1990s Fabrice Cream Beaded and Lace Strapless Dress

This decadent, rich cream mini-dress was created in the early 1990s by Fabrice, a renowned New York fashion label at the time which has now somewhat faded into obscurity. Founded by Haitian-born American fashion designer Fabrice Simon, the young designer was quickly picked up by Henri Bendel for his fabulous beadwork dresses for which he won in 1981, a Coty Fashion Award. The label became hugely popular among the most glamorous and famous partygoers of the 1980s and early 1990s before Fabrice's tragic passing, in 1998, at only 47 years old. Whitney Houston wore Fabrice to the Grammys in 1988 when she won Best Pop Performance for the song “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”. Cosmo’s legendary editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown said that the “most perfect dress in my wardrobe, and I will keep it like a jewel forever, is made by Fabrice.”

The detailing of this rare mini-dress is exceptional. Cut from buttery, rich cream silk with a strapless, sweetheart neckline with a slightly lowered V-back, it is boned all the way around and adorned all-over with heavy beadwork. Fabrice would stencil his designs onto the fabric then send back to his homeland in Haiti where the beadwork was done, mostly by hand. In this design, stripes are formed from zig-zagging rows of clear, silver and grey beads whilst thousands of iridescent cylindrical beads cover the rest of the body. Ruffled stripes of tonal cream lace adorn the body and trim the neckline and bottom hem. The rear of this spotlight-hogging dress is secured with a hidden tonal zip and hook-and-eye clasp. Ribbons have been hand-sewn into the inside to allow it to be hung up easily. It is fully lined in cream silk.

This dress is in excellent vintage condition with no flaws to the beadwork or structure of the dress. It has no size or composition label so please check our measurements closely as the fabric does not have any stretch. We estimate a good fit for sizes UK 8-10 or US 4-6.

MEASUREMENTS:

BUST - 32 in. (81 cm)

WAIST - 30 in. (76 cm)

HIP - 40 in. (102 cm)

LENGTH - 29.5 in. (75 cm)