#6896 $650
St. John knit cocktail dress, 1980s
St. John, the upscale American brand of formal knitwear, was founded in 1962 by Robert and Marie Gray. The designs of Marie Gray first turned the heads of her friends and then launched a fashion empire. The Gray look is elegant without being stuffy.
This stylish cocktail dress has a long, body-conscious torso of black rayon knit bordered at the hem with an outrageous ruffled flounce of sequined net. I love the bow on one side of the flounce. The dress closes in back with a nylon coil zipper. The shoulders have soft shoulder pads.
The LBD has been a staple for celebrities in the post-WWII period. Think of Julia Roberts in her vintage Valentino on the red carpet. Legendary model Kate Moss has relied most of all on the LBD: backstage; on the red carpet; or for a night on the town.
Vintage Textile has sold a sexy LBD to Angelina Jolie. Coco Chanel's "little black dress" of the 1920s is still the epitome of simple elegance.
The condition is excellent. It is clean and ready to wear.
The size is marked 8.
It measures unstretched: 36" bust, 32" waist, 38" hip, 29" from the shoulder
to the top of the flounce, and 39" from the shoulder to the hem.
