The Shrimpton Couture Archives

• This is the twin of the Spring 1988 Haute Couture collection dress that walked the runway.
• It was made under the creative direction of Emanual Ungaro
• The dress was shown with gloves on the runway and was modelled by Sonia Cole. Wedding dresses were not made for clients in any great quantities so the possibility is there that this is the only one that exists.
• It would have been made completely by hand in the Paris atelier.
• The bodice is fitted and the silk has been gathered on an angle that goes up towards the single shoulder. A soft silk ivory net creates a wide ruffle that follows the neck line. I almost hesitate to call it netting because it is more of an slightly open weave silk than a tulle. On the side with the sleeve that ruffle is a 8" at its widest point and it narrows to 3" on the other side that curves underneath the arm. Inside there is hidden boning to hold the dress in place around you. It nips in at the waist and then curves out to be very fitted across and over the hips.
• The seam where the skirt is set into peaks on one side at the front and then angles down on the other. At the back it is set on more of a downward curve to emphasize and add an hourglass feel to your shape. Another ruffle of that same soft netted silk creates the first ruffle that following the seam around the hips. Layered under that is a doubled over panel of a dotted white silk netting. This is gathered and set all the way around you and adds volume to the ruffles set there.
• A fitted inner skirt is made of a raw ivory silk and this wraps around the hips and creates an inner mini skirt. Another ruffle made from the woven silk hides that inner miniskirt from view. The ruffle begins to widen out at the sides and then drops from there to to create the long trained skirt around you. The way that it is all gathered into the slanted seam around the hip is what creates the draping around you. It is long enough that it trails out behind you to create a train.
• The single shoulder sleeve detail is of course what puts the dress over the top. The very top layer of it is the ruffle of the neckline and then there is a doubled over layer of the woven silk under that, This is followed by gathered layers of the white dotted tulle. A doubled over panel of ivory silk organza with inner layers of stiffening inside is next and then there are layers of the dotted tulle for the very innermost layer. Extra panels of the tulle and a light strip of padding sit around the very inner top of the shoulder to help give support and really lift that entire shoulder up and into the volume that you see.
• This is an absolute master class in Couture and is quintessentially Ungaro in every way. 
• The dress is fully lined in an ivory silk that is completely hand set. There is a hidden inner strap to help hold the shoulder in place and a light partial handmade padding that wraps around the top of the inner shoulder. An attached waist stay hooks to close and the dress closes at the side with a zipper. I see one teeny area near the hem of the front ruffle where the netting has some tiny breaks. There is so much fabric that you would never see this once on but it is mentioned for accuracy and I included a photo after the label shot. The woven silk does have some natural imperfections much like a raw silk would have but that is the nature of the fabric and not a flaw. It otherwise appears to have never been worn. There is about 2" of inner fabric at all of the inner seams to work with through the body.
• There is no size tag present because it is Couture so please go by the measurements listed below
• Excellent condition

Arm opening: 14" around the opening that you put your arm through
Bust: 15-16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12-12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 16.5-17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: about 15" from top of shoulder to inner waist
Total length: approx 76" from top of the shoulder to the longest point of the back hem. It is 30" from the top of the shoulder to the inner hidden hem and about 33" from the top of the shoulder to the shortest part of the ruffle that goes over the hidden inner hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XXS-XS

Reference Photos: (1) Spring 1988 Emanuel Ungaro Haute Couture. Model: Sonia Cole.  /  (2) Stylist Mimi Cuttrell in this dress.

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