This dress comes directly from the original couture client and is in immaculate condition. This is an exceptional example of Valentino's Haute Couture work that he was doing during the 1980s. It is one of a group of dotted red chiffon dresses that Valentino showed on the runway that season. Finding pieces from this time period in such immaculate condition is a rarity and I am very pleased to have this beautiful dress in the shop. I am also pleased to have found runway footage of the group of dresses that he did. The twin of this one was a runway piece and you just get the tiniest glimpse of it on the video I have added here. I have also included a gorgeous shot of Daniela Ghione wearing the dress that year. Style icon Nan Kempner was photoed wearing a different version of the dress which gives you another idea of how fantastic the dress will be on. It is an extraordinary and historically important piece of Valentino's couture work

This dress is divine. The lines of it are beautiful and as good as it looks on the dress form it is perfection on an actual body. The bodice of the dress is fitted and nipped in at the waist. It is cut in a sweetheart neckline that softly curves at the top and is strapless. The bodice is done in an extremely intricate manner. Panels of the silk chiffon have been cut on the biased and then shirred and diagonally crossed over each other to form that complicated pattern that wraps around the entire bodice. The little striped illusion effect that you see in each curving panel is actually the white dot in the silk hat has been meticulously lined up to precision with the one above and below. This painstaking pleating and gathering technique would have taken hours and hours to accomplish. This then forms a shaped bodice that runs down past the waist and molds over the top of the hips. From under that the skirt flares out to the floor and is made up of many yards of the same bias cut red and white dotted silk chiffon. The fabric is feather light so that your slightest movement cause the silk to flow around you. On one hip there are panels of silk that are set to run down that full side to give it an extra burst of volume and movement. The interior of the dress is made to couture standards with a full built in cupped corset that is boned and shaped to just past the waist. From under the bodice the skirt is made up of three full layers of silk; two of the dotted silk and a red silk inner layer. It is one of the most beautiful dresses I have seen and looks to have been worn very little if at all. It is an amazing example of his earlier Haute Couture work. Excellent condition. 

The bodice has a full built in boned corset made that hooks into place. The dress zippers to close over that. The skirt is made up of three layers as descried above. Done with Haute Couture construction techniques. Inner waist stay hooks to close.

Bust: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 13.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Length: 52" from top of bodice to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD3588

Reference Photos: (1) Daniela Ghione in Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1986. Photo by Oliviero Toscani.  /  (2) Valentino Haute Couture SS 1986. Photo by Lord Snowdon.  /  (3) Model in Valentino Haute Couture, Vogue Italia, March 1986. Photo by Albert Watson.  /  (4-5) Nan Kempner at Barbara Walters's Four Month Wedding Anniversary Celebration at The Pierre Hotel in New York, September 1986.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.