after a ...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
- Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Black Gown with Open Back, 1990.By Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in New York, NYYves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Black Gown with Open Back, 1990. Full length woven dress with waistband. Features slit at center front and open ...Category
1990s French Evening Dresses
- Thierry Mugler Strapless Black Satin Gown, c.1980sBy Thierry MuglerLocated in New York, NYThierry Mugler Strapless Black Satin Gown, c.1980s Thierry Mugler Strapless Black Satin Gown featuring asymmetrical, gathered corseted bodice with rhi...Category
1980s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake YSL Bag
Counterfeiters know that savvy fashionistas cherish YSL bags. Learn how to tell if yours is the real deal. Of course, you don't have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where every seller is highly vetted.
Quiet Luxury May Be Trending, but These Famous Interiors Prove That Quality and Quirk Endure
Because truly timeless design requires personal vision, transcendent taste, real fortitude and top-notch objects, even if the wider world hasn’t caught on yet.