1960s Italian Alta Moda Orange Silk and Linen Shirt Dress

This vibrant early 1960s dress is a very fine, unlabelled couture garment and most likely handmade in Italy. Designed to look like a two-piece suit, it appears to have a jacket and skirt construction from the outside but is in fact one dress. Both the jacket and skirt sections are crafted from a sumptuous, textured orange silk and trimmed with silk faille braid. The buttons fall down the middle of the jacket, where as the skirt appears to have an off-kilter fastening. The couture made buttons are decadently crafted: elaborate gold-toned metal flowers with tonal glass cabochon centres. The top has long-sleeves and a relaxed, open neckline. There are two patch pockets at the chest. The skirt has a slit on the front left hand side and is lined with tangerine satin. The top is unlined but features shoulder pads.

When I first saw this design and the quality and construction of the materials used, I was pretty sure it was by made by someone special and skillfully trained in couture. No design labels remain; however, the fabric is labelled in the selvage of the skirt "Bassetti Tessuti" and the Italian words for "Pure Silk". Bassetti was founded in Milan in 1830 and is also Rome's finest fabric merchant who supplied all of the Alta Moda Ateliers during this period. This unusual button placement design first appeared in the 1962 Yves Saint Laurent (pictured) and Chanel haute couture collections for that spring. The dress almost certainly dates to this period.

The dress is in superb vintage condition and looks unworn - truly remarkable for the age of the garment. Please check the below measurements closely as the fabric has no stretch to it. We believe it would best fit up to a size UK 10, US 6.

MEASUREMENTS

BUST - 38 in. (97 cm)

WAIST - 35 in. (89 cm)

HIP - 40 in. (102 cm)

LENGTH - 39 in. (99 cm)