Vintage Yves Saint Laurent 1990s Chartreuse Long Sleeve Liquid Silk Blouse YSL
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 38 (EU)Bust: 36 in (91.44 cm)Waist: 32 in (81.28 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:San Diego, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU6624270243
Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Visionary French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. The inaugural Rive Gauche boutique — a modern shop in Paris’s bustling, bohemian Left Bank district — offered stylish garments and accessories that were intended to be affordable for a younger generation of fashion enthusiasts. The store featured Mies van der Rohe chairs and played host to actor Catherine Deneuve during its grand opening.
Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, he 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 — Rive Gauche is French for “left bank” — followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Ready-to-wear materialized during a period of dynamic transformation and experimentation and came to dominate the Paris fashion scene. 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.
The vintage YSL Rive Gauche clothing for sale on 1stDibs includes evening dresses and gowns, jackets, shoes, handbags and other items.
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: San Diego, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Chic 1960s Pink Beaded Sequin Harilela's Hong Kong Sleeveless Silk Vintage TopLocated in San Diego, CAChic 60s pink silk beaded top! So much detail to this gorgeous little gem! Lace, pearls, sequins and beads throughout. Super soft silk feels amazing against the body! Beaded fringe o...Category
1950s Hong Kong Blouses and Tops
- 1970s Suede Leather Fringe Feather Tan Brown Boho Vintage 70s Halter Crop TopLocated in San Diego, CABoho chic 1970s suede leather fringed beaded crop top ! Features ties around the back neck and center back. Side fringe details with feathers. Asymmetrical hem. Very flattering. Pair...Category
1970s American Crop Tops
- 1960s Gene Shelly Gold Beaded Silk Rayon Vintage 60s Sleeveless Blouse TopBy Gene ShellyLocated in San Diego, CAFabulous early 60s GENE SHELLY gold beaded silk and rayon sleeveless top ! Features thousands of hand-sewn beads throughout. Full metal zipper up the back with hook-and-eye closure....Category
1960s Hong Kong Blouses and Tops
- Chloe Phoebe Philo Spring 2002 Novelty Monkey Butterfly Print Long Sleeve ShirtBy Phoebe Philo, ChloéLocated in San Diego, CARare and collectible Spring / Summer 2002 CHLOE by PHOEBE PHILO novelty monkey and butterfly print long sleeve top ! This amazing blouse is from ...Category
Early 2000s French Blouses and Tops
- Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent Terra Cotta Tan Jersey Ruffle Sleeveless BlouseBy Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful TOM FORD for YVES SAINT LAURENT Rive Gauche YSL terra-cotta / tan jersey ruffle top! Simply slips over the head, and stretches to fit. Flattering ruffles throughout. Expert...Category
Early 2000s Italian Blouses and Tops
- Vintage Mary McFadden Pink Beaded Sequin Mesh Nylon Necklace CollarBy Mary McFaddenLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful vintage MARY MCFADDEN pink beaded and sequined collar ! Features thousands of hand-sewn sequins and beads throughout the entire piece. Hook-and-eye closures at the back nec...Category
Late 20th Century Collars
- Hermes 1990s Byzantine Print Silk ShirtBy HermèsLocated in Paris, FRHermes Byzantine print silk shirt featuring a Byzantine-inspired print, front logo button placket, there’s a cotton-cashmere blend panel in all black. Shirt Circa: 1990s Front: 100%...Category
1990s French Shirts
- 1970s YSL Yves Saint Laurent Taupe Silk Top Pleated Front & BackBy Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in Munich, DEThis is a beautiful and classic straight cut silk blouse by Yves Saint Laurent in an amazing tulipwood hue. A true 1970s version! The loose fitting design has all the YSL signature t...Category
1970s French Blouses
- A Jean Louis Scherrer French Couture Blouse Circa 1985By Jean-Louis ScherrerLocated in Toulon, FRCirca 1985 France Jean-Louis Scherrer blouse or top in champagne silk satin with black dots. Long sleeves with zip at the wrists and epaulettes. Crew neck collar with shawl draped e...Category
1980s French Blouses
- Vintage Pauline Trigere Gold Metallic Faux Wrap Style Evening BlouseBy Pauline TrigèreLocated in Portland, ORThis stunning vintage gold lame blouse was designed by Pauline Trigere for Bergdorf Goodman in the late 1970's. The blouse is hard to show in photos,...Category
1970s North American Blouses
- Atelier Versace Couture Printed Silk Shirt Circa 2004By Atelier VersaceLocated in Toulon, FRCirca 2004/2011 Italy - France Rare Couture shirt in silk twill printed with baroque and eccentric Indians by Donatella Versace from the years 2004/2011....Category
Early 2000s Italian Blouses and Tops
- VERSACE BLACK/GOLD MEDUSA PRINTED SILK Shirt IT 50 - LBy VersaceLocated in Montgomery, TXVERSACE SILK SHIRT A luxurious pajama shirt crafted from exceptional quality silk twill. The classic style features the golden Medusa Amplified p...Category
2010s Italian Blouses
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.