George Stavropoulos was known for his evening wear and his signature looks often involved draping and the use of multiple layers of silk done on a bias cut. He focused on cut and fabric to convey the beauty of each piece. It was said that his gowns 'seemed to float on air'. He launched his label in 1960 and soon was dressing women like Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, Barbra Streisand and Maria Callas. The majority of his gowns are almost entirely made by hand and to couture standards. By the early 1980s one of his evening dresses started at a cost of around $8500USD and they went up in cost from there. To put that in modern terms, that would be about thirty thousand dollars. It was an incredible amount of money at the time and yet women couldn't get enough of them. This one is especially beautiful.

This dress is drop dead gorgeous with its yards and yards of silk chiffon and draping. It is a little extra interesting because of the the attached top panels that allow you to wear the dress in multiple ways. If you look closely at the photos I have here you will see that I have styled it differently by wrapping the panels around the body in different ways to give the dress several looks. I think that you could probably come up with even more variations once it is on. The dress is made of an incredible six feather light layers of that beautiful bias cut silk chiffon. The inner five layers are stacked on top of each other and then the very top is a panel that wraps around on one side and has been caught up in a draping effect. To make sure that the drape that he wished to have is perfect, there is a little weight hidden inside the drape so that it hangs perfectly. I took a photo of it for you to see. Then on the other side it is open from under the arm down and that is the layer that you can tie and wrap in different ways. It is stunning to see in person. The effect of layering the chiffon gives it so much more movement and drape and it creates this beautiful movement when you move. The layers have just enough weight to stay in place when you are standing still and then when you move they move with you and the effect is gorgeous. The slightest bit of movement on your part or bit of air around you will cause it to move. This is a fabric that is notoriously difficult to work with and it shows just what a genius he was by the way that he was able to make it flow and sit so beautifully. The majority of work is all done by hand and it would have taken many, many hours of work to create this dress. The neckline is just slightly scooped and the sleeves are very full above their buttoned cuffs. The top overlay of the dress is attached around the neckline and runs under and around the sleeve on one side. On the other is opens and has a long tie extending out the front on that side. At the back it is connected across the top of the shoulder and then the entire panel is left free so that you can use it to wrap or drape it over your shoulder around your waist to cross your bodice. Inside the dress is a loose and easy cut that skims over you. The dress falls from the neckline, skims over the bust and waist and then the hips are open and easy. As it nears the hem it widens out considerably. This is a dress that must be on a body to really come to life. As good as it looks here it is nothing compared to it on and moving. It is also a technical masterpiece with all those layers of silk and the way he constructed it. Excellent condition with a minor note below

Made from several layers of silk chiffon as noted above. It zips to close at the back with a weight onside the drape. The top panels can then be tied or draped in a variety of ways as described above. Hand finishes. I see the tiniest bit of wear to the silk near the top of the shoulders. Please see the photo after the label shot. The bias cut should allow it to fit a range of sizes upwards and drapes more on a smaller size. 

Sleeves: 28" and it is approx 20" around the upper arm
Shoulders: no true defined seam
Bust: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 24" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 65" from top of shoulder to hem and depending on how you style it, some of the overlay panel made drape beyond that

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD4813

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