1970s Christian Dior Butterscotch Silk Sequin Trimmed Midi Dress

This elegant evening dress was designed by Christian Dior in the 1970s and has a London branch label. Tailored to a long-sleeve, midi-dress cut from the finest semi-sheer butterscotch-hued silk chiffon. The skirt falls with soft pleats from a nipped-in waist and is lined with butterscotch crepe. It has a V-neckline which reveals the décolletage. The embellishment is beautiful across the bodice and sleeves; stripes of cream crochet cutwork grace the bodice, back and sleeves, trimmed alternatively with rows of pale caramel hued sequins with a slight sheen and tonal glass bugle beads. This dress fastens at the rear of the neck with the original hidden zip. The bodice is lined in butterscotch silk. Labelled a sample alongside a hand-written label that reads, “No. 4368”. It may have been made under the direction of Jorn Langberg, who headed up the design team in London in the 60s and 70s, or a sample piece from Paris where Marc Bohan was the House's creative director. Either way, its superbly made with many of the hallmarks of the House's haute couture pieces and a good deal of hand finishing.

When this dress first came into Circa's collection I was struck by how similar the lattice work design is to the Spring 1978 haute couture collection although this dress appears to be a little older. We've added a few photos from the runway to show the identical design. The collection is particularly important as this design forms the main ornamentation for the Dior haute couture bridal gown made for the Royal Wedding of King Hussein of Jordan to his American bride Elizabeth Halaby. We have added a photograph after their wedding ceremony in Amman, Jordan, June 17th 1978. Twenty six year old Halaby would become known as Queen Noor al-Hussein.

The dress is in excellent vintage condition with no issues at all noted. In our view, it is difficult to tell apart from the haute couture and demi couture dresses made by the House, such is the quality of the fabrics used and attention to detail. It has no size or composition label, so please check our measurements below carefully. The fabric has no stretch. We believe this would best fit a UK 8-10, US 4-6 with a smaller waist.

MEASUREMENTS

BUST - 38 in. (97 cm)

WAIST - 27 in. (69 cm)

HIP - 38 in. (97 cm)

LENGTH - 44 in. (112 cm)