I have a passion for vintage fashion, so the Passion for Fashion sale at Kerry Taylor Auctions is always a highlight of the year. This one takes place on Tuesday 7th December 2021 from 1pm. There are 265 lots of quality apparel from around the world, dating from the mid-1800s through to the 21st century.
Many of the lots are museum quality, for both craftsmanship and provenance. There’s such exquisite workmanship in the beading, braiding, sequins and embroidery in many of the pieces. There are hundreds of man hours in there! The are a few of the dresses that I think would make spectacular wedding dresses and despite the fact that they’re ‘couture’, they’d probably be less pricey than one from a bridal shop today.
Buyer’s premium is 25% (ex. VAT). If bidding live via Invaluable, the buyer’s premium is as follows: £0 – 49,999: 28% / £50,000+: 23%
Lot 54: An ivory chiffon couture dinner dress, attributed to Gabrielle Chanel, circa 1925
With simple V-neck, with double layered chiffon sash-like waistband with ties to one side, the tiered skirt with asymmetric point to one side, the whole finished with picot edging, the back with floating panel with centre-split, bust 102cm, 40in.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a similar chiffon Chanel dress with floating back panel and waist sash with side ties. Their dress is labelled in the slip which is missing from this example, see accession Number: 1995.468.1a–c
Estimate: £1,500 – £2,500
Lot 61: A beaded black chiffon flapper dress, circa 1926
With stylised floral motif to waistband, embellished with cut beads in shades of silver, spangled with sequins, bust approx 86-92cm, 34-36in, waist 92cm, 36in; together with a later-made associated slip; together with two lengths of devoré velvet and floral chiffon, probably 1920s-30s (4)
Estimate: £200 – £300
Lot 64: A fine and rare Paul Poiret purple sequinned evening dress, 1928
Large woven satin Paul Poiret à Paris label with Iribe rose, the purple chiffon ground applied with a shimmer of sequins to the bodice, the V-neck edged in seed pearls and silver bugle beads, revealing pink satin petticoat, the pink cotton overlaid with purple and silver lace, the dropped waistline defined by demi-lunes filled with brilliants, silver ovoid, seed pearl beads and glass bugles, the skirt formed from gladiator-like similarly-worked sequinned floating panels interspersed with chiffon godets to produce an irregular handkerchief hem, the integral black chiffon underskirt with sequinned gold to purple dégradé sequinned bands which are visible through the chiffon over-skirt, bust 97cm, 38in; with matching chiffon stole (3)
Exhibited at the Melbourne Art Festival ‘L’Époque d’Élégance’, 1991. The Sandy Schreier Collection
Estimate: £6,000 – £10,000
Lot 68: A Mainbocher couture ivory satin court presentation gown, early 1930s
Labelled, with handwritten bolduc: ‘232 Kiefe 33 69-388’, the belt to front waist with decorative oversized metal buckle inset with cut brilliants, integral silk petticoat with knife-pleated hem; together with a pair of ivory leather opera-length gloves and Ostrich feather fan (4)
Provenance: Margaret ‘Peggy’ Winifred Fass. Peggy was presented at court twice: first as a debutante in the late 1920s, and then c.1931 as a married woman – ‘Mrs Logan’, when she wore this gown for the occasion. Her father was Sir Ernest Fass, who at the time of his daughter’s wedding was financial advisor to the Sudanese government. He was knighted for his services to the British government and had a very distinguished career, which culminated in his appointment as Public Trustee.
Estimate: £400 – £600
Lot 79: Audrey Hepburn’s Givenchy couture white point d’esprit ball gown worn in the opera scene of ‘Love in the Afternoon‘, 1956
Paris labelled but not numbered, the boned, fitted bodice lined in rayon, the bodice and skirt completely overlaid with double-layer of white tulle, the upper bodice edged with scalloped lace embroidered in silver thread with vermicular trails and florets centred with turquoise, silver tinsel strip florets with clear and turquoise rhinestone brilliants overall, full skirt, three integral tulle petticoats, the two upper layers of organza underskirts, bust approx.76cm, 30in, waist 52cm, 20 1/2in; together with a photograph of Audrey with the dress; together with a letter of authenticity from the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, signed by Sean Ferrer, 12.01.2009 (3)
Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Tanja Star-Busmann.
Tanja and Audrey were friends from childhood. Whenever commissioning gowns from Hubert de Givenchy, Audrey always requested he made extra-large seam returns so that she could pass the dresses on to others. Having been brought up with the privations and shortages of WWII, she held a ‘waste not, want not’ attitude that she retained throughout her life.
Audrey gifted this dress when Tanja gave birth to her daughter in 1958. It arrived in a large cardboard box with a note attached from Audrey, stating that she thought it might remind Tanja what it was like to have a waistline again. In 1961 Tanja lent the gown to her then nanny who wore it and adapted it, removing most of the lace trim, removing the bow from the front and making three smaller bows on the back to help conceal the panel that had been inserted to make it larger. These later alterations have been painstakingly reversed and the dress is now returned to its original size and shape.
It is extremely rare to find a screen-worn Audrey Hepburn garment – doubly so when the piece is also haute couture, designed by her close friend Hubert de Givenchy.
Audrey wears this gown in the Opera Scene of ‘Love in the Afternoon’. She plays the role of ingenue Ariane who captures the heart of a libertine American playboy played by Gary Cooper (who at the time was old enough to be Audrey’s father). Renowned French cinema veteran Maurice Chevalier plays the role of Ariane’s protective father, whose profession is a private detective, specialising in adulterous affairs. The film was directed by Billy Wilder and released in 1957. It is a light-hearted romance with an unlikely plot – and Audrey, with clipped English vowels, seemingly an unlikely daughter to French Maurice Chevalier. However, Audrey’s performance, her beauty and Givenchy’s fashions light up every scene in which she appears.
Estimate: £30,000 – £50,000
Lot 89: A Felisa Irigoyen couture embellished cocktail dress, 1968-69
Unlabelled, the ivory wool crêpe shift entirely covered with coiling bands of pearlised, domed discs, centred by rhinestones, and infilled with silver sequins, seed and faceted beads, leaf and floret shaped pearlised paillettes, lined in ivory silk, bust 86cm, 34in
Felisa Irigoyen worked as an embroideress for Cristobal Balenciaga in his Eisa couture ateliers in Spain. She was responsible for all the major embroidery including bridal gowns for Queen Fabiola of Belgium and Carmen Martinez Bordiú (the daughter of General Franco). After Balenciaga retired in 1968 she joined forces with Jose-Luis Molina Zumel, a famous Spanish fur designer, whose wife had been a major Balenciaga client under the company name ‘Felicia-Jose Luis’. They produced Balenciaga-inspired designs or near-identical Balenciaga copies, catering for a mainly Spanish clientèle, who had felt bereft at the loss of ‘the Master’.
Estimate: £800 – £1,200
Lot 125: A rare pair of Biba two-tone suede wedge-heeled shoes, 1970s
Faintly stamped to interior, together with a pair of Biba blue cotton-twill knee-high boots and three pairs of shoes with ankle straps, 1970s, stamped to interiors, various sizes (qty)
Estimate: £200 – £300
Lot 241: A Rei Kawakubo/ Comme des Garçons 2D collection ensemble, Autumn-Winter 2012-13
labelled and size S, the red felted wool ‘cloud’ top with matching angular shorts, size M (2)
The Sandy Schreier Collection
Estimate: £500 – £800
