Vintage YSL Dress 1980s Navy Blue Wool Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
View Similar Items
Vintage YSL Dress 1980s Navy Blue Wool Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Bust: 40 in (101.6 cm)Waist: 28 in (71.12 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Portland, OR
- Reference Number:Seller: 31661stDibs: LU22321178792
Yves Saint Laurent
French fashion 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, he 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.
- Navy Blue Cotton Carven Dress With Ruching Pockets & Open BackBy CarvenLocated in Portland, ORThis is a really wonderful Carven dress with a unique wrap style, ruching and an open back. This navy blue cotton dress closes with a side zipper and the ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Hungarian Day Dresses
- 1980s Pierre Cardin Black Vintage Dress W Button Details Lined In SilkBy Pierre CardinLocated in Portland, ORThis is a vintage Pierre Cardin take on the little black dress! This black wool crepe shift dress has two rows of snaps crossing diagonally from the left shoulder and waist to the un...Category
1980s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Gianni Versace Fall 1997 Runway Vintage Black Pink & Chartreuse Green Knit DressBy Gianni Versace, Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in Portland, ORGianni Versace Couture Fall/Winter 1997 vintage black wool blend knit sleeveless dress with pink and chartreuse design at bustline. Fully lined, the dress closes with a back zipper a...Category
1990s Italian Day Dresses
- Fall Winter 1988/89 Patrick Kelly Vintage Leopard Print Bodycon Runway DressBy Patrick KellyLocated in Portland, ORThis rare vintage Patrick Kelly leopard print dress is in a stretch fabric with ruching at the black velvet paneled sides which hugs the body per...Category
1980s French Day Dresses
- 1920s Vintage Beaded Purple Paisley Dress With Red BeadsLocated in Portland, ORThis extraordinary 1920's vintage dress is lightweight wool in blue with a magenta, green and yellow paisley print design. Small red glass beads decorate along the hem and carry on t...Category
1920s American Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 1970s Albert Nipon Vintage Dress in Black Satin With Ruff CollarBy Albert NiponLocated in Portland, ORThis beautiful vintage dress was designed by Albert Nipon in the 1970's. The dress is black satin with a ruff collar that has rows of topstitching. This is...Category
1970s American Day Dresses
$298 Sale Price49% Off
- Jackie Rogers Classic Black Satin Bias Cut DressBy Jackie RogersLocated in West Palm Beach, FLJackie Rogers classic silky black satin bias cut dress from the 1990s. The perfect black dress to dress up with jewelry and or a belt. The dress slips o...Category
1990s American Cocktail Dresses
- 80s Kevan Hall Couture Black Sequin 1980s Off Shoulder Vintage Cocktail DressLocated in San Diego, CALate 1980s KEVAN HALL COUTURE black off-the-shoulder sequin dress ! Features a nude chiffon underlay with a lace nad sequin bodice. Flowy silk chiffon skirt. Boned bodice. Hidden zip...Category
15th Century and Earlier Italian Cocktail Dresses
- 1980S THIERRY MUGLER Black Rayon Blend Crepe Asymmetrically Draped Cocktail DreBy Thierry MuglerLocated in New York, NYTagged a European 36 1980S THIERRY MUGLER Black Rayon Blend Crepe Asymmetrically Draped Cocktail Dress With Sheer Lace Back & SleevesCategory
1980s French Cocktail Dresses
- 1990s Emanuel Ungaro Size 10 Black Rayon Vintage 90s Bell Sleeve Wrap DressBy Emanuel UngaroLocated in San Diego, CAChic late 90s EMANUEL UNGARO black rayon blend size 10 bell sleeve wrap dress ! Tailored bodice with a flirty skirt. Buttons up the front. Ruffle detail at center front neck, down th...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- 1990s Calvin Klein Collection Inside Out Black Jersey Vintage 90s Midi DressBy Calvin Klein CollectionLocated in San Diego, CASuch an amazing take on the little black dress ! CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION black jersey 'Inside Out' short sleeve midi dress ! Features unfinished seams that look like they are inside out. Hidden zipper up the back with hook-and-eye closure. The perfect black dress...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Marc Jacobs Sz 8 Black Purple Peacock Feather Print Cut Out Back Racerback DressBy Marc JacobsLocated in San Diego, CAUtterly chic Marc Jacobs Collection (Main/High Line) dress! Features purple peacock feathers printed throughout. Soft black cotton. Racerback that wraps around the waist, with hook-a...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Cocktail Dresses
$410 Sale Price25% Off
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.