Vintage Yves Saint Laurent Neutral Beige Jersey Dress w Bishop Sleeves
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: Fr 34 (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Portland, OR
- Reference Number:
Yves Saint Laurent
French designer Yves Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture.
Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, Saint Laurent also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear.
By blurring gender-specific design, Saint Laurent empowered individual style while creating a scissor-sharp fashion aesthetic of sensual ease and beauty. Many of his designs are today considered timeless classics. Saint Laurent also consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
Born to French parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1936, Saint Laurent went to Paris at age 17 to study fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Just two years later, in 1955, his remarkable sketches were shown to Christian Dior, then the world’s reigning couturier, who hired him immediately.
Surprisingly soon thereafter, Dior publicly chose Saint Laurent as his successor, which sadly proved prescient when the fashion legend died unexpectedly, in 1957. A mere slip of a youth, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was nevertheless up to the challenge. He shook the traditional couture clientele to its core with youthful silhouettes and styles like the A-line trapeze dress that hung with seeming effortlessness from the shoulders, the antithesis of the pinched waists and molded skirts that had been all the rage after the deprivations of World War II.
After a mandated spell in the torturous French military, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown and was dismissed by Dior in 1962. Out of the ashes rose the Age of Yves. With Pierre Bergé, his then-lover who became his lifelong business partner and friend, the designer founded Yves Saint Laurent YSL to encompass prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear. In 1966, they opened the first YSL Rive Gauche women’s boutique in Paris, followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand.
His revolutionary Mondrian mini dress from 1965 is a core element of his fashion biography. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso, Ingres to Matisse, for inspiration.
With its pure lines and hues, Mondrian’s ground-breaking 1935 color-block painting Composition C transmutes beautifully into a dress that is highly valued by collectors of contemporary fashion and widely copied commercially to this day. The design is the epitome of Saint Laurent’s aesthetic, requiring a meticulous hand-piecing of each color block so that, despite the body’s curves, the visual plane is as flat as a canvas when the garment is worn. Mondrian’s purity met its match in Saint Laurent.
“I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style,” Saint Laurent said four years before retiring, in 2002. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Yves Saint Laurent evening dresses, shirts, handbags and other clothing and accessories today on 1stDibs.
Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Visionary French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. The inaugural Rive Gauche boutique — a modern shop in Paris’s bustling, bohemian Left Bank district — offered stylish garments and accessories that were intended to be affordable for a younger generation of fashion enthusiasts. The store featured Mies van der Rohe chairs and played host to actor Catherine Deneuve during its grand opening.
Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, he also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear. By blurring gender-specific design, he empowered individual style while creating a scissor-sharp fashion aesthetic of sensual ease and beauty. Many of his designs are today considered timeless classics. Saint Laurent also consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
Born to French parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1936, Saint Laurent went to Paris at age 17 to study fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Just two years later, in 1955, his remarkable sketches were shown to Christian Dior, then the world’s reigning couturier, who hired him immediately.
Surprisingly soon thereafter, Dior publicly chose Saint Laurent as his successor, which sadly proved prescient when the fashion legend died unexpectedly, in 1957. A mere slip of a youth, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was nevertheless up to the challenge. He shook the traditional couture clientele to its core with youthful silhouettes and styles like the A-line trapeze dress that hung with seeming effortlessness from the shoulders, the antithesis of the pinched waists and molded skirts that had been all the rage after the deprivations of World War II.
After a mandated spell in the torturous French military, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown and was dismissed by Dior in 1962. Out of the ashes rose the Age of Yves. With Pierre Bergé, his then-lover who became his lifelong business partner and friend, the designer founded Yves Saint Laurent YSL to encompass prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear. In 1966, they opened the first YSL Rive Gauche women’s boutique in Paris — Rive Gauche is French for “left bank” — followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Ready-to-wear materialized during a period of dynamic transformation and experimentation and came to dominate the Paris fashion scene. Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand.
His revolutionary Mondrian mini dress from 1965 is a core element of his fashion biography. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso, Ingres to Matisse, for inspiration.
With its pure lines and hues, Mondrian’s ground-breaking 1935 color-block painting Composition C transmutes beautifully into a dress that is highly valued by collectors of contemporary fashion and widely copied commercially to this day. The design is the epitome of Saint Laurent’s aesthetic, requiring a meticulous hand piecing of each color block so that, despite the body’s curves, the visual plane is as flat as a canvas when the garment is worn. Mondrian’s purity met its match in Saint Laurent.
“I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style,” Saint Laurent said four years before retiring, in 2002. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008.
The vintage YSL Rive Gauche clothing for sale on 1stDibs includes evening dresses and gowns, jackets, shoes, handbags and other items.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Beaverton, OR
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Michael Novarese 1970s Vintage Day Dress w Lace Trimmed SleevesBy Michael NovareseLocated in Portland, ORThis lovely vintage 1970s Michael Novarese day dress is in a neutral beige tone with ivory guipure lace on the sleeves. This vintage sheath dress is in a medium weight opaque crepe f...Category
1970s North American Day Dresses
- Anne Klein Vintage 2 Pc Dress Skirt & Peasant Top in Natural Linen & Raw SilkBy Anne KleinLocated in Portland, ORThis is a really wonderful vintage 1970's Anne Klein 2-Piece Dress in a tonal striped natural linen and raw silk. This dress was made in USA (Union label)...Category
1970s American Day Dresses
- 1920s Hungarian Peasant Embroidered Cream Cotton Dress w Smock PleatingLocated in Portland, ORThis is a pretty vintage 1920's Hungarian peasant dress. This dress is made of embroidered cream cotton voile and has rows of decorative smock pleating at the waist and on the short ...Category
1920s Unknown Casual Dresses
- Vintage Hanae Mori Dress With Pilgrim Collar Size 8By Hanae MoriLocated in Portland, ORThis is a great Hanae Mori vintage tan/taupe dress with an exaggerated pleated pilgrim collar in dark brown. The cuffs can be worn up or down, and have dar...Category
1980s Japanese Informal Dresses
- Moschino Cream Sand Lace Short Sleeve Mock T Neck Vintage Dress US Size 6By MoschinoLocated in Portland, ORThis is a lovely 1990's vintage Moschino Cheap and Chic floral lace dress that is lined in the body, with sheer cap sleeves. The edges are scalloped, and it closes with a zipper up t...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Josefa Vintage Cream Cotton Long Dress Embroidered Flowers Butterflies & BirdsBy JosefaLocated in Portland, ORThis is a cream heavy weight cotton dress with hand embroidered flowers and birds in shades of pink, purple, blue, lime green, tan. This unlabeled Josefa dress...Category
1970s Mexican Day Dresses
- Azzedine Alaia S/S 1985 Vintage Plunged Cutout Bodycon Green DressBy Azzedine AlaïaLocated in Naples, FLAzzedine Alaia 1985 Vintage Plunged Cutout Bodycon Green Dress Size MCategory
1990s Day Dresses
- Dries Van Noten Taupe Silk Slip Dress - 42By Dries van NotenLocated in West Palm Beach, FLThis Dries Van Noten slip dress is taupe silk. It has spaghetti straps and a v-neck. This dress is in excellent condition. Measurements Bust: 34" Waist: 38" Hips: 43" Length (...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Belgian Day Dresses
- Alaia Camel Silk Knit Sleeveless Flare Dress - 40By Azzedine AlaïaLocated in West Palm Beach, FLAlaia Camel Silk Knit Sleeveless Flare Dress - 40. This sleeveless scoop neck silk knit blend dress is a pretty camel color. The top bodice is mesh, and the rest of the dress has a t...Category
2010s French Day Dresses
- Jean Paul Gaultier watercolour print sleeveless off the shoulder midi dress MBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Paris, FRJean Paul Gaultier Maille vintage off the shoulder stretch viscose dress Graffiti print in an array of colours that include in varying shades ...Category
Early 2000s Italian Informal Dresses
- Jenny Packham ivory cream crystal jewel collar backless wedding dress jumpsuitBy Jenny PackhamLocated in Paris, FRLOVE LALI Vintage Jenny Packham Fall 2012 ivory/cream collared jumpsuit Backless cut Halter neck style neckline with a crystal embellished collar in gold, silver, bronze and gunmeta...Category
2010s Unknown Jumpsuits
- Ports Plissé dress size 38By PORTSLocated in Gazzaniga (BG), ITCotton White color Plissé Hidden buttons Sleeveless Maximum length cm 100 (393 inches)Category
2010s Casual Dresses
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake YSL Bag
Counterfeiters know that savvy fashionistas cherish YSL bags. Learn how to tell if yours is the real deal. Of course, you don't have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where every seller is highly vetted.
Quiet Luxury May Be Trending, but These Famous Interiors Prove That Quality and Quirk Endure
Because truly timeless design requires personal vision, transcendent taste, real fortitude and top-notch objects, even if the wider world hasn’t caught on yet.