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MiramHaskell c1930 Stamped Brass FloralMotif Pendants Link Chain Choker Necklace
By Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring stamped-brass findings c1930, this Miriam Haskell collar necklace was made by her first designer Frank Hess in an Art-Nouveau style with ornate floral motifs for its 15 dangling bud-shaped or fluted-ball pendants, along with intricate textural patterns on the stamped bands that link the oval-ring chain choker. Among the festoon of graduating charms, the largest centered pendant is 1.5 inches long and 0.75 inches in diameter. One of our photos show that the surprisingly light-weight pendants are hollow--some with a hole punched at the bottom.
The distinct stamped bands, which include a fold-over clasp, are found in more obviously Haskell-Hess pre-WWII jewelry...
Category
Vintage 1930s American Artisan Link Necklaces
Materials
Brass
CommeDesGarcons 1999 Unique HandCut Appliques Overdyed Grey Knit Pullover Top
By Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons
Located in Chicago, IL
In 1999, Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942) focused on unprecedented sculptural texture and irregular color blocking to design her Comme des Garcons Spring/Summer 2000 collection, which was domi...
Category
1990s Japanese Pullovers
CommeDesGarcons 1999 Unique HandCut OverDyed Appliques Pullover PlungeVneck Top
By Comme des Garçons
Located in Chicago, IL
Unlike anything else from the 1990s, Comme des Garcons founder Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942) designed in 1999 for her Spring/Summer 2000 collection this pink-overdyed pullover soft stretch-...
Category
1990s Japanese Sweater Vests
McCartney 2002 SilkChiffon LayeredEmpireWaist SilverBeadedBowTies CapSleeve Top
By Stella McCartney
Located in Chicago, IL
For her eponymous brand's second collection for Fall/Winter 2002, British Stella McCartney designed this airy layered silk-chiffon empire-waist cap-sleeve rose-color pullover blouse,...
Category
Early 2000s English Blouses
Brunello Cucinelli TuxedoTails RearTrain Wool Tailored Grey HighLow Shorts
By Brunello Cucinelli
Located in Chicago, IL
About a decade ago Brunello Cucinelli debuted these impeccably-tailored 100%-virgin-wool grey shorts whose back is completely concealed by tuxedo tails fashioned from a curvilinear-c...
Category
2010s Italian Shorts
McCartney SS2003 Silk Chiffon Satin Oversized Convertible Sleeves Sheer Knit Top
By Stella McCartney
Located in Chicago, IL
Appearing in several versions on the Stella McCartney Spring/Summer 2003 collection runway with silk oversized long bell sleeves (see our photos of the gold and white versions beginn...
Category
Early 2000s English Blouses
Couture 1930s Bucherer Depose ArtDeco 18kGold 40StoneTrimmedWatch TennisBracelet
By Bucherer
Located in Chicago, IL
Trimmed with 40 rose-cut diamond-like stones and marked "deposee" on the Swiss clasp like antique European couture jewelry, this Art-Deco period unique Bucherer luxury snake-chain dr...
Category
Vintage 1930s Swiss Art Deco Tennis Bracelets
Materials
Crystal, Mixed Metal, White Gold, Stainless Steel, 18k Gold, Platinum
Couture Antique Chanel Late1920s France Rousselet Lampwork Glass Floral Earrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Marked "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry commissioned by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel since 1924, these early-handcraf...
Category
Vintage 1920s French Artisan Clip-on Earrings
Materials
Brass
Couture 1960s YSL YvesSaintLaurent Abstract Sheer Silk CrepeDeChine Pareo Cape
By Yves Saint Laurent
Located in Chicago, IL
Given the "YSL" stenciled logo that had been created in 1961 while the fashion designer was only producing haute couture, paired with the French-blue bordered "Yves Saint Laurent" brand tag noting only "Made In Italy", this 52x52-inch square transparent hand-painted vibrant crepe-de-chine silk panel with intricately hand-sewn rolled edges was commissioned as a couture shawl...
Category
1960s French Capes
OscarDeLaRenta 1975 Handpainted Silk EmpireWaist RibbonTied Blue Gown Maxi-Dress
By Oscar De La Renta
Located in Chicago, IL
Designed by U.S.-based Oscar de la Renta (1932-2014) for his 1975 Resort collection, this deeply-draping two-layer empire-waist silk gown maxi dress is handpainted in a blue-cream-an...
Category
1970s American Maxi Dress
OscarDeLaRenta 1982 MuseumShown Handpainted Floral Abstract CrepeDeChine Caftan
By Oscar De La Renta
Located in Chicago, IL
U.S.-based Oscar de la Renta (1932-2014) for Spring 1982 created a number of styles of bold vibrant uniquely-handpainted crepe-de-chine caftans that helped define his five-decade fas...
Category
1980s American Caftans
Renaissance FleurDeLis Niello HighRelief GiltEngraved Heraldry Reliquary Jewelry
Located in Chicago, IL
Demonstrating the epitome of miniature decorative art by Renaissance European goldsmiths who fashioned quatrefoil and/or cruciform jewelry with heraldry or religious symbols, this ce...
Category
Antique 16th Century European Renaissance Brooches
Materials
Gilt Metal, Niello, Silver, Copper
Couture S/S1956 SignedDiorDesigner First AB Crystals Western Germany Earrings
By Christian Dior
Located in Chicago, IL
Distinguishing these couture Christian Dior Spring/Summer 1956 "Western Germany"-stamped silver earrings featuring the first Swarovski gold-foi...
Category
Vintage 1950s German Modern Clip-on Earrings
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Base Metal
CommeDesGarcons 1999RunwayFinale Overdyed Convertible Pinned CapeDress MaxiSkirt
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Chicago, IL
As the key element of runway finale Looks 57 and 60 for the Comme Des Garcons Spring/Summer 1999 collection (see our photos of the Vogue coverage), this layered overdyed-purple navy ...
Category
1990s Japanese Dress and Coat Ensembles
Couture LingerieLike Beaded Silk Cutwork Balenciaga Style 2000s Black Vest Apron
Located in Chicago, IL
This couture lingerie-like spaghetti-strapped black silk-satin apron vest--with extraordinary graphic cutwork featuring a heavily hand-beaded breast-plate and appliques--was custom made by a young designer for a New York City female...
Category
Early 2000s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
Couture 1937-40 ElsaSchiaparelli MarcelVertes Harlequin Duck GlazedCeramicBrooch
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Between the first ad campaign that legendary fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) commissioned from internationally-admired Paris-based Hungarian-born multimedia artist Marcel Vertes (1895-1961) for her blockbuster perfume "Shocking" in 1937 and in 1940 when they left France after launching her perfume "Sleeping" shortly before the Nazi occupation during WWII, the illustrator-cum-ceramist distinctly handmade, while traditional materials for couture costume-jewelry were scarce in Paris, this whimsical red glazed ceramic brooch depicting a duck holding a "wet" umbrella dripped with dashes of turquoise or black glaze.
Significantly, the trombone clasp of the brooch pin, the long-pronged gilt frame, and the text stamped on its back plate "Made In France" match a similarly sized glazed-ceramic brooch of a decoratively-chained bear that was published in the book Bijoux (page 146). The author Deanna Farenti Cera dated that likewise unbranded unsigned brooch to 1938 when it was commissioned for one of Schiaparelli's fashion shows themed "Circus". The invitation to that show, which was illustrated with circus characters and performing animals by Vertes' Parisian peer Christian Berard, included a domesticated white duck--notably not holding nor wearing a fashion accessory.
Unusually, Schiaparelli had commissioned couture umbrellas from other artisans in the 1930s--a couple of which were acquired by TheMet museum. Another relevant Met acquisition of the designer's couture evening gown, which it dates to Summer 1940, features three large glazed-ceramic fasteners in a contrasting color matching our brooch.
The like findings, materials, construction, text, object, and palette aside, accessory-adorned ducks were also among the figurative animals commissioned by Schiaparelli for that last collection before the Germans dominated Paris by June 1940, which is evidenced by the photo of the dated gilt hatpin depicting a bejeweled head with a bill that appears in the book by Patrick Mauries about another Schiaparelli-associated French parurier Lina Baretti (pages 124-125). See our other listing for one of Baretti's uniquely feathered designs, which likewise has a pronged gilt frame with trombone clasp like ours, but whose partridge subject best suits an earlier Schiaparelli collection for Fall 1938 titled "Pagan".
For us, distinguishing our brooch from other one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces created for Schiaparelli couture...
Category
Vintage 1930s French Artisan Brooches
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
MartinMargiela 1990s MissDeannaKnit GoldLurexThreaded FauxDipDyed Ombre Pullover
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Chicago, IL
When Belgian former fashion designer Martin Margiela debuted gold-Lurex knits while French luxury-goods Hermes Womenswear Artistic Director, simultaneously in Fall 1999, he introduced at his eponymous Paris-based Maison Martin Margiela a collection featuring 1970s-inspired Lurex-accented sweaters, along with oversized loose clothes intended for either women or men. Including a distinct black-printed white-folded tag stitched into a seam by Italian experimental knitter Miss Deanna, who created many memorable knits under Margiela's artistic direction, this Margiela sparkly finely-knit viscose-and-Lurex-blend long-sleeve pullover is a minimalist unisex design with narrow ribbed trim at the crewneck, wrists and hem. Its "Made In Italy" size 44 with a 15.5-inch shoulderline is without darts and drapes like a one-size-fits-most stretch T-shirt.
The lightweight sweater was knit from pale-gold, grey and blue yarns into an ombre pattern like a dip-dye technique associated with fabric. Yet the additional glittery orange-tone metallic thread (difficult to photograph due to reflections) interspersed throughout was clearly not dyed or printed. Conversely, Margiela's Fall 1999 Artisanale Line 0 collection that was produced instead by his Parisian team explored the textural effects of hand-painting fabrics, such as the unisex T-shirts that were striped or obscured with thick silver paint.
Earlier in the 1990s, Margiela had reproduced some vintage...
Category
1990s Italian Pullovers
MartinMargiela 1990 1stRetrospectiveCollection1994 Sheer Black Convertible Apron
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Chicago, IL
As a variation of the traditional waiter-style apron that Belgian former fashion designer Martin Margiela reworked with his eponymous Maison Martin Margiela since its first collection for Spring/Summer 1989, this minimalist convertible transparent black chiffon rectangular garment was part of his Spring 1994 collection. The iconic corner-stitched textural white-cotton brand label is stenciled with seemingly contradictory text referencing an earlier Fall 1990 collection. Instead of the blank label that had become internationally recognized among progressive-fashion buyers during the brand's initial five years, this black print was added in this manner for only one collection during its founder's tenure. This distinct typography identifies it a one of his favorites that he re-editioned from his first 10 fashion shows.
This season-less self-curated retrospective collection without any new designs was unprecedented in the ready-to-wear fashion industry, which sold only newly-designed clothes typically two to five times annually. In the early 1990s, this old-made-new-again collection was astonishing for a Paris-based high-end brand, for which any lack of fresh designs for Spring had otherwise been attributed to the loss of an artistic director or the outbreak of war.
Nevertheless, there are subtle differences of color, material and draping possibilities that make our re-edition unique from the 1990 apron and from later "replicas", which was the term that Margiela printed on a different kind of label for his second self-curated retrospective in Spring 1999 following 10 more collections.
Aside from the text-printed brand label with four characteristic hand-sewn corner stitches, the only other element that unified Margiela's first collection of favorites was that all the items were overdyed a darker color so that the clothes were various shades of grey, blue or black depending on the original color of the textile and how much dye the thread/yarn absorbed. The first Margiela apron...
Category
1990s Italian Aesthetic Evening Dresses
MartinMargiela RunwayLook1 Spring/Summer 2007 Feminine Red LowHigh Mini Cape
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Chicago, IL
Belgium former fashion designer Martin Margiela for his eponymous Paris-based Maison Martin Margiela Spring/Summer 2007 collection in a minimalist style debuted this cherry-red crepe...
Category
Early 2000s Italian Capes
Modernist BertoiaStyle Kinetic Silver 8Bead SpiralWire 3Band Asymmetric MensRing
Located in Chicago, IL
Recalling some early-mid-century modernist one-of-a-kind unsigned silver jewelry featuring delicate kinetic parts, tiny forged balls, and thin-wire work by American metal-worker Harry Bertoia, this aged silver unsigned spiraled wire open ring with essentially 3 bands is structured with 3 silver beads forged on both ends and in the center that are notably misaligned. The additional 5 among the 8 balls are kinetic for sliding, but only from one end to the fixed central ball. The subtle asymmetrical design encourages the wearer to think about the single ball--that is identical to the others--that will always remain isolated, unlike mindlessly toying with a traditional "fidget" ring or bracelet.
For insight, view the early silver rings and wire brooches by the artist found in the online catalogue raisonne assembled by the Harry Bertoia Foundation, which may authenticate his unsigned jewelry for a fee that was prohibitive to us while we offer it for sale. Do not overlook his circa-1940 mens-size aluminum 3-sectioned open ring topped with 3 rows of 5 adjacent small matching geometric shapes, nor his circa-1943 spiraled-wire hatpin with 3 white beads, which share significant aesthetics with our inch-diameter ring including the numeric 1-3-5-8 elements. Unlike the ring that we found, those unsigned Bertoia pieces have documented provenance.
Comparatively, another 1stDibs dealer is currently offering an unauthenticated early-Bertoia-style silver wire pendant...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modernist Band Rings
Materials
Silver
1990s Jil Sander BiasCut Black Sheer Linen DeepVneck LongSleeve Tunic Mini Dress
By Jil Sander
Located in Chicago, IL
With the finest fabric and tailoring--the base expectation for all progressive minimalist luxurious fashions designed for powerful women by German Jil Sander before the Prada-buyout ...
Category
1990s German Mini Dress
Couture 1938 France Depose ElsaSchiaparelli Pagan FeatherCrystalGold Bird Brooch
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Unusually decorated with small partridge feathers like the yellow-gold gilt necklace commissioned by Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) that is featured on the front-and-back covers and centerfold of the French costume-jewelry hardcover book Lina Baretti Parures authored by Patrick Mauries, this unique pave-crystal yellow-gold gilt metal partridge-on-a-branch brooch is further distinguished as an unsigned Parisian-couture piece for Italian-born Schiaparelli with its combination of embossed text "Made In France" and "Modele Depose", along with the trombone clasp often used in the early 20th Century for custom-made French small brooches.
The book centerfold on pages 90-91 shows a closeup of the feathered necklace created by French-born Corsican Baretti, whose intricate decoration often mixed ready-made textural or shiny materials like velvet, cork, wire, rhodoid or raffia with custom-made metal, plastic or glass by specialized Parisian workshops such as Maison Gripoix. The Baretti-book caption about the attributed necklace notes: "Collier realise pour Elsa Schiaparelli. Liege, soie, cannetille, perles de verre et plumes de perdix. Chaine en metal." While none of the captions date this necklace--which could have been from the same commission as our brooch--Baretti created one-of-a-kind jewelry for Schiaparelli from the 1930s to the early 1950s until the fashion designer retired.
Our brooch was most likely made for a fashion-show debut of one of Schiaparelli's themed clothing collections in the late 1930s for which she commissioned many costume-jewelry paruriers including Baretti. See our photo of a Schiaparelli 1930s...
Category
Vintage 1930s French Artisan Brooches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Balenciaga 2006 Ghesquiere Brocade & Boucle Rounded 3/4Sleeve Ecru Jacket
By Balenciaga, Nicholas Ghesquiere
Located in Chicago, IL
French-born Nicholas Ghesqueire, lauded in the 2000s for his innovative couture-like construction with atypical ready-to-wear luxurious fabrics tailored to perfection, designed for h...
Category
Early 2000s French Single-Breasted Jackets
Couture 1990 MartinMargiela Unique Openwork Mohair Knit Snap&Tie Convertible Top
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Chicago, IL
With Belgian former couture-fashion designer Martin Margiela's original blank-white textural-cotton corner-sewn label from the early 1990s visible above the prominent knit-hole, this openwork yarn top that is clearly a one-of-a-kind "Line 0" Artisanal garment by Maison Martin Margiela is crocheted from a brown soft animal-hair blend into a see-through changeante pattern recalling a collapsed spiderweb. A prominent European dealer sold a similarly designed but longer deconstructed openwork grey cape that also features a circular knit hole in a mohair-blend. Its remaining additional tag indicates that it was produced by Margielas' longtime Italian knitter Miss Deanna for the Autumn-Hiver 1993-1994 collection. Further, we have found similar one-of-a-kind Margiela openwork-knit and unraveling pieces, as well as one with oversized snaps like the fasteners on our top, dating back to his 1992 collections. Suggesting it could have been from an earlier collection, Antwerp's fashion museum MoMu featured a pale deconstructed mohair knit sweater dating from 1990 in its major Martin Margiela 20-year retrospective, which was produced in collaboration with the designer during his final year at the house in 2008.
Based on other Margiela couture pieces with more than one remaining identification tag, the design of our cardigan without a remaining text tag began as a vintage top collected by Martin Margiela to upcycle or reproduce, and/or it was made-to-order by Miss Deanna before he finished it to some degree with his Paris-based team.
Our knit fastens with pompon-tipped yarn ties, along with two signature silver oversized-snap buttons, which most noticeably appeared on Margiela tops in 1994 for a collection that was inspired by toy-doll wardrobes and included human-sized reproductions of actual miniatures.
For price comparison, another 1stDibs dealer currently lists a silver-oversized-snap-fastening brown faux-leather windbreaker "doll" jacket by Maison Martin Margiela for upwards of $7,000. Also on 1stDibs, two other Margiela 1990s...
Category
1990s Italian Vests
TomFord YvesSaintLaurent RiveGauche Slim StraightLeg Black FineDenim Jeans
By Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Located in Chicago, IL
In the sexy sleek skin-tight style that Texan Tom Ford introduced as the former artistic director at Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche while the French esteemed eponymous designer was r...
Category
Early 2000s European Jeans
Cavalli 2003 Leopard Silk Embellished Set Sequins Net Blouse & CuffedCapriJeans
By Roberto Cavalli
Located in Chicago, IL
Over 20 years ago, the late Roberto Cavalli who recently died in 2024 designed this silk-and-cotton top-and-jeans set showcasing his signature mix of animal prints with luxurious emb...
Category
Early 2000s Italian Trouser Pant Suits
Couture 1950s French Montague Wired GlassBeads CrystalEnameledRondelles Earrings
By Francoise Montague
Located in Chicago, IL
In the 1950s while he operated an eponymous Parisian couture costume-jewelry boutique, Francoise Montague designed these unique handmade ornate pair of sparkly clip earrings featurin...
Category
Vintage 1950s French Artisan Clip-on Earrings
Materials
Crystal, Enamel, Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal
MidCentury SculpturalTexturedGoldBowClasp Graduated4Strand Snake Chain Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This mid-century shiny yellow-gold-plated snake-chain multi-strand necklace features a sculptural finely-textured gilt-metal bow that is positioned to rest on the upper left chest to...
Category
Vintage 1940s American Modern Multi-Strand Necklaces
Materials
Yellow Gold, Gold Plate, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
Antique HandPressed Glass European GoldFiligreeCapped Beaded Heavy Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique rare hand-pressed-glass necklace features semi-translucent grape-green large beads that are capped with gilt-brass filigree. Based on the combination of bead seams, spring-ring clasp, and metal findings on the unmarked faux Chinese-jade necklace, it dates to the late Victorian period most likely from Western Europe.
Around WWI, hand presses, which stamped molten glass into a mold to create a bead with a hole and a seam, were often used to produce costume jewelry as a cottage industry in Germany and the Czech region. This was while there was a lack of factory machine presses and finishing tumblers that used sand to polish out the seam lines.
Another reason that the cloudy green beads can be identified as atypically hand-pressed is that they are more opaque and therefore harder and less prone to breaking during formation than fully-translucent glass, which was better suited for automated-machine pressing. Also the green beads are an unusual swirled color including white, which suggests that their production was more limited than machine-pressing would enable.
Without the bead-seams, this necklace could be mistaken for one by Coco Chanel. Her 1920s couture...
Category
Early 20th Century German Late Victorian Beaded Necklaces
Materials
Gold, Brass, Gilt Metal
Vintage Enameled SilverHeartPendants Linked Adjustable Chain Decor Necklace Belt
Located in Chicago, IL
This vintage amusing enameled silver pendant adjustable-chain unsigned necklace, belt or novel interior decoration features heart-shaped two-inch...
Category
Late 20th Century Belts
Couture Chanel Late1920s MadeInFrance WiredPearlLampworkGlass BrassClip Earrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Stamped "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry commissioned by French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel beginning in 1924, these floral-motif wired earrings with early handcrafted brass flat clips are decorated with button-like cultured mother-of-pearl disks mixed with Parisian organically-coated lampwork glass, which we photographed in indoor sunlight for the most accurate iridescent ecru colors. The pair were designed by Chanel to accessorize a one-of-a-kind clothing ensemble (likely including cultured-pearl buttons) for a client of this pearl-associated couturier whose earliest one-of-a-kind jewelry such as pieces for herself--unlike other 1920s fashion designers--sometimes mixed real and faux gems.
The intricate glass artistry, wired cluster arrangement and earring findings are characteristic of one of Chanel's first Parisian paruriers, Louis Rousselet, who was a lampwork master with a workshop since 1920 that became recognized for faux-pearl glass beads and wire-work construction. As the three-piece flat-brass lever clips without hinge-holes on both sides predate Rousselet's wire-horseshoe clips, they can be dated like the patinated brass hardware to the mid-1920s.
The beads of various sizes and ecru colors that are wired to each earring include five round flat graduating iridescent mother-of-pearls, along with lampwork glass replicating nine baroque pearls, five round pearls and two seed pearls. There are natural imperfections on the green-and-rose-reflecting cultured pearls, while there is some nacre-enamel loss on the glass beads that is not eye visible. On closer view, one of the central round glass beads has a lighter blister, which appears like the texture of some uncultured pearls.
Of note, Chanel did not include a brand signature on any of her couture costume jewelry prior to the mid-1950s. As many of her clients who came to Paris for their couture-clothing fittings were foreign, the coordinated unique jewelry that was expected to leave the country was merely stamped "Made In France" or "France".
We acquired these earrings in The States along with a similar set with fewer but larger "petals, berries and leaves", which we priced the same in a different listing despite the slightly greater size and weight of this pair. So we know that they both were created for a single commission of multiple unique earrings with like lampwork-glass shapes and findings to be paired with the button-like mother-of-pearls provided by Chanel. While we have acquired over a dozen pre-signature pieces commissioned by the founder, these are the earliest earrings that we have discovered by Chanel. We have never found a single match to contradict our recognition of her early couture creations nor to attribute them to another designer.
Further, Art Deco couture...
Category
Vintage 1920s French Artisan Clip-on Earrings
Materials
Pearl, Cultured Pearl, Brass
ArtDeco 5BlackDiamond-FacetedSpinels 6BezelSetCognacDiamonds CastSilver Earrings
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring five sparkly black opaque spinels with diamond-shaped facets and splintery vitreous surfaces, along with bezel-set champagne diamonds with yellow or peach reflections in su...
Category
Mid-20th Century Art Deco Clip-on Earrings
Materials
Spinel, Black Spinel, Brown Diamond, Silver
MiriamHaskell Early SignatureGrapeCluster GlassPearl 1920s Pendant Necklace
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring the earliest white-swirled glass and enameled faux-pearl round beads handcrafted by Parisian lampwork-master Louis Rousselet for American entrepreneur Miriam Haskell and he...
Category
Vintage 1920s American Baroque Revival Beaded Necklaces
Materials
Pearl, Silver
ArtDeco 491 ProngSetCrystals SchreinerStyle SilverSolder 35" Belt ChokerNecklace
Located in Chicago, IL
With settings and construction like Art-Deco-period unsigned crystal costume-jewelry by Bavarian-born blacksmith Henry Schreiner (1898-1954), this mid-century unsigned silver-soldere...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Multi-Strand Necklaces
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Base Metal
Couture Chanel Late1920s MadeInFrance WiredPearl&LampworkGlass Clip Earrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Marked "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry commissioned by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel since 1924, these beaded early-handcrafted-clip earrings are arranged with wire in a floral motif featuring button-like mother-of-pearls accented by smaller balls of lampwork glass with an ecru organic coating that mimics pearl nacre. The pair were designed to accessorize a one-of-a-kind clothing ensemble (likely including cultured-pearl buttons and a brooch) for a client of the pearl-associated French couturier whose earliest jewelry--unlike her fashion-designer peers--sometimes mixed real and faux gems.
The glass artistry, clustered arrangement and earring findings are characteristic of one of her Parisian paruriers, Louis Rousselet, who was a lampwork master with a workshop since 1920 specializing in faux-pearl glass beads and wire-work assembly, along with other decorative elements. Since the three-piece flat-brass lever clips without hinge-holes on both sides predate Rousselet's wire-horseshoe clips, they can be dated like the patinated brass hardware to the mid1920s.
The beads of various sizes and shades of white that are wired to these earrings include four round graduating iridescent mother-of-pearl disks, along with lampwork glass replicating four baroque pearls, three round pearls and two seed pearls. There are natural impurities present on the green-and-pink-reflecting cultured pearls, while we can clean dust from the coated-glass crevices upon request.
Of note, Chanel did not include a brand signature on any of her couture costume jewelry prior to the mid-1950s. As many of her clients who came to Paris for their couture-clothing fittings were foreign, the coordinated unique jewelry that was expected to leave the country was merely stamped "Made In France" or "France". We acquired these earrings in The States along with similar pair with additional but smaller "petals, berries and leaves" from the same Rousselet commission.
Further, Art Deco couture...
Category
Vintage 1920s French Artisan Clip-on Earrings
Materials
Pearl, Cultured Pearl, Brass
1930s JeanneLavinParis ArtDeco Tulle Silk CoutureAdaptation Black Evening Jacket
By Jeanne Lanvin
Located in Chicago, IL
In the 1930s when French fashion couturier Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946) was creating decorative bias-cut silk tulle overlays for her feminine full-skirted sleeveless "robes de style", she designed this black semi-transparent silk-tulle formal jacket featuring diagonally-striped topstitched silk-crepe appliques throughout the bias-cut panels. This sheer geometric-patterned cape-like jacket has a skirt that drapes from an open waistline and a top-fastening bodice with gathered rounded 3/4-length sleeves that each have two arm seams and shirred embroidered cuffs. It could have been the first "swing coat" design that was given that name around 1935, when Lanvin was the "uncontested leader in the haute-couture field"--according to the French Palais Galliera that has collected and exhibited similar garments at its fashion museum in Paris. In New York, TheMet collected a House of Lanvin black evening coat with a similar shape that also features dramatic linear appliques, but in a white starburst that it dates to Spring/Summer 1927.
The unprecedented modern look of this Art-Deco women's jacket, which was inspired by 18th-Century French and Spanish topcoats for aristocratic court dresses, may have been good cause for Maison Lanvin to custom-make some close reproductions of a one-of-a-kind couture original for additional clients in Paris, which is implied by the remaining French brand-label noting "Adaptation Jean Lanvin...
Category
1930s French Swing Coats
1990s Alaia Paris BiasCut CurvilinearSeamedButt DropWaist Draping Knit Dress
By Azzedine Alaïa
Located in Chicago, IL
In the early 1990s in France, Paris-based Azzedine Alaia (1935-2017) designed this knit pullover chemise-style sleeveless lavender violet viscose dress that features bias panels in b...
Category
1990s French Chemises
Miriam Haskell 1930 Fringe Glass & BrassBar Pendants ChainLink Art Deco Necklace
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring a relatively heavy fringe of dangling Russian-gilt brass bars and contrasting French-blue textural hand-pressed glass beads topped with filigree caps to resemble flower bud...
Category
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Brass, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
KineticPuppetStringsPinocchio GoldTexturedChainLink3Strand Early20thC. Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Acquired in The States and likely inspired by the American 1938-commissioned animated-feature movie, Pinocchio, that was produced for two years by Walt Disney based on an Italian children's story, this unsigned pre-WWII yellow-gold-gilt brass necklace with elegant draping chains features a three-inch-long playful kinetic multi-textured faux-carved-wood puppet-on-strings pendant with pointed hat, filigree-capped collar and waist, and flexible geometric-shaped limbs. Structured with three chains, notice the additional texture on the slightly larger links of the upper necklace.
Unlike the movie, as the marionette on our necklace wears a lace-like collar resembling the original character illustrated by Enrico Mazzanti in the book by Tuscany-born Carlo Collodi, The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883), the necklace otherwise could date no earlier than the turn of the 19th Century when the spring-ring clasp was first in use. Since that time, Pinocchio became one of the most reimagined characters in literature based on multiple authors whose protagonist was a similar anthropomorphic puppet.
To be conservative about its age as the necklace is in good condition, we suspect that Austrian-born Hattie Carnegie commissioned it to accessorize her "hat-to-hem" custom-made or ready-to-wear clothing that frequently featured amusing figural subjects with articulated parts, such as mythical creatures, fauna or clowns. Before her death at the age 69 in 1956, not all of the pieces in the costume-jewelry parures of her eponymous brand since 1919 were signed, while based on experience we assume that at least clip earrings accompanied this creative necklace...
Category
Early 20th Century American Artisan Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Brass
Alaia S/S1986 PrinceOfLines BlackSet Knit & TripleBrassZipper Studded Skirt
By Azzedine Alaïa
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring a dramatic never-worn zipper skirt from the iconic Spring/Summer 1986 Alaia Paris collection--which dominated the Vanity Fair published preview of Foundation Azzedine Alaia...
Category
1980s French Skirt Suits
Schiaparelli Signed MidCentury Leaves Motif Austrian Crystals Gilt Link Bracelet
By Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed "Schiaparelli" in script, this mid-century link bracelet features a textural-leaves motif characteristic of costume jewelry by the Parisian couturier Elsa Schiaparelli. Like m...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Post-War Tennis Bracelets
Materials
Crystal, Yellow Gold, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
Couture 1960s PacoRabanne Paris MadeInFrance Handpainted SilkChiffon Pareo Dress
By Paco Rabanne
Located in Chicago, IL
In the 1960s, the Paris-based revolutionary futurist haute-couture designers included Andre Courreges, Pierre Cardin and Paco Rabanne, who was the last to died in the 21st Century in...
Category
1960s French Delphos Gowns
TomFord 2001 1stYearYSL PlungingV CutOut Draped Gown Sheer Silk Black Maxi Dress
By Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Located in Chicago, IL
American Tom Ford, for his first collection for Yves Saint Laurent Paris/Rive Gauche while also creative director at Gucci, designed this Spring/Summer 2001 black formal evening gown...
Category
Early 2000s French Maxi Dress
Trifari 1930s Alfred Philippe ArtDeco Jade&GoldGlass MicroBead 20Strand Necklace
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
On this Art-Deco period glass micro-bead 20-strand necklace, the yellow-gold-plated clasp is stamped with a crown-topped Trifari signature without a U.S.-copyright symbol, which Indi...
Category
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Multi-Strand Necklaces
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold, Base Metal, Gold Plate
Antique GiltSilverFiligree FauxEmeraldChrysoberylPearl Gold Link&Chain Bracelet
Located in Chicago, IL
Possibly as old as the 1800s or a later Baroque-revival imperceptible reproduction, this antique handcrafted gold gilt-silver vermeil filigree-frame textured-chain link bracelet likely originated in the European region of Austria-Hungary-Germany. We partly base this on its brilliant blue-green glass jewels in the rare trace-mineral saturated color of authentic alkaline Columbian emeralds. Including a decorative box-clasp, the ornate bracelet also features 14 prong-set round white pearls mostly mounted on the open-work filigree and 6 marquise-cut vanadium chrysoberyl...
Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Baroque Revival Link Bracelets
Materials
Zircon, Chrysoberyl, Beryl, Pearl, Emerald, Silver, Gilt Metal, Gold
Schreiner NY 1950s 22 ProngSet Crystals AB & PiecrustSetPaleYellow Clip Earrings
By Henry Schreiner
Located in Chicago, IL
In 1956 when Christian Dior's ultra-feminine New Look had dominated fashion for nearly a decade, Schreiner New York handcrafted these opulent unsigned earrings with 22 prong-set open-back crystals to accompany the eveningwear of an American high-end fashion designer. They may have been for client Pauline Trigere when her ready-to-wear collections with accessories including unmarked-Schreiner jewelry were sold by NYC's Bergdorf Goodman and worn by her clients including Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Elizabeth Taylor. Comparatively, Schreiner jewelry produced in the 1950s for direct sale to high-end department stores, such as Neiman Marcus, Henri Bendel and Saks Fifth Avenue, were the only pieces to include a brand signature.
Using the best quality European crystals that were custom-made for him, the founder Henry Schreiner was among the world's leading glass-jewelry designers before he died in 1954, whereafter his daughter and her husband continued with their handcrafted production. The family shared this distinction with Western Germany-based Max Muller and Paris-based Roger Jean Pierre, who were commissioned to create haute-couture pieces for the world's leading fashion houses. Notably in 1949, Henry Schreiner was commissioned by Dior to create several exclusive pieces.
We know these earrings were not created earlier than 1956 because of the use of iridescent coating on some of the crystals that produces a rainbow effect. Known as aurora-borealis (AB) stones, Swarovski initially produced them exclusively for a haute-couture collection that year by Dior. Shortly thereafter, the Schreiner team had access to such colorful stones, and most certainly used them as soon as possible to enable their American fashion-designer clients to compete with the new Dior iridescent-colors trend.
At the bottom tips of the marquise-shaped pale yellow stones...
Category
Vintage 1950s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Materials
Crystal, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Gucci TomFord 2001AwardYear Leather TuxedoPeakLapel SingleClasp EcruDinnerJacket
By Tom Ford for Gucci, Gucci
Located in Chicago, IL
Tom Ford for his Gucci Spring/Summer 2001 collection toyed with the retro mid-century concept of nude sex-appeal embodied by Marilyn Monroe, who inspired that season's designs and ad campaign. With the themes of bare skin and black-seamed sheer stockings, Ford's opening looks on his fashion-show runway featured ecru corset dresses with black transparent or leather overlays and stiletto heels (see our other listing for runway "Look 2"). Our versatile ecru leather tuxedo-influenced sharp-shoulder dinner jacket is from the same award-winning collection.
Significantly, 2001 was the year that Tom Ford (b. 1961) won the Council of Fashion Designers of America womenswear award for Designer of the Year, while The Met acquired Ford's signature corset dress for its Costume Institute collection.
Purchased at the Gucci boutique on Manhattan's Upper East Side, this "Made In Italy"-labeled jacket is tagged size 40, while suiting a US-size 4 to 6 with the padded shoulder-to-shoulder seam measurement of 15.4 inches and 23.6 inches arm length.
The jacket is streamlined by marked and angled peak lapels, sleeve vents with concealed buttons, back symmetrical vent, and single-point closure near the interior seam via a tiny Gucci branded silver-tone metal clasp. Notably, these are among the most technically challenging elements to tailor.
Fully lined in ecru silk-blend fabric, the jacket's left interior chest pocket sports button-and-fabric-loop closure and a fully sewn larger black Gucci brand label.
We added photos of the jacket worn over our black-tulle-covered ecru strapless balconette corset dress that was the Gucci Spring/Summer 2001 fashion...
Category
Early 2000s Italian Tuxedo Jackets
Couture Cis Zoltowska Fingerlike ProngSet CrackleGlass RedBalls Silver Earrings
By Countess Cis Zoltowska
Located in Chicago, IL
In the mid-century, Austro-Hungarian Comtesse Cissy Zoltowska designed haute-couture costume jewelry with elements of hand-craftsmanship for some of the leading European houses inclu...
Category
Mid-20th Century European Modern Clip-on Earrings
Materials
Silver, Mixed Metal
Couture ThierryMugler 1990s CorsetStyle SilkLined Denim WideShoulder Power Dress
By Thierry Mugler Couture
Located in Chicago, IL
In the 1990s, French Thierry Mugler (1948-2022) designed this haute-couture labeled and numbered corset-style topstitched zigzag-panel ecru 100%-cotton-denim cocktail dress, which is...
Category
1990s French Cocktail Dresses
Stella McCartney Fall2002 RunwayFinale Transparent SilkChiffon PlungingV Blouse
By Stella McCartney
Located in Chicago, IL
For her Fall/Winter 2002 runway finale with the model embodying a "jeans bride", Stella McCartney debuted this unique ethereal lingerie-like black transparent silk georgette blouse ...
Category
Early 2000s British Blouses
Antique 1920-40 Surrealist Sculpture Unique Set Hammered SteelWire Female Torsos
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique Surrealist sculpture set of two one-of-a-kind female figurines was handmade in hammered steel wire with patina estimated as early as the 1920s. Each ribald three-dimensional self-standing torso study of a woman features either three spiral springs (suggesting pregnant belly with large breasts...
Category
Early 20th Century Unknown Sculptures
StellaMcCartney 2003 Runway RedPatent&Translucent 4InchStiletto OmbreResin Heels
By Stella McCartney
Located in Chicago, IL
Among the early standout sexy shoes designed by Stella McCarney for her eponymous British brand, these four-inch steel stilettos with maroon-ombre resin hee...
Category
Early 2000s British Shoes
MartinMargiela S/S 2008 PlungingVneck Bias Ruched Black HalterTop HighSlit Dress
By Maison Martin Margiela
Located in Chicago, IL
From one of the last fashion collections for French Maison Martin Margiela by its renowned founder Belgian artist Martin Margiela before he prematurely retired in 2009, this asymmetr...
Category
Early 2000s Italian Aesthetic Evening Dresses
Couture GianniVersaceFinalYear RunwayMilan Embroidered Silk Renaissance Corset
By Gianni Versace Couture, Gianni Versace
Located in Chicago, IL
The late Italian Gianni Versace near the end of his life--cut short by his murder in July 1997--designed this couture heavily-embroidered semi-transparent silk chiffon sleeveless hou...
Category
1990s Italian Bodices
ChristianDiorBoutiqueParis 1999 JohnGalliano CoutureSilkWoolCrepe HipAccentDress
By John Galliano, Christian Dior Haute Couture
Located in Chicago, IL
Acquired from the French flagship Christian Dior Boutique in Paris when John Galliano was its artistic director of both haute couture and ready-to-wear, he designed this hip-accentua...
Category
1990s French Sheath Dresses
BillBlass 1970s TuxedoLike EcruSatinTrim BoldShoulder BlackWoolCrepe ShiftDress
By Bill Blass
Located in Chicago, IL
Around 1970 when he introduced his eponymous brand after becoming a leading couture fashion designer among New York City society, American Bill Blass created this sleek tuxedo-like e...
Category
1970s American Evening Dresses and Gowns
Balenciaga NicolasGhesquiere SilkFlowerPrint StructuredShortSleeve BiasCutDress
By Nicolas Ghesquière, Balenciaga
Located in Chicago, IL
While at Paris-based Balenciaga in late 2007, Nicolas Ghesquiere designed this 100%-silk bias-cut paneled dress that explodes with a grey and pale-yellow flower print and features un...
Category
Early 2000s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
JohnGalliano Corset ChristianDior MadeInFrance BlackLaceLogo Boxed HalterBustier
By John Galliano, Christian Dior Haute Couture
Located in Chicago, IL
While British John Galliano was creating haute couture in Paris as French fashion-house Christian Dior Artistic Director beginning in the late 1990s, he designed this "Made In France" black lace-and-sheer-mesh low-back boned corset featuring a bold curvilinear halter neck, underwire padded 32B bustier with a rounded-bust silhouette, cinched waist with a lace ruffle, and embroidered text "Dior". Along with leading couture designers Jean-Paul Gaultier and the late Vivienne Westwood, Thierry Mugler and Gianni Versace, Galliano is closely associated with the popularity of the contemporary corset, which was the focus of his acclaimed couture show in 2024 as the ongoing artistic director of Paris-based Maison Margiela for the past decade. Notably, a Galliano corset from his turn-of-the-century Christian Dior collection--with like tags and similar low back with bustier--can be viewed online among the collections of the Underpinnings Museum, which is dedicated to the most outstanding lingerie.
In addition to the tags noting "Christian Dior Made In France" along with the size, Galliano added subtle Dior-logo embroidery to the cleavage. There is no tag noting the materials of the multiple laces, tulle mesh, bones and additional padding or strap fabrics, which seem primarily synthetic for desirable stretch-to-fit. Instead, care-instruction symbols can be found on the back of the size tag.
The neck straps for this French-size 85 or U.S.-size 34 can be adjusted to one of the three tiers of hooks that best suits the wearer, while the corset has two tiers of hooks to cinch the waist. As worn by our small-size mannequin, the top will flatter even an A-cup breast size.
As noted in our listing sidebar, the buyer will receive the corset packed in its original Christian Dior silver shoebox-size cardboard packaging, while the lingerie will be wrapped in the original logo-printed white tissue paper. The box and paper are in good condition without rips or perforation, while the lingerie is in like-new condition as if it had only been tried on and not worn for an event.
For price comparison, a later dated Galliano/Dior bustier corset top--with like tags but strapless--recently sold on 1stDibs for $6,200. The previous sole owner of our top recalled making their purchase as new lingerie in 2001.
This French ready-to-wear complex-structure garment should not be confused with other international lingerie lines with different but similar labels--"Christian Dior Intimates...
Category
Early 2000s French Corsets
1980s VictorCosta GatheredRuched RedSatin BlackVelvet LongSlit Formal Maxi Gown
By Victor Costa
Located in Chicago, IL
For a formal special event, this 1980s maxi dress sleeveless gown by American designer Victor Costa features glamorous glossy red satin that is gathered, ruched and topstitched in bo...
Category
1980s American Maxi Dress
1941 ChanelRelevant American Reinad ArtDecoStyle Silver PolkaDot LargeBow Brooch
By Reinad
Located in Chicago, IL
In Spring 1941 after French fashion couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel had stopped production of her clothing designs while she remained in Europe during the WWII era, the decades-old American costume-jewelry company Reinad began imprinting pieces in its new retail line, Chanel Novelty Co, with the script signature "Chanel". As this was prior to the use of the sans-serif capital-letter signature "CHANEL" on French-made jewelry that was commissioned by the Parisian designer, as well as before U.S.-copyright protection began in 1955, the House of Chanel that was mostly owned by the Jewish Wertheimer family of venture capitalists (who remarkably still produced Parfums CHANEL and French-vineyard wine via legal proxy while they lived in asylum in The States during the war) filed a U.S. lawsuit to demand that Reinad halt the use of its founder's famous last name.
As the Werthheimers' quickly won, Reinad only produced the single seasonal collection stamped with the French brand name, and subsequently only imprinted its company name as the sans-serif capital-letter signature "REINAD" without a copyright symbol, which was different that its prior signatures dating back to its founding in 1922. When Chanel herself resumed French-made fashion production in Paris in 1953 (with Werthheimer support leading to their acquisition of all rights to her name despite her post-war eight-year exile in Switzerland due to close association with Nazis), for the first time all of her creations were signed "CHANEL" like the original packaging of the exceedingly profitable "No.5" perfume.
While Reinad continued to produced costume jewelry until 1954, in the last decade of this business, the U.S. company continued to try to appeal to potential Chanel buyers by at least making Chanel-style designs. As such, owning an attractive and well-made Reinad piece can be considered a useful investment in fashion history as evidence of a little-known turning-point involving the most famous ongoing luxury-fashion business Chanel, as well as of the impact of that legal judgement had on advancing U.S. design protection for brands that later used the copyright symbol.
Like early ArtDeco-style oversized heavy metallic costume jewelry by Chanel, this three-dimensional monochrome silver-alloy polkadot bow brooch imitates a pale polkadot-textured ribbon. Notably, while high-quality ribbon for styling hair or decorating clothing in a non-functional way was still an expensive accessory...
Category
Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Brooches
Materials
Rhodium, Silver, Base Metal
