The Shrimpton Couture Archives

• The dress was produced for the Cruise 2010 collection for Dior.
• It was made under the creative direction of John Galliano.
• With the dress he plays with the idea of an inner corset coming out and under from a dress draped over the corset. He first explored this idea in a couture gown from his Spring 1997 Dior collection.
• The dress is made out of a white crepe that has a slight texture to it. This was one of his preferred fabrics and it drapes beautifully over the body.
• The dress is strapless and has a full built-in boned and cupped corset to hold the dress in place over you. This inner structure gives you shape and then the outer fabric skims over your bust, waist and hips. It falls in a long column and the skirt widens out as it nears the floor.
• The way the front inset has been created at the front is spectacular. Ivory grosgrain ribbons are hand set in vertical rows inside the V. I love how the ribbons have been caught up in and hand-stitched to create the pretty design along the top edge that you see. Onto the ribbon is a highly detailed design handset with crystal rhinestones and little tiny clear seed beads that mix round and tube shapes. Each bead has a little dot of silver in its centre and this tiny detail highlights the rhinestones even more. The rhinestones are all prong set and are a mix of a marquis and round stones. These are set into that front V that spans the width of the bust at its top and then comes down to a point underneath just above the waist.
• The body of the dress is gathered into a vertical seam under the point and I love the draping that this creates all the way down the front of the dress. There is a charming little ivory grosgrain bow that sits at the base of the V and you will note that it has been stitched at its centre in a way that picks up on the way the ribbon has been stitched at the top of the bodice between the rhinestones.
• It is a fantastically stunning dress and just an outstanding piece of Galliano.
• The dress has a full built-in boned and cupped corset inside the bodice that closes with a double row of lingerie hook and eye. the dress zips to close over that with a hidden set side zipper. The rest of the dress is lined in a ivory silk chiffon.
• Tagged a Dior FR 36, GBA, IT 40, US four
• Excellent condition

Bust: 16-17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12-14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 10" from top of bodice to inner waist
Total length: 54.5" from top of centre bodice to hem and the side fall slightly longer to 55"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Reference Photos: Marion Cotillard at the premiere of Nine, 2009.

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